Metal Finishing

Metal Finishing Services with SPC

Companies across a range of industries rely on metal finishing services to solve their manufacturing challenges and give their products and components the qualities required for optimal performance. At Sharretts Plating Company, we have been providing full-service metal finishing and plating services since our founding in 1925. Using electroplating and other processes, our metal finishing experts can plate using a range of coatings and create solutions for challenging base materials.

Whether you work in aerospace, automotive, defense, electronics, optics or another demanding industry, we can tailor our services to your needs.

A Range of High-Quality Coatings

Electroplating uses an electrical current to coat the surface of an object with a thin layer of metal. Electroless plating uses a chemical reaction to achieve the same effect without an external power source. Both methods can produce desirable results, depending on the intended application and coating.

At SPC, we offer the following metal coatings to create the highest quality products possible.

Copper

A malleable metal known for its high electrical conductivity and resistance to corrosion, copper can be used to give non-metallic substrates conductive and metallic properties and to adhere to flexible substrates.

Applications for copper plating include:

• Heat treat stop-off
• Printed circuit boards
• Semiconductors
• Underplate for adhesion

Nickel

Nickel offers good wear resistance and allows for even deposition on an object's surface. It can also be used to increase the thickness of undersized parts. SPC offers sulfamate and sulfate nickel electroplating, as well as electroless nickel plating, which serves as an alternative to chrome plating.

Applications for nickel plating include:

• Base layers for secondary plating with precious metals
• Leveling surfaces
• Decorative sheens for automotive body parts

Tin

Tin is a soft, solderable metal coating that provides a cost-effective solution for corrosion protection and contact resistance. Tin is also environmentally friendly, as a material compliant with RoHS. Due to its solderability and non-toxicity, tin coating finds use in:

• Electronic terminals and housing
• Solar power panels
• Food production and cookware

Precious Metals

These rare metals are malleable and less reactive than base metals, so they oxidize more slowly. Each precious metal has its own value-adding properties. SPC can plate with precious metals such as:

• Gold: A lustrous metal finish that increases wear and corrosion resistance and electrical conductivity while mitigating the effects of extreme heat.
• Silver: Electroplating with silver adds a hardy, lightweight finish with a high level of electrical and thermal conductivity for applications like aerospace, automobile and electronics manufacturing. Antibacterial properties also benefit medical devices used on or in the body.
• Platinum: As one of the least reactive metals, platinum provides a tarnish-free, wear-resistant and heat-resistant metal finish to parts for many applications, such as gas turbine thermal barrier coatings and dentistry tools.
• Rhodium: While a scarce material, rhodium offers a chemically inert finish with high abrasion and low contact resistance when used for electroplating, boosting the durability of a workpiece.
• Ruthenium: This transition metal is utilized in industries such as electronics, oil refining and solar cells for a stable coating that's impervious to atmospheric chemicals.
• Palladium: Often used in plating automotive catalytic converters, electronics capacitors and dental products, palladium is a light material that can also be alloyed with nickel.

Alloys

When a single metal cannot meet all your company's needs, you may consider plating with an alloy. These coatings combine two or more metals so that the finished product has properties of each. With alloys, you can plate with precious metals within a more modest budget.

Alloy plating options include:

• Tin-zinc alloy
• Palladium-nickel alloy

Base Materials to Meet Your Application Requirements

At SPC, we have developed reliable methods for plating onto a wide range of substrates, including challenging materials like plastics, ceramics and hybrid materials. When you work with us, we will take the time to understand your requirements and adapt our metal finishing services to your needs.

Choose from the following base materials or contact us to see how we can accommodate your specific component or product:

• Nickel-based superalloys such as Inconel and Monel
• Nitinol (nickel-titanium) alloy superelastics
• Plastic components including Teflon (PTFE), phenolics, polycarbonate (PC), polysulfone (PSU), polyoxymethylene (POM), polyetherimide (PEI), polyetheretherketone(PEEK), and polyamide (PA)
• 3D-printed plastics such as ABS, ABS PC, PPA, SLS, SLA, PETG, and PA
• Aluminum, including alloys made with silicon or tin
• Copper and its many alloys
• Molybdenum and molybdenum alloys
• Titanium alloys containing iron, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, or aluminum
• Precipitation hardening steels and austenitic, martensitic and semi-austenitic PH alloys
• Stainless steel
• Carbon steel
• Tungsten, including tungsten carbide, tungsten sulfide and nickel-tungsten alloys
• Magnesium, including magnesium-aluminum alloys
• Ceramics such as alumina and lead zirconate titanate (PZT)
• Glass, most commonly includes silica

Contact Sharretts Plating Company to Request a Quote

At SPC, we strive to provide metal finishing services that meet your high expectations for quality and consistency. To ensure the best results, we follow ISO 9001 standards for quality management and aim for continuous improvement and innovation. To learn more about our metal finishing services, contact us to request a quote today.