Plating

A reader contacted me about their reel-to-reel plating operation, which has seen heavy management turnover over the past 10 years and is now operated under less-than-ideal conditions.

My last two articles covered several ratios you could use to measure and control your business.

We chatted with Joe Zabielski, the Technical Director at Ronatec / MetalX USA which makes chemistry and equipment for the finishing industry.

This report documents the evaluation of a trivalent chromium pretreatment (TCP), or trivalent chem film, as a “post coating,” or top coat, to improve the corrosion resistance of electroless nickel processes popular in the American, Canadian, Mexican, European, Asian, and South American markets. 

Luke Leonard is the President of Heatmax Heaters in Cleveland, Ohio, which makes industrial heating products for the finishing industry.

Dr. Laurie Locascio, the Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director, visited New Mexico Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) client Theta Plate in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Some aspects of passivation are as simple as walking around the block.

Due to increasing vehicle greenhouse gas emission regulations across the globe, the automotive industry is facing pressure to improving fuel economy.

An executive with Stellantis made headlines last week when he said the carmaker was eliminating hexavalent chromium in its vehicles, a plan he termed the “Death of Chrome.”

New England Electropolishing owners Amy Prigmore and Luke Almeida have never been into chasing shiny objects.

I sometimes get questions about the basics of a process, and I receive one from a person recently hired by a job shop doing alkaline tin plating. 

Business risks are nothing new, but today’s risks and risk mitigation challenges have evolved. The current risk landscape isn’t your grandpa’s or your dad’s. 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says it has fined East Side Plating in Portland, Oregon, $139,505 for violating the Clean Air Act. 

We had a chance to speak with Bobby Haggard and Matt Wood from TrinSoft’s PHTPlus Software about the latest in finishing and coating shop software management.

Almost all surface finishes cause some dimensional change, however small, to the part being finished.

Lamons, a safety sealing and attachment solutions supplier, announced the asset acquisition of ModuCoatings from Modumetal.

Steve Norris of Plasma Technology will team with Pam Nafsinger of Thermo Scientific Portable Analytic Instruments to present “Basics and Demos of XRF Technology” at the June 13 meeting of the Surface Finishers Educational Association (SFEA). 

Most businesses don’t make it to a third generation; Lincoln Industries has taken on that challenge and is thriving.

An alternative electrochemical process to chemical polishing and conventional electropolishing of niobium is discussed in this paper.

Most 50^th-anniversary gifts involve something made of gold, be it a watch, jewelry, or some gilded object to celebrate a half-century of effort.