CAPABILITIES & SERVICESProcesses
General Metal Finishing specializes in manual rack, barrel, and vibratory plating with Gold, Silver, Palladium, Nickel (Electroless & Electrolytic), Tin, Tin-Lead and other plated metals. We plate stamped and machined components to enhance conductivity, shielding, corrosion resistance, and other properties. Our products find application in a wide array of devices.
We offer a wide range of capabilities in our plating processes. With hundreds of different stock racks available, we can process most parts up to 18” squared (460mm) all-over or selectively plated glass-to-metal seals with no additional tooling cost. For larger quantities or unique geometries, custom-designed racks and fixtures can be provided.
Our barrel sizes range from as small as 2” diameter by 4” long to 12” diameter by 24” long, catering to various part sizes and quantities. We use different types of contacts inside the plating barrels depending on the fragility of parts, and various fill medias are employed to enhance electrical part contact and minimize sticking or nesting.
Our plating thickness typically range from 2u” (0.00005mm) to 8,000u” (8mm) and we can meet the tightest tolerances in the industry.
Plating Methods
Barrel Plating
The primary function of barrel plating is to enable parts to be plated economically, with low labor cost. Small to medium sized parts that can withstand tumbling without distortion due to part on part contact are good choices to barrel plate. Depending on the size of the order and geometry of the part various barrel sizes are employed to achieve optimal results. The rotation of the barrel while in solution is also very important and can be sped up or slowed down depending on the type of part being processed. Barrel plating is considered the most economical way to plate parts.
Rack Plating
Rack plating is used to finish larger, fragile, higher reliability components that cannot be coated using other batch plating methods. It’s best suited for smaller quantities or if no damage at all is allowed to the part. Parts are wired or hard fixtured on plating racks and then submersed in the plating solution with current applied. It’s a more labor intensive method of processing since each part is being individually handled so cost is obviously much greater than barrel plating.
Vibratory Plating
Vibratory plating is another method of batch or bulk processing that employs vibration rather than cylindrical barrel tumbling to plate. Parts loaded into a vibratory head and once turned on, the motion generated provides smooth sliding of the parts and the work load is in continuous motion. The movement of the parts can be adjusted by changing amplitude and frequency of pulse depending on the type of part being run.
