What is the difference between hardware electroplating and plastic electroplating?
1. Differences in materials for hardware and plastic electroplating
The base material for hardware electroplating is metal, such as iron, zinc alloy, copper alloy, etc. The base material for plastic electroplating is plastic. Due to the different base materials, the processes used in the early stage are completely different, but the subsequent electroplating is basically the same. This is the difference found in the materials of the two.
2. Differences in prices for hardware and plastic electroplating
Regarding the prices of the two: it depends on the material of the coating you use, the coating thickness requirements and the testing requirements. Many factors will affect the price of electroplating, for example: if you want to chrome-plate a plastic part with a small surface area, it will be cheaper, and if you want to gold-plate a larger hardware part, it will be more expensive, and the coating thickness will directly affect the price. Therefore, the problem should be analyzed according to the actual situation, and the two are not comparable.
However, if the plating layer is the same, plastic electroplating is more expensive, because the plastic electroplating process has several more steps, and it is not easy to plate, the difficulty is relatively large, and the cost is naturally high.
3. The difference between the process flow of hardware and plastic electroplating
The process of plastic electroplating and plastic electroplating is: degreasing-hydrophilic-roughening-neutralization-pre-impregnation-activation-degumming-chemical nickel-copper-acid copper-nickel-chromium
The process of hardware electroplating is: cleaning-copper plating-semi-bright nickel plating-full-bright nickel plating-gold plating-drying
4. The difference between the characteristics of hardware and plastic electroplating
The characteristic of plastic electroplating is that it is not conductive, and it needs to be firstly treated with conductive treatment, that is, activation and chemical plating, so that a layer of metal film is firmly attached to the surface. After that, there is no difference from hardware electroplating.
5. The difference between hardware and plastic electroplating product design
Hardware electroplating products generally only need to consider the product itself because the hardware itself can be electrified. However, plastic electroplating products need to consider not only the structure of the product itself, but also the layout of the product and the design of the nozzle. If there is no suitable electroplating nozzle for plastic electroplating, it will cause electroplating deformation or water electroplating will not be possible.