Advice For Those Applying Zinc-Nickel Plating To Steel

If you have a steel variety that you're worried about corroding, a protective step you can take is applying zinc-nickel plating to it. Your results will turn out great if you remember the following plating advice.

Determine Which Properties Matter the Most

Adding zinc-nickel plating to steel will give it different properties, including corrosion resistance, added durability, and a unique finish. However, if there are some properties, in particular, that matter to you, they need to be considered because they could affect how this plating is applied to your steel materials. 

For instance, if you care mostly about the aesthetics of your steel pieces, you may only need light plating coats to achieve a beautiful steel product. Whereas if durability is the most important property, you might be better off applying multiple zinc-nickel coats on steel. 

Deal With Potential Grease

You want to avoid grease as best you can when coating steel with zinc-nickel finishes. That's because it will prevent your plating from turning out correctly because there are inconsistencies with your steel's surface.

There are a couple of ways you can go about removing grease, such as dipping your steel materials in boiling water with cleaning solutions. That's going to remove grease quickly and help you get better results out of your zinc-nickel plating process. Just make sure that, after grease is removed from the surface of your steel materials, you keep them pure by using the appropriate handling resources and equipment.

Consider Polishing in Between Plating Cycles 

If you're looking to enhance the visual properties of zinc-nickel plating, then what you can do is polish your steel after each plating cycle. That should help brighten up the surface and give you the aesthetic properties you're looking for.

Just make sure you polish in a controlled way, as you don't want any grease or other harmful contaminants getting on the surface and then affecting the plating results you're able to achieve. If you position the steel in a vice or clamp while polishing, you should have fewer instances of contamination.

In order to apply zinc-nickel plating to steel materials correctly, there are certain things you have to do and watch out for throughout this entire process. Plan these things out before getting started, so that your hard work results in quality steel materials that have advantageous properties according to how they're being used. 

For more information, contact a local company.

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