SECRETS OF: PLATING PROCESSES

n the last two issues, we exposed the secrets behind blasting processes, these result in bare metal components which will then need some form of refinishing. When undertaking a restoration project, many methods are employed to achieve the desired external visual finish, the most obvious being paintwork and chroming. But as the saying goes ‘the devil is in the detail’ – so such methods as powder coating and plating are used to restore a vehicles’ smaller components. The term plating covers a huge range of processes, the common factor being they all involve the deposition of a metallic surface covering over another material. In the automotive world, ‘plating’ or more correctly, electroplating has been known by the generic term ‘cad plating’ – in much the same way as you ‘hoover’ the carpet, even if you use a Dyson. Cad is the contracted version of cadmium, a material now widely avoided