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What is
small tank plating work?
Small tank
plating means a tank that is 1 gallon or less.
Some people
refer to this as HOBBY PLATING?
Others can get
confused over the words TANK PLATING.
From a
practical standpoint, a TANK can be anything from a small water glass size container up to
huge tanks that can gold plate bumpers.
A typical size
in the automotive industry is a 33 to 35 gallon tank designed to Gold Plate Wheels.
Then the
question come us, what does it take to gold plate automotive wheels?
Technically,
the actual gold plating portion of the process does not take a lot of amps. The step that
takes a lot of AMPS is the chrome stripping process. We used a 125 amp system for
stripping large items. We used a special 25 amp power supply (current cost estimated at
over $1,000) to deposit the gold. We know of others who deposit gold with a Pyramid
PS52KX.
The process
for gold plating chrome wheels is the same as the three-chemical three-step process we use
in the brush plating.
1. Strip the
chrome, which exposes a layer of nickel.
2. Activate
the exposed nickel.
3. Deposit and
molecularly bond the 24K Gold to the exposed and activated nickel.
Depending
on the operation, some platers opt for a two-step process in tank plating
because they do not have a concern over doing any damage to paint on the
vehicle since the solution is in a tank and the wheels are dipped into the
heated acid. This is a special type of operation and it is not suitable for
every application.
You can use
the same chemicals in brush plating as we do in tank plating for chrome stripping and
nickel activating. The actual gold plating solution is different for brush plating than
what we use for tank plating.
Anyway, the
question was, "What is small tank plating work?"
Small tank
plating means a small container or not more than 5 gallons. With the right setup, you
could set up a tank plating system using 6 plastic 5 gallon pails. Although you could
probably do that, the real question is if you need to do that.
Do you have a
quantity of small items to be gold plated? Exactly how many and how often do you expect to
have to do gold plating on the items?
One person
called us looking for a BRUSH PLATING system so he could gold plate some new design in
men's Cufflinks. He had a price from a supplier who could do a TANK PLATING job for him
but he was looking on the Internet to see if he could do the work himself and save money.
I explained
the 25 or 35 amp systems would do the job he wanted.
After a short
conversation, the man said he already had orders to fill and expected reorders quickly. My
response was simple. Based on the anticipated volume, there was little sense in him
purchasing a BRUSH PLATING system from us to do the job. The machine would do the job but
his needs were already expanding to a point where he was going to be far better off to
have an experienced Gold Plater to tank plate the items for him.
So, we did not
sell a system, because it would have been wrong to make that sale. On the UP SIDE, he
promised me a pair of his new cuff links. Now all I have to do is get a shirt with French
Cuffs.
So, it is not
a question of if you can do the work. I am sure you could do the work, Tank Plating is
fairly easy to do, once you know how. However, having tanks of Corrosive Chemicals (chrome
stripper is corrosive solution, and in a solution, the nickel activator is a corrosive
too) as well as a tank of CYANIDE GOLD, may not be what you want to have at your house. I
do not want it in mine.
What about
setting up a small tank plating operation in a business. You can do that, you still have
the two Corrosive Chemicals as well as a tank of CYANIDE GOLD. You will need RINSE TANKS,
3 more tanks the same size as the first three, a spill containment system, a ventilation
system to keep fresh air in the room, as well as a host of other items. These items will
take up space. How much space will depend on how big your tanks are going to be. To give
yourself an idea, figure a 10 by 20 foot area should be OK for small items. That is about
the size of a one car garage. For gold plating wheels, we figure a space of about 20 by 20
feet. Figure the size of a two car garage, plus an area to inventory the inbound chrome
wheels and the outbound gold plated wheels.
Can you start
gold plating wheels? Sure. Are you currently in the gold plating business where you are
regularly and frequently sending out wheels to have them Gold Plated? One set a month is
not enough. Probably one set a week is still probably not enough existing volume to
justify the cost and ongoing expense of setting up a tank plating system to gold plate
wheels. We can help you get the proper equipment. The equipment is EASY to get. Making
money without an existing demand is difficult.
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