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What is the QUALITY of the gold
plating finish?
The best start is to explain
that the gold plating MIRRORS the finish off of the layer of nickel below the gold. So,
you have to start with a good quality OEM piece.
If you have a good quality OEM
piece you are working with, you should get good results with BRUSH PLATING. That is a
simple point, you can do a good quality job of gold plating with a brush type gold plating
system.
The job you can do with a Brush
Type Gold Plating system will provide a bright and durable 24-Karet finish
We find the simple 2 wire 3
chemical system is easy to understand and simple to use.
However, between Brush Plating
and Tank Plating, the Tank Plating has had, has today, and is expected to continue to have
a better overall quality.
The best way to explain that is
to make a simple comparison between BRUSH PLATING and TANK PLATING.
BRUSH PLATING is like taking a
shower. A lot of water gets onto many parts of you, but not necessarily
all of you.
TANK PLATING is like diving into
a swimming pool. ALL OF YOU gets UNDER THE SURFACE of the water in the pool.
The point is simple, items in a
tank, under the surface of the solution, has the solution getting to all surfaces of the
item being processed. All portions of the part being worked on, are worked on at the same
time because it is under the surface of the solution.
In this, TANK PLATING is
unquestionably a more thorough and uniform plating system.
Commonly, a TANK PLATER will
wash the pieces they are going to Gold Plate to remove common dirt.
Although it is not exactly the
same conditions, this simple illustration gives you an idea of why TANK PLATING requires
filtration systems and so on.
Because TANK PLATING reuses the
chemicals in the tanks, the process of sending the TANK CHEMICALS for LABORATORY ANALYSIS
is a common occurrence.
In BRUSH PLATING, you get
basically FRESH CHEMICALS for each application.
The quality of the gold
deposited in the BRUSH PLATING system is 24 karat gold. This is very similar to the type
of finish you would get from a TANK GOLD PLATING system.
A number of TANK GOLD PLATING
systems use the same chemical formulations for their gold.
Other TANK GOLD PLATING
systems use a number of different chemical formulations for their gold.
The chemicals are SOLUTIONS
similar to the solutions used in Brush Plating. The basic difference is in the actual Gold
Plating solution because the GOLD concentration level is different and TANK PLATERS do not
work with a GEL TYPE Gold Plating SOLUTION.
- The end result should be very similar except
that TANK PLATING offers a better UNIFORMITY of the finish. There is no question about
this. TANK PLATING offers a more uniform finish, period.
- Now, from a practical standpoint, you have to
look at it from the person viewing the work. I can inspect your BRUSH PLATING work with a
special jewelers loupe (it magnifies) and find a finish that is not as uniform as a TANK
PLATING system.
In a TANK TYPE system, the piece to be plated
is put on a special rack, usually with a lot of other similar pieces, and lowered under
the surface of the chemical solution. The stripping, activating and plating processes are
all done with the part under the surface of the chemical solution. Because it is all done
at the same time, the results are MORE UNIFORM.
- Then there is the ARMS LENGTH TEST.
Can you tell a difference between a BRUSH
TYPE GOLD PLATING SYSTEM and a TANK TYPE GOLD PLATING SYSTEM at an arms length?
Many people are not able to do so.
The plain facts show TANK PLATING is more
uniform. In other respects, the UNIFORMITY aspect does give an overall superior gold
plated finish. This includes the adhesion and the thickness of the deposit.
However, BRUSH TYPE GOLD PLATING does work
quite well and the Gold Plating finish remains durable, if the person doing the work does
it right from the start.
We cover all aspects of this in our detailed
Gold Plating Manual.
We have another page that gets into greater
detail on this.
Which
is BEST, TANK PLATING or MOBILE / BRUSH PLATING?
Take the link to the page, if you want more
information on the issue of TANK versus BRUSH.
To go back to the top of the
frequently asked questions page, CLICK HERE.
To go to our GOLD PLATING INFORMATION PAGE,
CLICK HERE.
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