Vacuum deposition plating is an environmentally friendly process that is extensively used in the automotive industry. This process does not actually chrome plastic but the result is a chrome looking finish on your plastic part.
Firstly, all
parts are washed in a special bath to remove any impurities on the surface
of the plastic from handling. Then the pieces are hand sanded to ensure a
smooth surface and proper adhesion.
The parts are then painted with a base coat so the vacuum metalized finish will
adhere to the part and then baked to cure the paint. Now the piece is ready for
plating.
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The pieces are placed on racks that are attached to a large carousel which will be loaded into the vacuum chamber for the plating process. In the middle of the carousel there are filaments which aluminum canes are loaded onto. After the carousel has been loaded the chamber is pumped down (all the oxygen removed), the filaments are then fired and like magic all the parts come out shiny. |
After the parts are plated a top grade urethane clear coat is then applied to protect the finish and then the parts are baked once again to cure the paint.
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