What do you need to know about brush plating and selective plating? This brief, informative article gives you the basics so you can make informed decisions on who should do your brush or selective plating.

If you’re in the defense or aerospace industries – or you work with any other type of highly-precise, finely-tuned equipment –

you’re going to need a company that specializes in brush plating at some point. While you don’t need to be the experts that

they are, you need to have some idea of what’s going on. Otherwise, you won’t be able to tell if you’re getting the very best

service!

So, here’s what you need to know:

- Brush plating is a form of metal coating

That’s what this process consists of – applying a layer of metal or alloys to your part. The type of metal used depends on

the type of part you’re dealing with. You may hire a company to plate your part with anything from gold, to silver, to tin, to

copper, or anything else you need.

- It’s also a form of “selective plating”

That’s because your platers don’t have to coat every single speck of your equipment. Instead, they can select which

portions needed to be coated and which ones don’t.

Plus, they can take it one step further by giving some areas a thicker plating than others. Your platers’ goal is to give your

part a uniform coating only in the areas where you need it.

Consider your part to be like Goldilocks in the fairy tale; it wants everything to be “just right”!

- It’s done electrochemically

If you don’t know anything about brush plating, you might imagine a group of scientists with fancy paint brushes applying

metal to your part.

However, that’s not how this is done!

The process is much more sophisticated. Specifically, your part will go through an electrochemical process in a vat of ultra-

pure chemicals at a precisely controlled temperature, for a specific time.

- It should only be done by people who are certified

Because brush plating is a complicated process, you should only put your parts in the hands of people who have their

Nadcap certification. (In fact, if you’re in certain industries, you may be required to ONLY take your equipment to Nadcap

certified platers. If given a choice, though, opt for the certification.)

Why?

This certification isn’t just some fluffy designation that people get to list on their business cards. Instead, companies that get

certified have to go through months of rigorous analysis and evaluations. In short, it’s something that only the best of the

best can get. Nadcap certification is truly an achievement to be proud of. Those companies who have Nadcap certification

will proudly display that fact on their home page.

- It should be done in one central location

The last thing you need is for your parts to travel here, there, and everywhere. That puts it at risk to get damaged or

broken!

A good brush plating company will understand just how important your parts are to you and/or your customer. That way, the

only place your equipment will have to travel to is back and forth to you. Minimum handling equals minimum possibility for

damage.

(805) 517-1222 www.hudsonplatingworks.com