Ultra Hard Chrome offers solutions.
We offer solutions to your wear and corrosion problems through the use of our standard, duplex, microcracked, multi-layer and spot chrome processes. Our deposits are optimized for hardness, brightness, and corrosion resistance providing excellent wear and antigalling characteristics. Our eight hard chromium plating tanks can handle a variety of shapes and sizes.
Our maximums are:

• 40" diameter
• 300" OAL
• 18,000 lbs.

Substrate Considerations
Paramount to the success of any plating job is proper substrate preparation. Base metals commonly hard chrome plated include:

• Carbon Steels (hardened and unhardened)
• Cast Irons
• Stainless Steels
• "Tool" Steels
• "Aircraft" Steels
• Non-Ferrous materials, eg. copper, brass, aluminum

Surface pretreatment ensures a clean, oxidefree, reactive surface for maximum plating bond strength. This can be accomplished by:

• Grinding
• Polishing
• Blasting

Substrate Defects Include:

• Pits, porosity, inclusions
• Laminations
• Gouges, knicks
• Tool marks, chatter, spirals

Chrome Plating will magnify existing substrate defects. Therefore, these must be repaired prior to plating. Common repairs include:

• Grinding
• TIG or Dot Welding
• Sulfamate Nickel Overplate

Hydrogen Relief
During plating, copious amounts of hydrogen are released at the cathode (part being plated). As much as 85% of the current applied during chrome plating goes to form hydrogen. Some of the hydrogen is occluded in the basis metal during plating, setting up stresses that can cause hardened metal to crack.

In general, metal with hardness greater than 40 Rc should be relieved if the deposit is more than .001" thick.

If the basis metal is not hardened by heat treatment, its softness does not permit stresses to build. In essence, such metal is self relieving.

Our 6' x 25' computer controlled oven allows us to take care of all hydrogen relief baking needs.