What Is Vacuum Plating?

We use different plating techniques to protect materials from environmental factors like humidity. Vacuum Plating is one of them, and it brings benefits over other common methods like electroplating and chemical plating techniques.

What Is Vacuum Plating?

It is a process where we create a metallic layer on a substrate made from another material. It is also known as vacuum deposition in a vapor chamber. As we have less pressure inside the vacuum chamber, the melting point of the metal decreases; hence condensation on other materials becomes possible, quick, and easier. This technique allows different materials, including plastics, to be plated with metals.

Applications Of Vacuum Plating

The leading applications include:

• It helps get better reflective performance for automobile lights.
• Bathroom fittings can get decoration and protection.
• Multiple materials can be protected from corrosion.
• Tools and metals improve their wear resistance.
• You can introduce semiconductor properties to different materials.

Step-By-Step Vacuum Plating Process

Here is the complete process of plating with the vacuum metalizing technique.

Tooling

The process starts with customizing the tooling fixtures to hold everything in place. The most important part of this stage has maximum plating efficiency with the highest coverage and low costs.

Loading

Next is the loading step, which decreases the risk of contaminating and defective parts during this process. During the loading process, pre-masking procedures are also applied so that there is no need for manual masking later during the process. Hence, the process becomes quick, and the cost is also reduced.

Base Coat Application

In this step, the base coat is applied. A base coat primes the material to receive metal vapors, and vapors stick to this different material with better adhesion quality. This step ensures that the plating stays on there for a long time. For the base coat, a low-pressure and high-volume system is used for spraying the coating. Usually, robotic painting arms are used to ensure maximum coverage, but the manual coating is sometimes used.

Vacuum Metalizing

Next, metal is vaporized using a filament inside a vacuum chamber. This vapor then flows in one direction to completely cover the rotating parts inside the machine. Thus, complete coverage is ensured.

Final Coat Application

The final coat is not always needed, but its application enhances the efficiency of overall plating results. So, if needed, a final coat is applied; otherwise, this step is skipped.

Quality Check And Inspection

The last process in plating ensures the product has been plated per the requirements. So, it is inspected for the industry's best quality and current standards.

Benefits Of Vacuum Plating

The best benefits of this plating technique include the following:

• Better aesthetic appeal
• Lower production cost
• Safer process for different products
• Better durability and resilience in comparison to other metals
• Protection from EMI
• Better insulation

With all these benefits, this plating process makes a great choice for multiple applications.

Learn More About The Top-Notch Vacuum Plating Services.

Vacuum Plating can bring multiple benefits for different products., So, if you are setting up a manufacturing unit but cannot manage plating equipment, go for the plating services since these offer ease of work with better cost-effectiveness.