Nickel plating is a widely used industrial practice. It is as it is called: it is the covering of another material with nickel. There are many reasons for doing this – including everything from decorative reasons to the avoidance of wear and tear or corrosion.
As such, nickel is used in a variety of industries. This article will give you a list of the most common and most practical uses of nickel plating.
Automotive
Nickel plating is found in numerous places throughout the automobile industry. One of the main detractors of nickel plating is that brightness is an issue – if you want a bright, shiny finish then nickel isn’t your best bet.
It is your best bet if function and style (without brightness!) are what you’re looking for.
In terms of where you’ll find it on cars, the short answer is: practically anywhere you look!
The longer answer is that nickel plating is used on bumpers. It’s used on rims. It can be found on trims and nickel plating is often used in parts of the exhaust system because of its anti-wear and anti-corrosive properties.
Automotive-Related Industries
We had this as a separate side-section, although it is related to the above. Because of the great properties of nickel plating, it’s also used in many other related industries to the automobile manufacturing side of things: this includes common usage in bicycle design, boat design and especially motorbikes; the construction of which is even more suited to nickel plating due to the exposure of every element of the bikes structure.
Other Uses
It is worth stating that nickel plating is not just limited to vehicles of various forms. In fact, it has a wide range of uses in a variety of appliances. These include but are not limited to:
Lighting fixtures; where it is used for wear and tear but mostly decorative reasons.
Plumbing fixtures; where it is also used for decorative reasons but also for anti-corrosive properties that it possesses.
Hand tools; where nickel plating excels due to its anti-wear and tear properties.
Firearms; where it is used again for its decorative and long-wearing properties.
It is used in many appliances for the reasons above. It’s an all-purpose plating material that is good for anti-corrosion, anti-wear and aesthetic purposes.
General Usage
Nickel plating works essentially how you think it would. Basically, the target surface is coated in a liquid nickel, which then cools to form the plating. This is done by a nickel bath; the chemicals and consistency of which depend on the application. Brighter nickel is used for decoration, whereas darker, black nickel is used for more industrial applications.
Closing Thoughts
This article has given you an overview of how nickel coating is manufactured, the uses of and reasons for using nickel plating. As always, for nickel plating Denver customers, we can provide you with the information or services you need.
Nickel plating is a great choice for most applications, and we hope that you’ve been educated and entertained by this article.