Nickel Plating Process
Similar to stainless steel in color, nickel plating can be deposited soft or hard, dull or bright, depending on the application process used. Nickel plating is often applied over copper and under cadmium for a decorative finish.
Bright nickel plating is a highly reflective finish, thus the need for polishing is often eliminated. Bright nickel is a very hard metal with relatively poor ductility. Therefore, parts should be bent into their final shape before bright nickel plating is applied, whenever possible.
Once the piece has been prepared, it is immersed into an electrolyte solution and is used as the cathode. The nickel anode is dissolved into the electrolyte in form of nickel ions. The ions travel through the solution and deposit on the cathode.
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