Step 10-Nickel Plating

North Star Plating Process - Step 10

NICKEL PLATING

When you're at a car show, and you see a beautiful bumper, you tend to call it "chrome." But what you're usually seeing isn't mostly chrome. It's nickel. Chrome, which we'll add later, is a brightener and adds a bluish luster, but the nickel under it is what really counts. That's why we electroplate with nickel not once, but three times.

Now that the copper is polished, we start with what we call a "strike" layer of nickel. This is bare and less lustrous, and provides a good bonding coat. Next we'll add a "semi-bright" layer, which isn't quite a mirror finish. We finish the nickel process with a "bright" layer, which is nickel combined with several organic brighteners. When it emerges from the tank, it has a perfect, mirror finish.

Now, finally, we're ready to chrome plate your bumper.