Metal finishing Q&As since 1989

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Color and Glossiness standards for decorative plating

June 5, 2008

I'm aware of FED-STD-595 which is basically a giant paint chip book used by some anodizing suppliers. I remember it had hundreds of colors in dull, glossy, etc. for each color. Is there such a thing for plated parts?

In other words, if I state on my drawing "matte nickel finish" or "bright nickel finish", I'm going to get a certain look and texture. So how matte is matte, or how shiny is shiny? We're trying to have better-defined notes on our drawings so suppliers can give us what we're looking for. We want Zinc or Aluminum die-cast parts to be plated and have the look and texture of bead-blasted stainless steel. I could give them a visual reference standard and say "make them look like this". I'd rather us a standard spec. We're thinking of using a Pantone chip (423C) to approximate the color, a colorimeter reading to approximate the gloss level, and a surface roughness (profilometer) to get us the texture. Sounds like a pain. Any ideas?

Hans Wenzel
design engineer - Huntington Beach, California

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Hello Hans, I work for a plater and before that I worked for a design office. It is difficult to aesthetically define gloss, color and brush. The best way is to qualify a master sample with the plater. If you have a good plater, you will not have a bad surprise. Do not search for a complex solution, you will lose your time. Nicolas Nicolas Duthil - Bordeaux, France June 9, 2008

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