Starting Zinc Plating Line

We manufacture ring joint gaskets, used in the oil, gas and petro-chem fields, which require a cadium or zinc plating on all carbon steel gaskets. After the gaskets have been final machined the plating process is next. What are the recommened steps to applying a .0005 thick layer of zinc plating to our finished machined gaskets. What are the first steps we should take in preparing to start building our plating line.

As a general rule, you're better off following the example of the Fortune 500 and farming your plating out to jobshops these days unless there is a special reason (not economics) to not do so.

Reading my on-line article "Plating Shops for the 90's and Beyond" is a good first step. Good luck.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

For a company with no hands on experience, you hire a consultant who can do the preliminary presentation and if it is a go, get the required permits and supervise the construction and then train the operators. It is not brain surgery, but it is not a "just dip it" operation either. There are lots of places to get nailed by local, state and federal environmental folks. Penalties are significan for as mundane a thing as filling out the paperwork wrong.

PS, different EPA regions interpret the same law in different manners. I go with Ted, if you can find a local shop that will serve your needs, it will be cheaper in the long run to contract it out.