No cost, no registration, no passwords -- just aloha, fun & authoritative answers
(as an eBay Partner & Amazon Affiliate we earn from qualifying purchases)

Where the
world gathers for metal finishing
Q&As since 1989

-----

Electroless Copper Tape Mask

I work for an aerospace company and am doing selective plating on a composite antenna housing. I use vinyl and teflon tape to mask off certain areas and deposit about 50 microinches of electroless copper. Then strip the tape mask off and subsequently deposit another 2 mils of electroless nickel only where the copper is present. The masking works fine, except the electroless copper will also plate over the tape which has poor adhesion to the tape and the copper peels off in the plating bath and creates copper foil debris when removing the tape. Question, is there a tape mask material that can seal well against compound curve geometry and will not except electroless copper plate (remain free of plating), or if it does plate, will have good enough adhesion not to come off in the bath or during de-taping?

Stephen Gonya
Aerospace Electronics - Owego, New York
2006

finishing.com is possible thanks to our supporting advertisers, including:

(No "dead threads" here! If this page isn't currently on the Hotline your Q, A, or Comment will restore it)

Q, A, or Comment on THIS thread -or- Start a NEW Thread

Disclaimer: It's not possible to fully diagnose a finishing problem or the hazards of an operation via these pages. All information presented is for general reference and does not represent a professional opinion nor the policy of an author's employer. The internet is largely anonymous & unvetted; some names may be fictitious and some recommendations might be harmful.

If you are seeking a product or service related to metal finishing, please check these Directories: