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Chrome plating inspection criteria

Hello All,

Does anyone know where to get inspection criteria for Chrome plating plastic components?

Right now, my customer has 3 trained inspectors to subjectively look at incoming parts and reject parts they don't "feel" meet their standards.

Want to have something more industry standard to present to them

thanks!

Wilson Chiu
Contract Manufacturer - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2007

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2007

"Standards & Guidelines for Electroplated Plastics" is a good book to have on hand if you are electroplating plastic, and it includes a lot of info on testing -- but not aesthetic requirements. The buyer decides what is acceptable and usually you need to prepare "sample boards" to try to quantify this to the degree possible. It's never easy.

Years ago one of the Big 3 automakers decided that their assemblers were empowered to reject components if they felt them unsuitable for any reason; some assemblers decided that truck bumpers could not have a single tiny gas pit or subtle discoloration across the entire surface, which was a tall order and caused quite a bit of strife.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
Need quick confidential answers? $25
Need project assistance? $100/hr.

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Where appearance is the criteria, the only way to solve the inspection problem is with a series of samples showing what is acceptable - and what is not. This will require thought and negotiation. Nothing is ever perfect - even my wife, but she's surely "acceptable". :-)

Jeffrey Holmes, CEF
Spartanburg, South Carolina
2007

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