When you have to pick between nickel and chrome plating you need to know that they are not always two options. Sometimes nickel and chrome plating are used together. The decision really depends on what the part’s supposed to do and what properties it needs to have. Nickel and chrome plating are used for reasons so you have to think about what you want nickel and chrome plating to do for your part.
Nickel plating is really useful when we need to stop things from corroding. It makes a layer of metal on the surface. This layer can be made thicker than the layer made by chrome. A lot of the time nickel plating is used by itself. This is especially true for parts that are used in industries where how something looks is not important. Things like components and metal fittings often use nickel plating. This is also true for equipment and other similar parts. When you look at something that has nickel plating the surface is metallic and clean. However it does not reflect a lot of light. Nickel plating is still really good at protecting these things from corrosion.
Chrome plating is used to protect the surface. The decorative chrome is really thin. Does not stop things from corroding on its own. Usually it is put on top of nickel. The chrome layer is good because it reduces wear on the surface and stops the nickel layer from getting damaged. You can see this kind of finish on parts that people touch a lot or that get bumped around a bit. Chrome plating is good for these things because the chrome layer helps keep the nickel safe.
Hard chrome plating is really different from other types of chrome plating. Hard chrome plating is put on in layers. This is because hard chrome plating is used to make things last longer when they are being used a lot.
Hard chrome plating is used on things, like rods and industrial shafts and molds and machine components. The reason hard chrome plating is used on these things is to make them last longer.
The finish of hard chrome plating is not meant to look good. It is meant to be functional. Hard chrome plating is not used to make things look pretty.
Electroless nickel plating is really useful for things that have lots of shapes. This method makes sure that the coating is spread out evenly and it helps to keep the thickness of the coating right on parts with lots of details. Electroless nickel plating is especially good at this because it can get into all the areas that other methods might miss.
In actual use, the choice between nickel and chrome plating depends on how the part is used and the conditions it will face.
