Background information

Not everything electroless nickel plated has a practical or engineering application, but when approached by artist and sculptor David Mach, NiTEC did not shy away from the challenge. Wire coat hangers had been bent, twisted and welded together to form the Spaceman, one of a number of sculptures done in this way. The hangers were already zinc coated, but as the welding had removed some of the coating, the corrosion protection afforded was negligible.

What we did

Electroless nickel plating was chosen as it would access all the tiny areas formed by the sculpture. The size, surface area and fragility of the component also needed to be addressed. The statue came in three parts, with an internal support structure. As NiTEC handle very large engineering components, an oversize tank was used to plate the article, thus giving sufficient solution capacity to address the surface area. The internal supports were used for jigging purposes, which meant that the fragile exterior of the structure did not have to be handled. Finally, after electroless nickel plating, a thin lacquer was applied and baked on in the furnace, to maintain the appearance of the electroless nickel coating while the statue was on show.

Return to the case studies page

 

Contact us about your plating requirements:

You can contact an individual member of the team at NiTEC - see our 'contact us' page to talk through your plating requirements, or use one of the following options below:

Take a look at a map of where we are based here (Close to junction 29 on the M1 motorway.) 

Email us here

Request a brochure to be sent to you

NiTEC are constantly improving the service offered to our customers and we value feedback, please take a moment and fill in our customer survey.