Prices of plating jobs can be affected by several factors. Knowing these can help you prepare for a quote for your specific part and help avoid any unpleasant surprises.

Part Geometry and Batch Size

Parts with complex shapes, deep recesses, or internal bores are harder to process, to rack, and to inspect than simple flat parts. The batch size also has an influence on the processing costs: a single part (a prototype) costs more per piece than 50 identical parts of the same size (a batch).

Coating Thickness and Phosphorus Grade

Thicker coatings require more chemicals to be added to the tank as well as more time to deposit. In addition, the phosphorus content of the coating has an impact on the price of the coating. Higher phosphorus coatings require the plating solution to be more managed on a day to day basis and the chemicals used are generally more expensive than those used to deposit a mid phosphorus coating. It is therefore wise to specify the minimum amount of phosphorus required to meet the application.

Pre-Treatment and Masking Requirements

Parts that arrive at the plant contaminated, corroded or even over machined require additional processing prior to plating. Items that require masking also cost proportionally to the intricacy of the mask. Items with threaded holes or bearing faces that require plating all within very tight clearances are examples of items that will cost more due to the time it will take to create and apply the masking.

Substrate Material and Its Condition

All substrates can be plated, including steel, aluminium, copper and many other exotic alloys. Most require special pretreatment before nickel plating can begin. Aluminium, for example, requires a zincate prior to nickel electroless plating. Parts that arrive at a plater in very poor condition to begin with cost much more to plate than parts which arrive in excellent condition and are dimensionally stable.

Getting Like-for-Like Quotes

A clear written specification covering material, thickness, phosphorus content, masking out, and batch size is the best way to get quotes that are comparable. The nickel compounds used in the process are subject to workplace exposure limits, and hence the process requires good ventilation and monitoring. These costs are reflected in the price of the plating process. So, prepare a tight specification and quotes should be easy to compare and should not increase when the work is actually carried out.

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With a tight specification you can more easily compare prices and there is less likelihood of them increasing when actually putting the work into progress.