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Im looking to have something either powder coated or chrome plated. Ive heard powder coating is the toughest longest lasting coating you can get, but not sure if thats true or not. I have seen plenty of chrome plated pieces in my time, get flaky.
Both are highly resistant to chemicals and so forth. Chrome is brittle; powdercoat is flexible.
All things being equal, I'd lean towards powdercoating because it's far more forgiving of the surface finish. Chrome on unpolished metal looks like crap.
OP, why are you proposing to coat this part? Appearance? Rust prevention? Abrasion resistance? Surface hardness?
What environments will it be exposed to? Road grit? Grease, oil? Solvents? Harsh chemicals? High/low temperatures?
Subject to being hit or impacted? What is the substrate material? Is it something subject to flexing, or is it highly rigid? Do you have the possibility to polish the substrate highly before coating? For that matter, is it preferable for the end product to have a highly mirror-like finish, slight matte, heavy matte, as-forged or as-cast finish, or is there no preference for the end product's surface finish? Is it subject to abrasion or surface wear?
There are SO many possible coatings. Half a volume of the Tool and Manufacturing Engineers Handbook is devoted to coatings and that's only the very most high-level summary of each.
Paint: solvent-borne (lacquer, enamel)
Paint: two part catalyzed (Imron, etc.)
Powder coating: many different materials and processes
Hardcoat anodizing (aluminum)
Decorative anodizing, clear or in colors (Al only)
Zinc plating with chromate conversion coating
Dacromet zinc flake coating
Zinc galvanizing
Nickel electroplating
Electroless nickel
Decorative chrome (over a copper flash, typically)
hard chrome
Black hard chrome
Brass plate with lacquer overcoat
Black phosphate, oiled
Black oxide, oiled
Parkerizing
Rubberized coatings (think pickup bed liners)
---and many, many more
Each of these coatings performs spectacularly well in the applications for which it's well suited, and poorly in applications for which it's not well suited.
If the OP was an engineer, he'd know to ask a more specific question. Asking which is the "stronger coating"... is nearly meaningless.
Powder coating and chrome plating are both great. There are lots of other choices too. What's "best" depends on what you're doing with it, and what properties you want.
I can say that if you're doing a salt spray corrosion test, powder coating beats chrome plating hands down. But if you powder coat an exhaust pipe... it won't last long
Last edited by turkey-head; 05-22-2019 at 08:47 PM..
I can say that if you're doing a salt spray corrosion test, powder coating beats chrome plating hands down. But if you powder coat an exhaust pipe... it won't last long
Both are highly resistant to chemicals and so forth. Chrome is brittle; powdercoat is flexible.
All things being equal, I'd lean towards powdercoating because it's far more forgiving of the surface finish. Chrome on unpolished metal looks like crap.
I would also guess it would be powdercoat, at least in external automotive applications, exposed to water and salt. I do think that either one fails within a decade at least, and some far sooner, depending on the quality of the coating (not all equal). Failure is more obvious on chrome with that silvery reflective finish and the way it typically flakes off, than a typical black powdercoat job.
I would also guess it would be powdercoat, at least in external automotive applications, exposed to water and salt. I do think that either one fails within a decade at least, and some far sooner, depending on the quality of the coating (not all equal). Failure is more obvious on chrome with that silvery reflective finish and the way it typically flakes off, than a typical black powdercoat job.
Well, it's pointless to speculate until and if OP ever returns to provide useful information.
People are generally looking for a simple no-thought-required answer. It rarely exists.
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