Canadian Finishing and Coatings Manufacturing: Nov/Dec 2022 - 31

PLATING AND ANODIZING: ELECTROPLATING MASKING SOLUTION
FORM
AND
FUNCTION
Problem: A very manual, labourintensive
masking process that was
costly and inconsistent.
Solution: A custom NBR rubber
cap that's reusable over several
electroplating cycles.
E
veryone suffers from the same issues when it comes
to masking-how much time and labour can one
afford to mask a part properly. And if it's not masked
properly the repercussions of the rework, or worse,
the need to scrap a part, can be far more costly than investing in
a custom solution. That is the scenario Etobicoke, Ont.-based
Autotek Electroplating Ltd. was facing when it took on a new
project for one of its automotive manufacturing customers.
Established in 1921 as Dovercourt Electroplating Company
Ltd., this family run business has continuously expanded
throughout the years and is currently owned by the third
and fourth generation. From its humble beginning with four
employees operating in a 1,200-sq.-ft. facility in Toronto, what
is now called Dovercourt Finishing Group employs 130 and
operates out of two facilities with six fully automated plating
machines.
Located in the same industrial park, the company's Autotek
division specializes in high volume rack zinc plating in a
26,000-sq-ft. facility, and its Olympic Coaters Ltd. business is
dedicated to high volume nickel plating in a 28,000-sq.-ft. facility.
One project Autotek took on was for a part of a seat component
that its customer manufactures. " It required masking on both
ends of the wire part. We quoted it and then had to figure out how
to do it afterward, " says Robert Edwards, president of Dovercourt.
" I anticipated that we could use rack tooling to mask one portion
and then use some sort of masking for the more complicated
right-angle section of the wire. "
The wire part has a 90-degree bend at one end and the left
hand and right hand parts are different dimensions and have
different masked areas. They first looked at physically taping the
part, but it was not consistent. The company also tried various
tube materials but they would not easily pass the 90-degree bend.
So lastly they turned to an off-the-shelf vinyl dip that could be
painted on the part, brushed or the part could be dipped.
" It was quite a wasteful process. You had to dip it and hang it to
semi-cure the mask before the process. It was effective; however
the removal of the masking was difficult and labour intensive
as you had to do it all by hand, " says Edwards. " You had to cut it
or score it, peel it and rotate the piece. The masking was quite
expensive and there was more variability because it was hand
dipped. And if it wasn't dipped properly it had to be reworked. "
Having had a long working relationship with Caplugs,
Edwards' team turned to masking company for help in finding a
solution. The Caplugs team had several suggestions and explored
different materials such as silicone versus rubber.
" We go through a discovery stage where I'll interview the
customer on what they do, the environment and temperatures
used, " says Mike Malek, industrial account manager for Caplugs
in Canada. " Once we have that data, we can determine what
is the best material to go with. Silicone can withstand high
temperatures, but we went with the NBR [nitrile rubber] as a
solution for the material because it has a very good resistance
to the acids used during electroplating. The temperatures [they
were operating at] were below the threshold for rubber, so there
wasn't the need to use silicone. We were able to save them money
November/December 2022
31
Canadian Finishing and Coatings Manufacturing: Nov/Dec 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Finishing and Coatings Manufacturing: Nov/Dec 2022
