Graphite Additive Manufacturing, a supplier of 3D printed parts produced in high performance materials, has entered a partnership with plating providers BJS Company. The company says that as 3D printing technologies are increasingly used in the design and development cycle of new products, customer demand for improved overall part appearance and for functional models to more closely and aesthetically resemble the final part is seen to be growing.
Graphite Additive Manufacturing is a supplier of 3D printed parts produced in high performance materials and revealed its partnership with leading plating providers BJS Company last month. Established over 60 years ago, BJS Company is a precious metal electroforming and electroplating company. The plating services offered by BJS Company include gold, silver, rhodium, copper or bright nickel and this new partnership now allows Graphite to offer these metal finishes to customers on 3D printed parts.
BJS Company’s experience in plating coupled with Graphite’s experience in 3D printing technologies means that the companies can say the partnership will offer customers an individual finish on designs from jewellery and works of art, through to medical research models and functional prototype parts.
Electroplating can enhance the decorative appearance of a part with a beautiful metallic, polished finish as well as the functional strength, stiffness and durability through the application of a thin coat of the chosen metal.
Electroplating is a process that uses electrical current to reduce dissolved metal cations so that they form a coherent metal coating on an electrode. The term is also used for electrical oxidation of anions onto a solid substrate, as in the formation of silver chloride on silver wire to make silver / silver-chloride electrodes. Electroplating is primarily used to change the surface properties of an object – e.g. abrasion and wear resistance, corrosion protection, lubricity, aesthetic qualities, etc. – but may also be used to build up thickness on undersized parts or to form objects by electroforming. Electroplating can be offered on both stereolithography and sintered parts.
