Narrator: Welcome back! You're watching Ship Shape TV.
Boat improvement made easy!
John: Fantastic! We are
so thrilled that you're still with us at this time.
Where just before the break
we were showing how bronze
thru-hull fittings get cast
and then machined.
And where we really left off was we were
showing you how the thread
on the thru-hull fitting gets cut
into it. And we've since moved locations.
We're now in the final
prep area for the plating process.
Again we have the privilege of having
Wolf Henning on the program.
And Wolf is the director
of engineering out here at Perko Incorporated.
And Wolf I want to
talk about how and
why - you put some type
of a finish over top of the bronze.
First off, why do you do this?
Wolf: Well it's basically for aesthetics.
And a lot of customers and boat builders
have requested that we chrome plate these thru-hulls.
So that when their thru-hull
is on the side on the hull,
you don't have that green line running down
from a bare bronze thru-hull.
It makes it much prettier.
John: Bare bronze will turn green
over time and you don't want that to drip.
Okay let's talk about the process. Where does it begin?
Wolf: It begins in the racking room.
The ladies clean the parts manually clean the parts
and then they're placed on copper racks.
And sent down to the conveyor to the plating.
John: What are the racks made from?
Wolf: The racks are made from copper so that
they can conduct electricity.
John: The plating process is based
on electricity
and it's really really fascinating.
But let's kind of go down the
line here. What has to
happen to the part prior to dipping it
into any type of tank with electric current in it?
Wolf: We go through a number of
cleaning processes.
We go through an alkaline cleaner,
and then a degreaser,
and a electro cleaner and then
we have the first thing is a copper strike.
Wolf: Okay, how much copper
are we putting over top of the bronze?
Wolf: Just a few mills (millimeters).
John: Okay so it's very very thin.
Wolf: Very thin.
John: And what's it function?
Wolf: It's function is to promote adhesion with
the other metals that we've deposited
in later stages.
John: Okay, can we talk about actually
what's going into the tank
and the process of how
copper kind of transfers
over to the part?
Where do you put the copper first off?
Wolf: The copper nuggets are suspended in
the tank in a solution in the tank
from an anode rod.
And there's current, approximately
400 Amps, that float
between the anode rod and the cathode.
And the cathode is
where the racks, the plated
racks, are suspended from.
John: And this is electroplating?
Wolf: Correct.
John: Now how do you get the next layer
of metal to stick?
Do you have to sand it?
Do you have to buff it or what?
Wolf: We have an acid etch. After
the copper there's an acid etch.
Which will promote the adhesion
of the next layer which is a
semi-bright nickel.
The next tank is a bright nickel.
Where brightener has been added
to the nickel tank.
And that makes the part look nice
and bright and shiny already.
John: The nickel, these are nuggets, okay and
that's the same right in both of these tanks?
Wolf: Correct.
John: But the brightener what is that like a solution?
Wolf: It's a solution that's added into the tank.
John: Okay, very cool.
Now again some rinsing takes place
and we've got to put it into
what's called "Chromium"?
Wolf: Yes. Before it goes under
the Chromium it gets to be activated
with a nickel activator and
from there it goes into a rinse tank
and then goes into the Chromium tank
where the final layer of chrome is applied.
John: Wolf how many thru-hull fittings are you
guys making a year here at Perko?
Wolf: Probably hundreds of thousands.
(*swoosh*)