Our most common use for (acid) copper is for coating parts which we can't polish to a mirror finish for chrome plating, (they may be too thin to remove the marks or of poor quality metal).

Copper is the best material for this as it deposits quickly, covers marks well and is easily polished. We do not ordinarily use copper in chrome plating because of it's corrosive effect on steel, for more information see our information on the copper myth.

Another form of copper plating is cyanide copper, we use this to plate zinc alloy parts (door handles etc) as the material they are made of dissolves in acid, so they cannot be plated in ordinary plating solutions. The cyanide copper coating protects the part from plating solutions in subsequent plating.

How We Copper Plate

Before any work can be plated it has to have the correct preperation.

Cyanide copper is plated directly onto items, however, acid copper cannot be plated directly onto steel, so a layer of cyanide copper or nickel needs to be applied first.

Once plated copper can be polished, or can be oxidised to achieve 'antique' finishes.