AST Blog

Gold Plating Services Gold plating refers to applying a thin layer of gold on the surface of an object made of another metal. The metals that are most frequently gold plated are copper and silver. This process can be done by either chemical or electrochemical plating. Even though gold is a very expensive metal, gold-plating may prove to be much cheaper than you would have expected. This is due to the fact that the layer of gold is usually very thin, so there is not that much material used. For jewelry, gold plating is used in order to ensure the durability of each piece, especially for those made of corrosive materials. Depending on the type of gold and on the thickness of the gold layer, this process may extend the life of jewelry by several years. Surely, this frame of time also depends on the way in which jewelry is Read more

Advanced Surface Technologies Inc, known as AST are specialists, providing metal finishing services, particularly of Electroless Nickel Plating and Gold Plating. Serving Colorado and across the nation, for the past forty- six years, it was formerly Front Range Plating and Swiss Lenox since it the business was started, in 1967. This high quality metal finishing company plates with electroless plating on nickel silver with Silver plating Gold plating Tin plating Magnesium plating Electrolytic nickel plating Passivation Chemical conversion coatings Among the regular AST customers are OEM’s and high- end machine shops all of whose quality requirements have to be of the highest standard. About Gold Plating Many jewelry manufacturers manufacture costume jewelry that is gold plated, providing a market for less affluent customers to wear and look good in look-alike less costly jewelry. These are often set with synthetic laboratory manufactured stones, giving great opportunity for matching appropriate pieces to Read more

An ISO 9001-2008 Registered Company Boron Nitride Electroless Nickel AST offers one of the most technologically advanced plating composites in industry – Boron Nitride Electroless Nickel (BNEN). The process incorporates Boron Nitride particles into a medium-phosphorus Electroless Nickel deposit in thicknesses ranging from .00005-.002 inches.  BNEN is ideal for parts that require both hardness as well as lubricity and can be plated on Aluminum, Copper, Brass, Magnesium, Stainless Steel and Steel. Benefits include exceptionally low coefficient of friction, superior release and high abrasion resistance.  Unlike EN-PTFE, another process that provides excellent lubricity, BNEN deposits can be heat treated to attain maximum hardness for very severe wear applications. Deposit characteristics Physical appearance:  Matte VHN (Vickers Hardness) as plated:  550 VHN, heat treated 20 min @ 400ºC (750º F):  850 High abrasion resistance Heat treatable Melting range 880-1200º C (1620-2190 º F) Magnetic Properties:  Magnetic Uniform Boron Nitride Particle Distribution 6-8% by Read more

What is Electroless Nickel Plating?  This is  high quality metal finish on Nickel by the firm of AST. (Advanced Surface Technologies, Inc). AST specializes in electroless nickel plating as well as silver and tin plating, plating on magnesium, passivation and chemical conversion coatings. Quality control  Priding themselves of keeping up a high standard of quality control in their workplace, and having been in the metal finishing service since 1968, they are well qualified in their profession.  Many of their customer’s are top machine shops requiring stringent precision in their finishes. AST is the biggest nickel plating firm in Colorado, with as many as seven operating lines to accommodate the variety of substrates and sizes for plating. Furthermore, they are the largest area specialists in plating silver, gold and platinum. The art of Electroless Plating Electroless Plating is a very specialized and exact profession and there is no room for error. Read more