Do Plating and Painting Thicknesses Matter?

The dimensions on almost all drawings for machined components are assumed to be after plating. However, plating thicknesses generally only matter when machining parts with tight tolerances (<0.001″). Most plating processes only add a couple tenths or less (<0.0002″) of thickness per side. This includes chromate conversion, Type II anodizing, and electroless nickel plating. Measuring…

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Anodizing Thicknesses

This is a bit of an oversimplification, but when a part gets anodized, the anodize layer forms halfway into and halfway above the original surface.  So if a drawing calls for 0.002″ of anodizing, then the part will “grow” in size by 0.001″ per side of the part.  For example, if a raw part is…

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