Nickel Plating is an extremely useful process that offers many beneficial properties. Nickel is deposited electrolitically and results in a relatively uniform dense coating of pure nickel. Nickel can be made to plate with little or no stress and is therefore used in aerospace applications where stress needs to be at a minimum. It is also often used in aerospace applications where resizing is the objective. Nickel plating also offers more wearability than softer metals such as copper or zinc and thus can be used when wear resistance is needed. Because nickel is magnetic, nickel can be used where the ability to be magnetized is needed.

Bright nickel is most commonly used to take advantage of nickel’s corrosion protection properties and obtain a degree of wearability. It can also be used as an undercoating for chrome plating to achieve a smooth bright finish.

Semi-bright or sulfamate nickel is often used to obtain a high leveling and ductile deposit.