Colour Finishes on Stainless Steel Electroplating and Candy Coating

Why Not Just Paint It

Paint sits on top of the metal and flattens the reflection, so a painted sphere reads as a plastic object almost immediately. The three routes we use, vacuum metallising, electroplating and candy colour spray over a metallised base, all keep the depth of the metal underneath, which is why coloured stainless steel still looks like metal rather than like a coloured ball.

See Colour Plated Stainless Steel Ball

Vacuum Metallising

A metallised layer is applied under vacuum. On its own it produces bright metallic finishes, and it also provides the base for transparent candy colours. It is the usual starting point when the finish has to hold a metallic reading at a distance rather than a specific flat colour.

Electroplating

Electroplating is used where the colour has to be deep and even across a large curve. Gold and rose tones in particular are difficult to make convincing by spraying, and plating gives them the density they need. Our gold and rose gold pieces are made this way.

Candy Colour Spray

Transparent and matt candy colours are sprayed over a metallised base. Because the colour is transparent, the metal underneath still contributes to the finish, and the shade can be tuned rather than picked from a fixed list. Where the colour matters we supply a sample before the batch runs, because a shade on a mirror curve rarely looks like the same shade on a flat swatch.

See Stainless Steel Seamless Double - Colour Hollow Ball Sculpture

Colour Does Not Replace Grade

A coating is not a substitute for the right steel. If the piece stands near the sea or beside a pool, specify AISI 316 under the colour. The base grade stays your choice on every coloured item in the catalogue.

Matching a Set

Colour drifts between production runs, and on a graded set that drift is immediately visible. Order the whole run together so it is coated in one batch. This is the same rule as for mirror polishing and it is the most common reason a set bought in stages looks wrong on site.