Plating and Colour Matching
Colour is the single most common hardware complaint, and it is almost never one part being wrong. It is two parts being right in slightly different ways.
The Route in 5 Stages
What Goes Wrong and What We Do About It
Screen colour and printed colour both lie about metal.
We work from a physical plated sample or your own approved part, not from an image.
Plating copies the surface underneath it instead of hiding it.
Castings are deburred and polished before plating, which is why shiny nickel and shiny silver are the finishes to judge a supplier on.
Two parts plated on different days rarely match exactly.
All parts for one bill of materials are plated in the same batch when they are ordered together, which is the only reliable way to match a set.
Fashion colours like rainbow and light antique brass drift between suppliers.
Nickel, gunmetal, black nickel, gold, light gold, rose gold, antique brass and rainbow are all run on our own line rather than subcontracted.
Next season's order has to match this season's stock.
The colour plate from the approved run is kept on file and used as the reference for the repeat.
Categories This Covers
Plating and Colour Matching Questions
Answers to the questions buyers ask before they order.
Where Does This Process Usually Lose Time
Sample approval. Approving from a photograph instead of the physical part is what causes a second sample round, and that costs more days than tooling does.
What Do You Need From Me to Start
The part type, the inner width, the material, the finish and the quantity per colour. If there is no drawing, a photo or a physical sample is enough and our mould team prepares the 3D design free of charge.
How Fast Can the First Order Ship
Stock goods can leave within one day, normal goods take 2 to 10 days, general orders are quoted at 15 to 20 days and fully customised goods at 25 to 35 days.
Start With Plating and Colour Matching
Send what you have, even if it is only a photograph of a part you already buy. The first reply will tell you whether an existing catalogue style can be modified, which is the cheapest and fastest route.