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Topic Date User

T-nuts for bouldering wall 24-Nov-2007 At 1:45:14 PM AlanD

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On 17/11/2007 Paul wrote:
>Dose anyone know what, if any the difference between galvanizing and zink
>plating is?

Poor terminology really. Gavanising is an industrial process used to protect one metal, by applying a sacrificial metal layer, also known as galvanic protection. Zinc plating is purely a process where a layer of zinc is used to coat another metal. In other words both terms refer to both the common coating process.

What is commonly called galvanising should be called hot dipped galvanising and zinc plating should be refered to as zinc electroplating.

With hot dipped galvanising, the base metal (usually iron or steel) is dipped into a bath of molten zinc. This process results in a thick course coating of zinc, the actual thickness can be controlled by the temperature of the molten zinc and chemical additives.

With "zinc plating" they are usually talking about the electroplating of zinc onto the base metal (usually iron or steel). The zinc is added to the bath via zinc salts and the zinc form metal ions. Using an electric current, the zinc ions are attracted to the base metal and the zinc plates onto the base metal. With this form of coating the zinc layer is usually very thin, hence not ideally suited for outdoor use.

Other forms of zinc plating also exist, such as vapour deposition, but the above two are the two primary methods of coating.