How does electroless nickel compare to chrome?
A. To describe all the differences would be laborious, but in short, autocatalytic nickel, also known as electroless nickel, is a chemical reduction process, as apposed to chrome, which is electrolytic; meaning: All surfaces which are wetted by the autocatalytic nickel are plated uniformly, whereas chrome, or any other electrolytic process, will have difficulty plating internal bores and complex shapes. This uneven plating is mainly due to a phenomenon called Faraday Cage. As for hardness, corrosion resistance, magnetism, lubricity, etc., it depends on what process the plating shop salesperson is trying to sell you on. Our experience has found that high phosphorus electroless nickel with post plate bake, for the vast majority of our customers is proper.
