Stripping PVD Coating
Can you give me any suggestions for stripping the gold colored PVD? Alternately can the PVD layer be activated so gold can be plated over it?
Q. I have been asked to refinish a number of watchcases. They are gold colored and are made of stainless steel. The gold tone is due to a physical vapor deposition (PVD) process. Can you give me any suggestions for stripping the gold colored PVD? Alternately can the PVD layer be activated so gold can be plated over it? C.A.
A. The gold colored PVD coating is titanium nitride. It can be stripped from stainless steel using the following solution.
Hydrofluoric acid is nasty stuff to work with so use caution when working with this solution.
Component
Concentration
Hydrofluoric acid
1 part
Water
1 part
Another formulation that is reported to work well is as follows:
Component
Concentration
Hydrogen peroxide
1 part
Ammonium hydroxide
1 part
Water
1 part
I am not aware of any method for activating the PVD layer. Perhaps one of our readers has some insight into to this?
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