Posted by Chuck(G) on February 04, 2001 at 16:39:02:
In Reply to: Zirconium plating posted by DaveC on February 04, 2001 at 10:43:23:
You're probably referring to what's called PVD in the finishing trade for Physical Vapor Deposition. The most commonly-seen coating is the golden coating on the end of drill bits which is PVD Titanium Nitride. A variety of materials can be so deposited to give anything from a gold to a blue metallic color.
PVD coatings are only a few microns thick and very very hard.
I don't know if you could PVD coat thin brass satisfactorily or not.
But it'd make a great coating for mouthpieces and finger buttons. I believe that Willson trombone slides are TiN PVD-coated instead of chromium-plated. The equipment to do PVD is pretty expensive.