Seppanen Gordy asked:

>Can Beryllium (Be) be electro-formed or electroplated?  Can it also be
>deposited by electroless, vapor phase, or any other means other than adhesive
>laminations?  We make a part out of Be which is expensive to manufacture due
>to the toxicity of Be dust when it is machined.  I would like to make the part
>out of another material and coat it with Be.
>
>Is it feasible?

Never heard of plating it, and I'm sure the toxicity of the metal salts in
a plating bath would be an environmental issue (rinsing, etc.).

I would guess that it can be sputtered. You might try contacting MRC or
Perkin-Elmer, they used to be the leaders in that type equipment. I know
you can sputter titanium and tungsten ore even co-sputter alloys from
multiple targets. You are talking big bucks for a sputter coating rig, but
I know there are people who sputter gold and other coatings on aircraft
parts on a contract basis.

There is a little place in Dallas called Sputtertex 214-620-0022 who used
to do some metal coatings for us in my Mostek days. They still seem to be
listed in the phone book. You'd probably have to get them some sort of
target material.

But would the thin coating produce the properties you need, i.e. stiffness,
light weight, etc.?


cheers,

Jerry Cupples


Jerry Cupples - [log in to unmask]
Interphase Corporation
13800 Senlac Dr.
Dallas TX 75234
(214) 654-5150
(214) 654-5500 FAX


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