Surface Requirement Review
The chrome requirement was mapped to a machining and polishing sequence before cutting.
Polished and Chrome Plated Parts for openQCM
RapidDirect machined and finished the enclosure and sensor parts for openQCM's quartz crystal microbalance, delivering polished chrome parts in five days.
- Process
- CNC Machining
- Materials
- Aluminum & PTFE (Teflon)
- Finish
- Polishing
- Parts
- Enclosure and sensor mount components
Background
A Surface That Decides the Measurement
openQCM is an open-source quartz crystal microbalance used in universities and research centres in more than 50 countries. Its parts carry high cosmetic and surface requirements, and its build-on-order model leaves no room for a slow supplier.
Key challenges
Bright Chrome Requirement
The design needed bright chrome plating over prepared surfaces.
Five-Day Delivery
Devices are built on order, so parts cannot sit in a queue.
Low Volume Runs
Runs are small, which most finishing lines do not want.
How the QCM Parts Were Machined and Finished
Four-axis machining held the geometry, then polishing prepared the surfaces for plating.
4-Axis CNC Machining
Enclosure and sensor parts were machined to the tolerance the instrument needs.
Polishing and Plating
Parts were polished and chrome plated, then inspected before dispatch.
Parts Delivered in Five Days
The polished and chrome plated set arrived inside the five-day window openQCM needed.
After delivery
Ready for a Build-on-Order Line
Because the finish met spec on the first pass, the parts went into assembly without a rework loop.
5-day delivery on polished and chrome plated parts
Customer perspective
Rapid Direct fully meets our demands and construction requirements.
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