Bronze plating in cutlery manufacture.

The quality and aesthetic appeal of imported cast bronze cutlery has been assessed and found to be inferior to cutlery of U.K. origin produced from traditional materials. Gold coloured finishes on traditional cutlery were popular indicating that bronze plated cutlery should be marketable.Samples which were bronze plated using commercial processes were found to be as good or superior to the cast bronze product with respect to tarnish resistance. The wear properties of bronze coatings as a whole were superior to those of electrodeposited silver which is used extensively in cutlery production.A new commercial bronze plating bath was assessed for the production of cutlery. The effect of electrolyte pH and current density on deposit composition and distribution were investigated.In production it would be necessary to tightly control the tin content of the bronze deposit at about twenty percent to achieve a satisfactory colour, tarnish resistance and ductility. This would necessitate changes to theelectrolyte to maintain chemical stability. A modified electrolyte composition has been proposed.