Borough Chrome, as the name perhaps suggests, is renowned the world over for our ability to apply a bright chrome plate to the surface of plastic components, to ensure they match the durability of the metal parts they are designed to replace
Since we perfected the technique in the 1970s, our clients have sent a huge variety of plastic components of all shapes and sizes, to be chrome plated at our Leigh-on-Sea facility. Given our experience, we advised the manufacturers of the plastic components on how to design specifically for chrome plating, which required a different approach.
Recognising the difficulty to achieve a consistently high-quality finish that can be introduced to the plating process when parts are not designed for the purpose, we took the important decision to invest in our own injection moulding machines.
Building our own mould shop
In May 2002 our first machine, a Sandretto [acquired by ROMI in 2008] UK3020, was installed and commissioned, since which time it has recorded almost 100,000 hours of consistent injection moulding service.
This machine was the perfect starting point for our mould shop, with its 130-ton clamp pressure and 410 x 410 mm space between the tie-bars, allowing us to successfully mould and plate a range of smaller ABS components.
Now able to ensure each component was designed to be chrome plated and with control over the moulding process, the quality of the completed chrome-plated parts reached the heights for which Borough Chrome is renowned today.
Recognising the strong position this total control of the process gave us, we have continued to invest in our mould shop, with machines from Sandretto, ROMI and Engel quickly enlarging our growing plant inventory, which currently stands at:
- ROMI EN70
- ROMI EN220
- ROMI EN300
- Sandretto 130s
- Sandretto 230s
- Sandretto 230hp
- Sandretto 230hp
- Engel 300v
- Engel 300vp
- Engel 400c
Over time, to suit specific contracts across a range of sectors, from automotive to washroom, we have specified machines that ensure we can achieve a wide range of component sizes, which are generally limited by the distance between the tie-bars.
The size of components we can mould, changed significantly with the arrival of the Engel 400C, a tie-bar-less injection moulding machine that ensures a particularly even clamping force distribution across larger tools.
Without the tie-bars restricting access to the platen, we can accommodate tools capable of injection moulding components as large as the two-part chrome front grill cover moulding trim or the single piece grill surround for MINI, both of which measure almost a metre in length.
Importantly, this particular technically advanced Engel was also our first ‘2-shot’ machine. This technology allows us to provide plastic components with complex ‘B’ surfaces, that only have chrome selectively applied, to ensure parts that need to flex such as tabs, still can.
At the time of writing, our machines have collectively recorded almost 500,000 operating hours, or an incredible 30 million minutes. Given a minute is closer to the cycle time of most of the components we mould, this gives you some idea of the scale our injection moulding operation.
When you consider we still chrome plate plastic components supplied to us and some of the components we mould are in pairs in the tool, you start to get an impression of the overall scale of Borough Chrome and our impact on the industry.
If you are designing injection moulded components for a project, whether they are to be chrome-plated or not, we have the expertise and the experience to help you get the best results, whilst shortening your supply chain thanks to our UK-based facility. Please get in touch, we love to discuss moulding and chrome plating.
