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Plating Barrels designed and manufactured in the UK, supplied worldwide

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Our Customers Say

We have been using Eagle Engineering’s barrels for many years, with multiple barrels still in service after 20+ years of usage. The Eagle dangler cables last a long time and offer excellent value.

Group Project/ Engineering Manager, Large Independent UK Finishing Company

Barrel cylinder with loading door open

Plating Barrel Cylinder Construction

Experience and testing has proved that there is no more cost effective, hard wearing and robust material than Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene for manufacturing electroplating barrels. That’s why we use Premium grade PE 1000 for our barrel cylinders.

Download this chart which demonstrates the relative resistance of PE1000 to abrasion when measured against other materials.

Plating Barrel Cylinder Quality Test

The images shown here are “real” images, taken after a live production test in which an Eagle PE 1000 barrel was trialled against another manufacturer’s PE 500 barrel.

The barrels were used for the same period of time (1900 hours, over 12 weeks) in parallel production lines, with the same mix and volume of products being plated.

Eagle PE1000 grade barrel

Eagle PE1000 grade barrel cylinder

Other manufacturer’s PE500 grade barrel

Another manufacturer's PE500 grade barrel cylinder
The lower grade barrel is already showing signs of wear, and the perforations are beginning to close, which will affect the efficiency and quality of the plating operation. The Eagle barrel is as good as new, and will continue to perform at maximum efficiency for an extended period, without any maintenance.

What’s the difference? A combination of Eagle Engineering’s unique design, coupled with the use of higher grade UHMW PE 1000, means that our plating barrels, whilst not the cheapest, represent the best long-term value.

Why We Use PE1000 for Eagle Plating Barrel Cylinders

  • Resistance to component entrapment – zero rejects
  • Enables more perforations and larger open area for solution transfer
  • 5 times the wear resistance of polypropylene
  • Faster processing times, with savings in power costs
  • Ultra-high impact strength to cope with heavy components
  • Excellent resistance to internal wear
  • Superb tensile strength
  • Resistance to stress cracking
  • Perforations resistant to peening or diameter reduction
  • Minimal surface tension – lower coefficient of friction than glass
  • High load capacity up to 750 Kg

Electroplating Barrel Construction with “Double Lock” Joints

This image demonstrates the incredible strength of our “Double Lock” system. The black and white UHMW PE1000 materials have been fixed to one another with the “Double Lock” joint.
Strength test image
As demonstrated, the black base has been clamped to a Fly Press machine and the white section is secured to a 25mm steel peg fixed into the ram of the press. The ram and peg are then pulled away from base in an attempt to break the joint, because of the incredible tensile strength of the PE1000, the material stretches without the joint giving and parting.  This “Double Lock” is how we construct our barrels making them virtually un-breakable under normal working conditions.

Plating Barrel Cylinders – Advanced Perforation Techniques

Maximum perforation is essential to the working efficiency of the electro-plating barrel. The greater the open area the more efficiently the electrolytic solution will transfer. This achieves greater amps at less volts resulting in faster deposit times.

We only use UHMW PE 1000 grade which, with its remarkable anti-wear and ultra high tensile strength characteristics, enables a greater number of perforations to be made than is possible with lower specification materials, couple with extended barrel life. The perforation open area can be over 45%, giving outstanding electroplating efficiency.

  • Holes are internally countersunk to increase solution transfer and reduce solution drag-out.
  • Slots are externally counter bored to increase solution exchange.
  • Corrugated wall finishes are available to eliminate surface tension and parts sticking, avoiding transfer marks to product
  • Reduction of solution drag-out
  • Hole perforations vary from 1.5mm  to 12mm, with slots from 1mm to 3mm

To find out how Eagle Plating Barrels can help you,
Please call us or complete our Contact Form

Dangler Information Form

Dangler Information Form

Complete the form below and then send the details to us. We will then get back to you about your enquiry.

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