PERTH, Australia (AP) — Wallabies flanker David Pocock will captain the Western Force in this season's Super 15 rugby tournament, taking over from his veteran international teammate Nathan Sharpe.
Force coach Richard Graham said it was an ideal time for the 23-year-old Pocock to assume the captaincy as Sharpe was still a member of the Force team …
David Beckham wants to play for Britain at the 2012 London Olympics.
The Los Angeles Galaxy and England midfielder would be 37 by the time the Olympics come to London.
Beckham said Wednesday that if he was still playing and could make a difference to the team he'd "love to be involved."
A team of English-only soccer players is set to represent …
On May 31, 2001 Toray Industries, Inc., and DuPont-Toray Co., Ltd. announced that they have reached a comprehensive agreement with DuPont (U.S.) for a technical license to manufacture and market fibers made from "DuPont Sorona" 3GT polymer.
Under this agreement, DuPont will license its technology for these revolutionary fibers, which incorporate advanced "DuPont Sorona" polymer technology. Toray will manufacture and market the homofiber in Japan and other Asian markets, including China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. Toray will also manufacture the bicomponent fiber, co-spun with polyester (PET), in Japan, which will be marketed by the Du Pont-Toray joint …
Singer Chrissie Hynde took a ride on an Akron city bus to show her support of a countywide sales tax increase for mass transit.
After the Monday morning ride, the Akron native and the lead singer of The Pretenders said public transportation is "what makes a city a city."
Her ride took her to downtown Akron with other tax supporters, who carried homemade and official Metro …
Renault has confirmed Eric Boullier as Flavio Briatore's replacement as team principal of the Formula One operation.
The 36-year-old Frenchman was in the same role for Team France in the A1GP Series between 2007 and 2009.
Boullier is hopeful of restoring Renault's status in the motor racing world following the scandal at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix when …
Perhaps, with the help of a computer, it would be possible todetermine the number of drunk scenes that have been played in themovies, on television and on the stage. Ray Milland in "The LostWeekend," Jack Lemmon in "The Days of Wine and Roses," Dudley Moorejoking it up in "Arthur," W. C. Fields in any number of features -they're only a few of the actors who have exploited alcoholism in thename of drama or comedy.
So how is an actor desirous of communicating the horrible,debilitating effects of this great American pastime going to avoidseeming disarmingly familiar - like a harmless old pal?
That was one of the questions facing James Woods as he tackledthe role …
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Defending champion Novak Djokovic moved into an Australian Open final against Rafael Nadal after struggling past Andy Murray in a five-set, almost five-hour semifinal late Friday night.
Despite appearing tired and sore from the second set on, Djokovic rallied to beat Murray 6-3, 3-6, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 7-5 in a rematch of the 2011 final at Melbourne Park to reach his third consecutive Grand Slam final.
After wasting a chance to serve out the match at 5-3 in the fifth and letting Murray back into the contest, Djokovic cashed in his first match point when the Scottish player missed a forehand after four hours, 50 minutes.
Djokovic dropped onto his …
Bolivia's state petroleum company says reduced demand from Argentina and Brazil has sharply cut natural gas output.
Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos says natural gas output slipped to 1.25 million cubic meters in August _ 155 million cubic meters less than in July.
An economic slump and water-rich hydroelectric plants cut …
I read of the wasteful use of telephone calls by Board ofEducation employees ("Schools' Phones Wasting Millions," news story,July 18). Not all employees had such privileges. We high schoolteachers have not had access to any number except area codes 312, 708or 800. We usually have five classes with from 110 to 140 studentseach day.
Obviously, it is important to contact some of the students'homes. Most of the time, because records are seldom updated, we findthe number is incorrect. That should be no problem. Just callinformation - 411. (But) teachers' access to 411 occurs about asoften as pigs fly.
The teacher must find a pay phone or wait until he gets home.It …
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida (AP) — Australia's Jason Day joined an elite club Sunday with his second shot on the par-4 14th at the Players Championship.
Day struck a 5-iron from 185 yards and the ball rolled into the cup, only the fourth eagle on the 481-yard hole in the 30 years The Players has been held at the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.
"I didn't …
Shares of Administaff Inc. surged Monday after the human resources services company reported a surprise profit for the first quarter.
The stock soared $4.84, or 21.9 percent, to $26.98 in afternoon trading. The stock has ranged from $16.45 to $30.65 over the past year.
The Houston-based company said it earned $2.3 million, or 9 cents per share, compared with $8.2 million, or 33 cents per share, in the same period a year ago.
On averaga, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a loss of 7 cents per share.
Revenue was $457.7 million, up from $462 million in the same period last year. Analysts had expected $425 million in revenue.
…
Mark Brunell will avoid surgery and likely return to theJacksonville Jaguars in October, the team's doctor said Thursdayafter examining the quarterback's right knee.
A 45-minute arthroscopic examination showed that Brunell hadpartial tears of the posterior cruciate ligament and the anteriorcruciate ligament. The medial collateral ligament was torn off thelower bone, Stephen Lucie said.
Brunell will have to undergo eight weeks of rehabilitationinvolving muscle-strengthening and wearing a brace."I'm looking forward to getting back and competing andcontinuing the season with the team," Brunell said in a statement."This is great news, and it is truly a …
England captain Kevin Pietersen blamed a lack of killer instinct in his bowlers and the failure of any of his batsmen to post a big score for the 54-run loss to India on Monday to trail 2-0 in the seven-match, one-day international series.
Yuvraj Singh scored his second successive century to take India from a precarious 29-3 to total 292 from 50 overs. England was dismissed for 238 with six batsmen getting starts of 20 or more but only Owais Shah (58) making a half-century.
"Probably we weren't aggressive and didn't carry that through," Pietersen said of his attack with Pakistan 29-3. "The bowlers tried their hearts out and the batters definitely gave us a good run, but we needed someone to get a big score like Yuvraj did."
Pietersen was still heartened by the improvement after India had posted its biggest limited-overs victory over England on Friday, winning by 158 runs.
"We certainly played good cricket today and were in the game before losing it," he said. "We were totally outplayed in the first game, where we were out of the contest from 30 overs onward. Today's game was a marked improvement on that.
"We want to be competitive in the next couple of games."
Hoping to avoid a repeat of the 2006 series when India beat England 5-1 in one-day internationals, Pietersen justified retaining the same lineup.
"I didn't want to change the side, I wanted to give the guys the confidence to know that they could turn things around," he said.
Before this series, Pietersen had won all four limited-overs internationals in which he had captained England, sweeping South Africa last summer. But his team arrived in India with the batsmen woefully out of form, losing by 10 wickets to a West Indies all-star side that won $20 million in prize-money.
England's batsmen continued to struggle in India, being dismissed for 98 in a humiliating 124-run defeat to a second-string Mumbai XI in a practice game.
India vice captain Virender Sehwag said the host is keen to maintain its momentum ahead of the next game Thursday at Kanpur.
"We're eager to stretch our winning run, for which we'll keep putting pressure on England," Sehwag said.
Description
Q-One Biotech provides specialist safety testing services, CGMP contract manufacturing of cell banks, and gene therapy products and process validation services to the biopharmaceutical industry. The company provides the level of quality, technical, and regulatory support that its customers require when outsourcing virological and microbiological studies. All studies are conducted in house so that the company has total control of both the quality and the timing of the studies. Several monoclonal antibodies, recombinant proteins, blood products, and animal-derived products that O-One has tested and validated are now licensed by FDA, EMEA, and in Asia.
Markets
Since its founding in 1990, G-One has worked globally and is well known to the European, U.S. and Japanese regulatory authorities. The company's safety testing and virus validation studies are designed to comply fully with ICH guidelines. O-One employs experts in the design of both scientifically sound and cost-effective strategies for new technologies in areas such as xenotransplantation, tissue engineering, gene therapy, and DNA vaccines.
Services
Technical services offered by O-One Biotech include the following.
Biomanufacturing. O-One Biotech specializes in the CGMP production of master and working cell banks, viral vaccines, and plasmid and viral DNA vectors (including retrovirus, adenovirus, herpesvirus) for gene therapy.
Process validation. The company designs and implements virus, prion, and other contaminant validation studies to satisfy the increasingly stringent guidelines of the regulatory authorities. Service to customers includes advice on the design of the down-scale process and the inclusion of specific contaminant inactivation steps.
Biosafety testing. Q-One is expert in the development and validation of custom assays to detect viruses and other microrganisms. Over 300 study protocols are available and the company's reputation has been built on its extensive range of retroviral assays for all species, its human and monkey viral assays, and the quality of its electron microscopy studies. Its PBRT assay for testing vaccines and its quantitative PCR assays have been widely accepted.
Other services. The company provides the full range of tests required to characterize and establish the genetic stability of expression constructs in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic systems. It offers biodistribution studies for gene therapy and DNA vaccination protocols, and assays for patient monitoring, as well as providing rapid serological and PCR-based assays to screen transgenic animals used in xenotransplantation and to produce therapeutic proteins.
Facilities
Q-One's purpose-built facilities are located at the company's corporate headquarters in Glasgow, Scotland, and Worcester, MA (complete in the Spring 2000). They operate in full compliance with GMP and GLP standards. Whether a company is located in Europe, North America, or Asia, it can be sure that both facilities operate to the same high standards of service and provide consistency in terms of quality systems, study protocols, and technical and regulatory support.
Write in 62
Q-One
Biotech Ltd.
Todd Campus West of Scotland Science Park GLASGOW G20 OXA UK Tel: +44 141 946-9999 Fax: +44 141 946-0000
U.S. facility Q-One Biotech Inc. 5 Biotech 381 Plantation Street Worcester, MA 01605 www.q-one.com marketing@q-one.co.uk
Employees: 160 Founded: 1990
Growing costs and vulnerability to anti-ship missiles sank the U.S. Navy's once-heralded "stealth destroyer," a highly advanced warship designed to slip close to the shore unnoticed and pummel targets with big guns.
Faced with cost estimates upward of $5 billion per ship, the Navy had no choice but to let its prized DDG-1000 Zumwalt destroyer program end after the first two ships are built, analysts said Wednesday.
Congressional investigators long had been concerned that the Navy tried to incorporate too many new technologies on an untested platform. The originally envisioned 32 ships dipped to 12 and then seven as costs grew.
"I don't think this thing was a shock because fundamentally the whole program was a big fat target for many years," said Jay Korman, defense analyst at The Avascent Group.
Sen. Susan Collins, a member of the Armed Services Committee, said Wednesday that the Navy instead plans to build nine more of its current Arleigh Burke destroyers, possibly with some added capabilities that went into the newer warship.
The DDG-1000's growing cost came as the Navy is trying to expand to a 313-ship fleet. Officially, the new ships are to cost roughly double the $1.3 billion price of a Burke destroyer. But estimates for the first two run as high as $5 billion.
Loren Thompson, a defense analyst with the Lexington Institute, said the Navy can't afford the DDG-1000 but it can't afford to stop building ships, either, if it wants to achieve its shipbuilding goals and maintain a shipbuilding infrastructure.
Another problem with the DDG-1000 design was its potential vulnerability. Bombarding the shore with guns is cheaper than using missiles, but the ship would be vulnerable to attack if it came within 100 miles (160 kilometers) of shore to use its 155-millimeter guns, Thompson said.
"The Navy should have understood a long time ago that putting a $3 billion destroyer off the coast of a hostile country so that it could use gunfire was a dangerous proposition," he said.
Finally, there was no known threat to justify the warship, experts said.
"Please tell me what this thing would do today, if it were available in Iraq or Afghanistan?" said Winslow Wheeler from the Center for Defense Information. "Talk about something that's totally out of control. This thing is a national embarrassment, that's what it is."
For years, the Zumwalt has been one of the Navy's prized programs. It has a low profile and composites in its superstructure for stealth. It also features a form of electric drive propulsion, new combat systems and a new hull form.
Displacing about 14,500 tons, the ship is 50 percent larger than a Burke destroyer but will have half the crew thanks to automated systems.
"I still believe that the ship offers capabilities that the Navy lacks and needs, but it's up to the Navy to determine its military requirement," said Collins, a Maine Republican
Maine's Bath Iron Works, a General Dynamics subsidiary, is building one of the ships. Northrop Grumman's Ingalls shipyard in Mississippi is building the other.
The EU's top data protection supervisor said Thursday that Google Inc.'s "Street View" map and imaging feature could pose privacy problems if it is launched in Europe.
Peter Hustinx said the Internet map service program would have to comply with the privacy rights of individuals in European countries.
"I would encourage Google to think about how to do this," Hustinx told reporters. "Making pictures on the street is in many cases not a problem, but making pictures everywhere is certainly going to create some problems. I'm quite sure they are aware of this."
After privacy complaints, Google has already started to automatically blur faces of people captured in street photos taken for the program in the United States.
Although Google's Street View service was not the first to augment online maps with photos, the detail and breadth of images on the site surprised and unsettled many users when it launched last year.
Google spokesman Larry Yu said Wednesday the company was tweaking the system by blurring faces.
He said Google was not only responding to privacy complaints in the U.S. but also trying to head off legal or cultural objections that might emerge as Street View expands into other countries.
Calls to Google's London offices Monday were not immediately returned.
Hustinx also told reporters Thursday that Google and other search engines could face legal action if they do not comply with data protection rules.
An EU report last month on search engines recommended changes to their practices to meet European data retention and privacy rules.
"Complying with European data protection law is going to be part of their business success or failure. If they would ignore it, it is likely to lead to two (court) cases, and I think they would be hit hard," Hustinx said.
The report, drafted by the EU's 28 data protection supervisors, including Hustinx, said search engines had to follow European data protection rules regardless of their headquarters' location, because they were making available their services in Europe or had set up regional offices in the EU.
Although the group of privacy officers have no policy powers, their report could lead to action by the EU's executive commission and national authorities which enforce European data protection rules.
They'll be shouting from the rooftops, as well.
Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) wants to give the owners of rooftop clubs overlooking Wrigley approval to sell tickets to the event Blackhawks President John McDonough says "has the potential to be . . . the toughest regular-season ticket to secure in the history of Chicago sports."
"It's a fierce rivalry. Interest is very high and ticket prices are very high. There's an opportunity for the rooftops to do some business," said Tunney, who has introduced an ordinance authorizing rooftop clubs currently limited to Cubs home games to be open Jan. 1.
"For the concerts [by Jimmy Buffett and the Police], the rooftops were not that good a seat. We let them be open, but they didn't benefit financially. This time, the rooftops will have a saleable seat. Center ice is around second base."
Rooftop club owner Tom Gramatis said demand for tickets to the Winter Classic was "the biggest thing ever" when it was announced last summer. But then the economy went south and the buzz died down, so he has cut his price in half, to $200 a head, including food and drink.
Comment at suntimes.com.
Photo: Rooftop clubs around Wrigley Field may be open for the Winter Classic on New Year's Day.scott stewart~sun-times ;
PATTANI, Thailand (AP) — Muslim insurgents disguised as paramilitary rangers attacked troops guarding a school in southern Thailand on Wednesday, killing four soldiers and wounding two others, police said. A 6-year-old boy was shot in the stomach during the assault.
Police Lt. Gen. Satanfah Wamasing said 15 assailants walked up to the school and began talking with soldiers assigned to guard teachers there. They opened fire at close range and fled with four of the soldiers' M-16 automatic rifles.
The bloodshed in Narathiwat province's Rue So district is the latest in a wave of violence in Thailand's Muslim-dominated southernmost provinces since an Islamist insurgency flared in 2004.
Government soldiers are often designated to guard teachers and monks in the region.
Sunai Phasuk, a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch, said in a tweet that the New York-based group has warned Thai authorities "that the simultaneous use of school for military and education purposes will put civilians at risk."
But Sunai condemned the attack, saying: "Insurgents knew they could also harm students and teachers. Such brutality is sickening."
In a separate incident Wednesday in neighboring Pattani province, two gunmen on a motorcycle fatally shot a 48-year-old person in a market in Nong Chik district, police Lt. Gen. Chonnavi Chamaroek said.
On Wednesday, Amnesty International condemned the insurgents for targeting civilians in the conflict, saying such attacks constitute war crimes.
It said noncombatants have accounted for two-thirds of the nearly 5,000 deaths reported during the insurgency in the past eight years, while close to 8,000 people have been wounded.
Most of the violence has been confined to three southern provinces dominated by ethnic Malay Muslims who are a minority in mostly Buddhist Thailand. The area used to be an Islamic sultanate until it was annexed by Thailand in the early 20th century.
BERLIN (AP) — A government-commissioned panel is calling for a merger of Germany's two federal police agencies in an effort to increase the efficiency of the country's security services.
The panel set up earlier this year said Thursday that it found no "serious security shortcomings" that would require a fundamental overhaul.
But it said it would make sense for the federal police — who patrol borders and transport hubs among other tasks — to merge with the Federal Criminal Police Office, whose jobs include investigating serious crime and terrorism. Together, the two have about 45,000 employees.
Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said the proposal is "convincing" and "worth pursuing," and that he aims to make a decision early next year. He says he isn't aiming for job cuts.
TORONTO (AP) — Bank of Montreal said Tuesday that bank regulators have signed off on its acquisition of Milwaukee-based bank Marshall & Ilsley Corp., clearing the way for the transaction to close on July 5.
The all-stock deal was valued at $4.1 billion in December.
Toronto-based BMO Financial Group, which owns the Canadian bank, said it will skip a planned stock offering related to the deal because of its strong capital position.
The deal calls for M&I shareholders to receive 0.1257 of a Bank of Montreal common share in exchange for each share of M&I common stock they own. Fractional entitlements to Bank of Montreal common shares will be paid in cash.
BMO, which also owns Harris Bank in Chicago, said last month that the name of the merged banking firm will be BMO Harris Bank. The management team will include executives from BMO, M&I and Harris.
Shares of BMO rose 91 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $63.01 in afternoon trading in New York.
Blood samples taken from Afghan schoolgirls who collapsed in apparent mass poisonings showed traces of toxic chemicals found in herbicides, pesticides and nerve gas, the Health Ministry said Wednesday.
Suspicion has fallen on sympathizers of the Taliban, the hard-line Islamist militia that opposes education for women and prohibited girls from going to school when it was in power until it being ousted by a 2001 U.S.-led invasion.
Poisonous levels of organophosphates were found in samples taken from girls sickened in incidents over the past two years, said ministry spokesman Dr. Ghulam Sakhi Kargar.
Samples from more recent cases have been sent to Turkey for analysis and no results have been issued yet, Kargar said.
Last month, 48 pupils and teachers at Kabul's Zabihullah Esmati High School and 60 students and teachers at the Totia Girls School were hospitalized after fainting or complaining of breathing problems, dizziness and nausea. Students say they began feeling unwell after being exposed to an unknown gas spreading through classrooms.
Most were released within hours. It remains unclear how the gas spread.
In addition to killing weeds and insects, organophosphates are the active ingredients of deadly nerve gases such as sarin and VX, and even low-level exposure can damage the nervous system.
Signs of organophosphate poisoning include headache, tiredness, upset stomach and breathing trouble, all similar to the symptoms shown by the students and teachers at the Kabul schools.
Marriage applications
The following people applied for marriage licenses in PutnamCounty between March 30 and April 6:
* Paul David Turley II, 27, and Rhonda Lynn Weddington, 34, bothof Culloden
* Johnnie Lee Lanham, 28, of Poca, and Samantha Louise Slater, 19,of Scott Depot
* Divorces
The following people filed for divorce in Putnam County betweenApril 3 and 6:
* Melissa D. Barnett from James E. Barnett
* Helen G. Harper from Sherden W. Harper
* Jennifer Taylor from Brian Taylor
* Lisa Cavender Rogers from Jim Michael Rogers
* David Taylor from Sierra Taylor
* Lori Conley from Keith Conley
* Property transfers
The following property transfers of more than $50,000 wererecorded in Putnam County between March 30 and April 6:
* Steorts Homebuilders LLC to Jaime J. and Jean Ann Fuentes. Lot,Teays Valley District, $572,534.
* Hallie N. Whittington to Charles W. and Hazel M. Todd. Lot,Scott District, $160,000.
* Hobba Enterprises LLC to Keeneland Fields LLC. Tract, BuffaloDistrict, $100,000.
* Barry W. Stollings II to Marion A. Houser. Lot, Teays ValleyDistrict, $210,000.
* Greg A. Giles to Samuel E. and Iris I. Hindman. Lot, TeaysValley District, $339,900.
* Shirley Landis to Gregory M. and Angela Paxton. Lot, TeaysValley District, $130,000.
* Daniel A. and Melissa Sundall to Christopher G. and Denise S.Makinster. Lot, Hurricane District, $375,000.
* Barbara A. and Ray C. Wrightsman Jr. to Bella Woods LLC. Lot,Scott District, $165,000.
* Arbutus A. Higginbotham to Scott and Lori McCracken. Lot,Hurricane District, $83,000.
* Danlin Homes Inc. to Jesse W. Samples and Kathy L. Samples. Lot,Hurricane District, $249,900.
* Randy M. and Michelle M. Styles to Jason Hanshaw. Lot, ScottDistrict, $122,000.
* Frank and Mary Robinette to Melissa A. Haas. Lot, ScottDistrict, $158,000.
* Patricia A. Queen and Steve W. Galloway to GMAC GlobalRelocation Services Inc. Lot, Teays Valley District, $239,500.
* David Neal Combs and Hurley Malcolm Combs to Irlan Dale andJennifer B. Coleman. Lot, Scott District, $180,000.
* Charles W. Wolford and Pamela K. Cottrill Wolford to Susan K.Williams. Lot, Teays Valley District, $187,500.
* Modern Home Concepts Inc. to Kenneth R. and Sue C. Harris. Lot,Hurricane District, $293,100.
* David R. and Deborah L. Tincher to Lori L. and Earl FranklinHill III. Lot, Scott District, $136,000.
* Delmer and Juanita P. Chapman to Stuart and Jennifer Dinkelo.Lot, Teays Valley District, $78,000.
* Diane G. Brown to Tracy R. Davis. Lot, Eleanor District$130,000.
* Eric S. Carpenter to Jonathan D. and Paige Chapman. Parcel,Scott District, $113,000.
* Bruce L. Hunter to Shane T. and Alicia A. Perry. Lot, CurryDistrict, $171,000.
* Bernard J. Luby to Swetadri and Vasanthy Manohar. Parcel, ScottDistrict, $298,000.
* James Warren and Talma L. Turley to Gary S. Walton. Lot,Hurricane District, $70,000.
* Kathaleen Erwin to Carmen M. and John F. Hamilton Jr. Lot, ScottDistrict, $335,000.
* Steven L. and Alisa G. Cole to Christopher C. Jackson. Lot,Scott District, $89,000.
* William R. and Carol L. Mullins to Travis J. and Sondra R.Dillon. Parcel, Curry District, $101,000.
* Ahern & Associates Inc. to Eugene E. and Donna H. Thompson. Lot,Scott District, $56,000.
* Alvah H. Worley and Agatha B. Worley to Joseph G. and Angela L.Deiss. Lot, Scott District, $190,000.
* Conrad H. Sansoucie Jr. to Phyllis Ann Copley. Lot, CurryDistrict, $204,400.
* Timothy N. and P. Dawn Spradling to Frank D. and Mary M.Robinette. Lot, Teays Valley District, $260,000.
* David G. and Shirley Ann Helper to Randall L. Maass. Parcel,Poca District, $130,000.
* Thompson Real Estate Inc. to Jerry Alan and Beth Ann Lilly. Lot,Hurricane District, $148,900.
* MaryAlyce and Robert J. Brown Jr. to Kenneth A. and Connie L.Smith. Lot, Hurricane District, $196,500.
* Michael R. Raynes to Truman O. and Roberta J. Garrison. Parcel,Buffalo Town District, $79,500.
This spring, items with a distinctly African twist are hot. Soare pieces that look like they would be right at home in the FarEast. And all things Latin and South American add a distinctivespice to the style mix.
Gillion Skellenger-Carrara, manager of the Fashion ResourceCenter and associate professor at the School of the Art Institute ofChicago, thinks the global ethnic trend is partly a reaction to allthe minimalism we've seen in womenswear the past few seasons. Plus,it's part of the new world order."Public events have made certain countries newsworthy, likechanges in China, and the things Nelson Mandela is trying to do inSouth Africa," she says. "Music is so global now, and music and whatperformers are wearing influence fashion. The Internet and MTV arebringing us all so close together.""I'm a big believer in things being more universal," says BobbiAllen, whose stylish Oak Park boutique, Nothing in Moderation, catersto full-figured women. "We're children of a great big world - if youthink you like the design or the color (of an item), then wear it."Since opening in 1994, Allen's store has featured items withcross-cultural style. In stock now are lightweight painted silktunic tops and dresses that utilize shiboni, an old Japanese dyeprocess. Antique Oriental rugs get stitched into bags and briefcasesmade by Majid. Mudcloth scarves embroidered with African cowrieshells sell to customers of all races, as do vegetable-dyed cottontote bags made by Guatemalan weavers."What I try to do is find those sort of handcrafts we can use ina modern way in a modern world," Allen says.Susan Lazar, a New York designer who's had her own label forthree years, used 1950s Havana as her starting point for spring. Afriend had recently visited Cuba, bringing back bright-hued handbagswith melons, browns, brick reds and hot pinks all mixed together.Lazar had just visited Miami's hot South Beach, and the buzz aboutMadonna's film turn in "Evita" was in the air. All this inspiredLazar to infuse her spring collection with dance-ready dresses inslinky stretch jersey and knits, in eye-catching colors."I love the sexiness and sultriness of the culture," says Lazar,who recently made a personal appearance at Henri Bendel's downtownstore. "For me, it was a good kickoff for spring, being able to workthat culture into my sensibility."It's never that literal. I don't like it when women looklike they're wearing costumes. Women want modern clothes that fitinto the '90s, not the '50s."Also on the global ethnic bandwagon are designers such as RalphLauren, whose entire spring line was a stunning tribute to Africa.BCBG's Max Azria caught Cuban fever for spring, using ruffled hemsand spicy colors in his line. For their bridge-priced D&G line,Italy's Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana shaped kimono-stylejackets out of Japanese-inspired floral fabrics. And some borrowfrom their own heritages, as Asian-American designers Han Feng andVivienne Tam have done."Our world is getting smaller," Skellenger-Carrara says, "and Ihope it's for the better. Mixing Asian and African and NativeAmerican (influences) creates excitement and something new, andthat's what fashion's all about."
An African development bank claims it lost euro16 million ($22.8 million) in Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme through investments made by an Austrian bank, a newspaper reported Thursday.
According to the regional Oberoesterreichische Nachrichten daily, the Central African States Development Bank claims it invested the money in Bank Austria, which then placed it in Madoff funds via the former Bank Medici.
Bank Medici disclosed in December that it had suffered huge losses it blamed on Madoff, whose multibillion-dollar scam wiped out thousands of investors and charities worldwide.
Gerhard Jarosch, a spokesman for the Vienna public prosecutor's office, said in early July that his office was helping the U.S. Justice Department and Britain's Serious Fraud Office in separate investigations of the bank and its chairwoman, Sonja Kohn.
Both also have been the focus of a fraud investigation in Austria since February, Jarosch has said, stressing that Kohn has not been charged with criminal wrongdoing.
Bank Medici, which recently changed its name to 20.20 Medici AG, has vehemently disputed that Kohn had personal dealings with Madoff and has repeatedly stressed her innocence.
In an e-mail Thursday, a spokesperson of the former Bank Medici disputed any involvement.
"Former Bank Medici AG had no relationship whatsoever with BDEAC," the e-mail said, referring to the African development bank by its French acronym. "No money of BDEAC was invested in a Madoff-affected fund via former Bank Medici AG."
In a letter to Austrian Finance Minister Josef Proell, Pacifique Issoibeka, the Republic of Congo's finance minister, said the development bank now wants compensation and is holding Austria indirectly responsible, the newspaper reported.
In his letter, Issoibeka reportedly said the development bank had not been consulted about the Madoff investment and that attempts to deal directly with Bank Austria about the loss had proven futile.
The Brazzaville-based bank's prime shareholders include the Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Chad.
Austrian Finance Ministry spokesman Harald Waiglein confirmed that Issoibeka had been in touch but declined to provide more details.
Bank Austria spokesman Martin Halama said he could not comment on the report or even confirm that the BDEAC was or had been a client because he was bound by Austria's bank secrecy regulations.
Bank Austria is a unit of Italy's UniCredit SpA and held a 25 percent stake in Bank Medici.
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A bomb planted at a checkpoint manned by members of a Pakistani militia fighting a radical group similar to the Taliban exploded Sunday and killed eight militia members in northwest Pakistan, a government official said.
The blast in the border region with Afghanistan shows the challenges that these militias and their Pakistani government supporters face as they try to purge the volatile border region of groups such as the Taliban and al-Qaida who have grown in strength over the last decade.
Tribal agency official Iqbal Khan said six more members of the militia were wounded in the incident which took place in the Tirah valley of the Khyber tribal region.
The complex attack started when a bomb planted at the checkpoint was detonated by a timer, Khan said. Then as the militiamen were retrieving the bodies, the militants opened fired on them. The militiamen escaped unhurt, but two of the militants were killed in the retaliatory fire.
The militia was set up to fight a local radical group known as Lashkar-e-Islam, the tribal official said. Insurgents often target the militias, which they perceive as Pakistani government supporters.
Pakistan has outlawed Lashkar-e-Islam, which wants enforcement of a Taliban-style version of Islamic law.
Lashkar-e-Islam is not formally linked to the Pakistani Taliban. But it shares similar ideology with the Taliban and other militant groups in Pakistan's tribal regions along Afghan border. The group sometimes shares manpower and resources with other militants.
The militia fighting Lashkar-e-Islam is composed of local tribesmen frustrated with the growth of Taliban-style groups in their territory. Such militias were started by the Pakistani government in its campaign against Lashkar-e-Islam and the Pakistani Taliban in the lawless Khyber tribal areas where the government has little or no control.
Pakistan exporters want the government to seek compensation from the U.S. administration for losses suffered since September 11th, after the entire Gulf region was declared a war-risk area, resulting in cancellations of export-import orders and increases in insurance tariffs and freight rates.
Exporters now want the government to seek compensation from the U.S. government in the form of a 50% increase in textile quota ceilings, obtain maximum flexibilities and intra-category quota mergers seek waivers where over-shipments have been made. Exporters say that the movement of goods to and from Pakistan has been subjected to new war-risks insurance premiums of US$100 per 20-ft container and US$200 per 40-ft container. Air freighters have been increased by Rs 5/kg.
The key witness against three men accused of plotting to kill American soldiers says the three defendants met together just once during a two-year period.
Darren Griffin is an undercover informant who investigated the men in Toledo, Ohio for two years.
He's the key witness in the government's case against Mohammad Amawi, Marwan El-Hindi and Wassim Mazloum.
They're charged with conspiring to kill or maim people outside the United States, including U.S. military personnel in Iraq.
Defense attorneys Wednesday got a chance to question Griffin.
The men have pleaded not guilty.
If convicted, the three face a maximum penalty of life in prison.
How do you know your child's fear or anxiety is a reason to see a doctor? It usually involves extreme behavior. Experts offer these tips:
_Separation anxiety: This is not the clinginess often seen in toddlers. It's a level of fear in school-age children up to age 10 or 11 in which they may routinely follow a parent through the house and resist sleeping alone and going to school.
_Generalized anxiety: Affected kids, usually from grade school to early teens, often have many unrealistic fears that interfere with their lives. It may be worries about thunderstorms so severe that going outside even on sunny days provokes anxiety. They may be so anxious about being on time or doing well in school that it results in stomachaches or other physical complaints.
_Social anxiety or phobia: This may appear in grade school or adolescence and is often dismissed as shyness. But affected kids are so paralyzed by self-consciousness and fear of interacting with others that they avoid social situations or speaking in class. There may be physical symptoms, such as sweating or dizziness.
Many families learn to adjust their lifestyles to accommodate children with anxiety disorders. However, if untreated, the problems can morph into depression or substance abuse during the teen years, said Dr. John Walkup of Johns Hopkins Hospital. He's lead author of a study showing kids can improve substantially with the antidepressant sertraline, also sold as Zoloft, plus psychotherapy, or either treatment alone.
____
On the Net:
National Mental Health Information Center: http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/aboutken/
Anxiety Disorders Association of America:
http://www.adaa.org/GettingHelp/FocusOn/Children&Adolescents.asp
Barrel plating was developed 100 years ago, initially using "cement mixer" type oblique barrels containing the solution and anode, and later about 1925, horizontal submerged barrels developed, and both type have evolved through the years to the many specialised units available today.
Unfortunately the technique of barrel plating has become in many cases, a poor relation within the plating industry, being regarded as a cheap and inferior method of electroplating by the end customer Low cost is definitely a benefit of barrel plating, but if the correct conditions are used, the quality can be as good as or even superior to rack finishing.
Barrel plating techniques are most successful when the work is repetition work and the plant, barrels, and chemistry are tuned to suit the work, as may be the case with an in-house plating department.
It is inevitable that in a jobbing shop where barrel plating work is infrequent, the types of work vary widely, and the plater has only one portable barrel available, the results can be disappointing.
To select a barrel unit to suit the work to be plated does seem extravagant, but when costs of jigging or wiring thousands of small parts are considered, buying a suitable barrel is a cost reduction.
Consider firstly the physical properties of the work, i.e. quantity to be plated, shape of components; will the parts cause excessive drag out? are they flat and likely to stick together? Do they stack, float, or have thin pins or wires, which will go through barrel perforations and burn, or bend? are there sharp edges or corners that would cut mesh lined barrels?. What is the total surface area of a correctly filled barrel load? Is the material very thin and likely not to conduct current through the full barrel load.
After considering the work to be processed, a suitable barrel must be chosen, and if the work is cup shaped and likely to cause excessive drag out, the plating chemistry should be modified to suit, by reducing the chemical composition where possible, to reduce costs and effluent loading.
If the work is flat and likely to stick together, choose a barrel with a ribbed interior, and look at the possibility of reducing the surface tension of the process solutions to minimise sticking. Using ballast or mixing loads can also help. Parts that are hollow and may float should have some pieces of polypropylene inside the barrel to knock them about and sink them. Pins and wires are best processed in mesh or slotted cylinders or better still use an oblique tub type barrel.
The correct quantity of work in a horizontal barrel is just over half full, this gives good contact to the danglers and usually a good tumbling action. Once the correct workload is established, calculate the surface area of the load. Then calculate the required current. This will normally be between 10% and 25% of the current specified for rack plating the same area. Try to plate a batch, to see if the necessary current be achieved? Often it is not possible due to either the hole size being too small or the solution conductivity too low. Try to resolve the problem with a different cylinder, or modify the chemistry. Running at an excessively low CD rarely gives good results as the deposit is burnished off nearly as fast as it is deposited.
Barrel rotation should be about 6-12 RPM for best tumbling action and horizontal barrels should be run completely submerged, to give the best chance of fresh solution transfer into the barrel, and maximise the current transfer into the cylinder through the holes.
Use cylinders with the largest possible hole size to maximise solution and current transfer.
There are hundreds of different barrel designs available today, from designs for plating on plastic buttons, wheel spokes, herring bone and counter bored perforations, slotted perforations, changeable inserts, where one cylinder can be used with different perforation inserts for many work types. Disc contacts, rod and hanger contacts, and vibratory barrels.
These vibratory barrels are designed for minute and delicate components, where the components move relatively gently about, and are widely used in the electronics industry.
Many major companies now specify barrel plating for small decorative parts, for example in bright nickel and gold and were pleasantly surprised initially by the quality achieved using barrels as the thickness were much more even and the brightness was indistinguishable from parts rack plated.
The labour cost of barrel plating these small parts is negligible compared to wiring or jigging. Why not give barrel plating a try on suitable work? You will be pleased with the results!
RC: 241
Better barrel plating for jewellery. (Special Feature).Barrel plating was developed 100 years ago, initially using "cement mixer" type oblique barrels containing the solution and anode, and later about 1925, horizontal submerged barrels developed, and both type have evolved through the years to the many specialised units available today.
Unfortunately the technique of barrel plating has become in many cases, a poor relation within the plating industry, being regarded as a cheap and inferior method of electroplating by the end customer Low cost is definitely a benefit of barrel plating, but if the correct conditions are used, the quality can be as good as or even superior to rack finishing.
Barrel plating techniques are most successful when the work is repetition work and the plant, barrels, and chemistry are tuned to suit the work, as may be the case with an in-house plating department.
It is inevitable that in a jobbing shop where barrel plating work is infrequent, the types of work vary widely, and the plater has only one portable barrel available, the results can be disappointing.
To select a barrel unit to suit the work to be plated does seem extravagant, but when costs of jigging or wiring thousands of small parts are considered, buying a suitable barrel is a cost reduction.
Consider firstly the physical properties of the work, i.e. quantity to be plated, shape of components; will the parts cause excessive drag out? are they flat and likely to stick together? Do they stack, float, or have thin pins or wires, which will go through barrel perforations and burn, or bend? are there sharp edges or corners that would cut mesh lined barrels?. What is the total surface area of a correctly filled barrel load? Is the material very thin and likely not to conduct current through the full barrel load.
After considering the work to be processed, a suitable barrel must be chosen, and if the work is cup shaped and likely to cause excessive drag out, the plating chemistry should be modified to suit, by reducing the chemical composition where possible, to reduce costs and effluent loading.
If the work is flat and likely to stick together, choose a barrel with a ribbed interior, and look at the possibility of reducing the surface tension of the process solutions to minimise sticking. Using ballast or mixing loads can also help. Parts that are hollow and may float should have some pieces of polypropylene inside the barrel to knock them about and sink them. Pins and wires are best processed in mesh or slotted cylinders or better still use an oblique tub type barrel.
The correct quantity of work in a horizontal barrel is just over half full, this gives good contact to the danglers and usually a good tumbling action. Once the correct workload is established, calculate the surface area of the load. Then calculate the required current. This will normally be between 10% and 25% of the current specified for rack plating the same area. Try to plate a batch, to see if the necessary current be achieved? Often it is not possible due to either the hole size being too small or the solution conductivity too low. Try to resolve the problem with a different cylinder, or modify the chemistry. Running at an excessively low CD rarely gives good results as the deposit is burnished off nearly as fast as it is deposited.
Barrel rotation should be about 6-12 RPM for best tumbling action and horizontal barrels should be run completely submerged, to give the best chance of fresh solution transfer into the barrel, and maximise the current transfer into the cylinder through the holes.
Use cylinders with the largest possible hole size to maximise solution and current transfer.
There are hundreds of different barrel designs available today, from designs for plating on plastic buttons, wheel spokes, herring bone and counter bored perforations, slotted perforations, changeable inserts, where one cylinder can be used with different perforation inserts for many work types. Disc contacts, rod and hanger contacts, and vibratory barrels.
These vibratory barrels are designed for minute and delicate components, where the components move relatively gently about, and are widely used in the electronics industry.
Many major companies now specify barrel plating for small decorative parts, for example in bright nickel and gold and were pleasantly surprised initially by the quality achieved using barrels as the thickness were much more even and the brightness was indistinguishable from parts rack plated.
The labour cost of barrel plating these small parts is negligible compared to wiring or jigging. Why not give barrel plating a try on suitable work? You will be pleased with the results!
RC: 241
Better barrel plating for jewellery. (Special Feature).Barrel plating was developed 100 years ago, initially using "cement mixer" type oblique barrels containing the solution and anode, and later about 1925, horizontal submerged barrels developed, and both type have evolved through the years to the many specialised units available today.
Unfortunately the technique of barrel plating has become in many cases, a poor relation within the plating industry, being regarded as a cheap and inferior method of electroplating by the end customer Low cost is definitely a benefit of barrel plating, but if the correct conditions are used, the quality can be as good as or even superior to rack finishing.
Barrel plating techniques are most successful when the work is repetition work and the plant, barrels, and chemistry are tuned to suit the work, as may be the case with an in-house plating department.
It is inevitable that in a jobbing shop where barrel plating work is infrequent, the types of work vary widely, and the plater has only one portable barrel available, the results can be disappointing.
To select a barrel unit to suit the work to be plated does seem extravagant, but when costs of jigging or wiring thousands of small parts are considered, buying a suitable barrel is a cost reduction.
Consider firstly the physical properties of the work, i.e. quantity to be plated, shape of components; will the parts cause excessive drag out? are they flat and likely to stick together? Do they stack, float, or have thin pins or wires, which will go through barrel perforations and burn, or bend? are there sharp edges or corners that would cut mesh lined barrels?. What is the total surface area of a correctly filled barrel load? Is the material very thin and likely not to conduct current through the full barrel load.
After considering the work to be processed, a suitable barrel must be chosen, and if the work is cup shaped and likely to cause excessive drag out, the plating chemistry should be modified to suit, by reducing the chemical composition where possible, to reduce costs and effluent loading.
If the work is flat and likely to stick together, choose a barrel with a ribbed interior, and look at the possibility of reducing the surface tension of the process solutions to minimise sticking. Using ballast or mixing loads can also help. Parts that are hollow and may float should have some pieces of polypropylene inside the barrel to knock them about and sink them. Pins and wires are best processed in mesh or slotted cylinders or better still use an oblique tub type barrel.
The correct quantity of work in a horizontal barrel is just over half full, this gives good contact to the danglers and usually a good tumbling action. Once the correct workload is established, calculate the surface area of the load. Then calculate the required current. This will normally be between 10% and 25% of the current specified for rack plating the same area. Try to plate a batch, to see if the necessary current be achieved? Often it is not possible due to either the hole size being too small or the solution conductivity too low. Try to resolve the problem with a different cylinder, or modify the chemistry. Running at an excessively low CD rarely gives good results as the deposit is burnished off nearly as fast as it is deposited.
Barrel rotation should be about 6-12 RPM for best tumbling action and horizontal barrels should be run completely submerged, to give the best chance of fresh solution transfer into the barrel, and maximise the current transfer into the cylinder through the holes.
Use cylinders with the largest possible hole size to maximise solution and current transfer.
There are hundreds of different barrel designs available today, from designs for plating on plastic buttons, wheel spokes, herring bone and counter bored perforations, slotted perforations, changeable inserts, where one cylinder can be used with different perforation inserts for many work types. Disc contacts, rod and hanger contacts, and vibratory barrels.
These vibratory barrels are designed for minute and delicate components, where the components move relatively gently about, and are widely used in the electronics industry.
Many major companies now specify barrel plating for small decorative parts, for example in bright nickel and gold and were pleasantly surprised initially by the quality achieved using barrels as the thickness were much more even and the brightness was indistinguishable from parts rack plated.
The labour cost of barrel plating these small parts is negligible compared to wiring or jigging. Why not give barrel plating a try on suitable work? You will be pleased with the results!
RC: 241
Better barrel plating for jewellery. (Special Feature).Barrel plating was developed 100 years ago, initially using "cement mixer" type oblique barrels containing the solution and anode, and later about 1925, horizontal submerged barrels developed, and both type have evolved through the years to the many specialised units available today.
Unfortunately the technique of barrel plating has become in many cases, a poor relation within the plating industry, being regarded as a cheap and inferior method of electroplating by the end customer Low cost is definitely a benefit of barrel plating, but if the correct conditions are used, the quality can be as good as or even superior to rack finishing.
Barrel plating techniques are most successful when the work is repetition work and the plant, barrels, and chemistry are tuned to suit the work, as may be the case with an in-house plating department.
It is inevitable that in a jobbing shop where barrel plating work is infrequent, the types of work vary widely, and the plater has only one portable barrel available, the results can be disappointing.
To select a barrel unit to suit the work to be plated does seem extravagant, but when costs of jigging or wiring thousands of small parts are considered, buying a suitable barrel is a cost reduction.
Consider firstly the physical properties of the work, i.e. quantity to be plated, shape of components; will the parts cause excessive drag out? are they flat and likely to stick together? Do they stack, float, or have thin pins or wires, which will go through barrel perforations and burn, or bend? are there sharp edges or corners that would cut mesh lined barrels?. What is the total surface area of a correctly filled barrel load? Is the material very thin and likely not to conduct current through the full barrel load.
After considering the work to be processed, a suitable barrel must be chosen, and if the work is cup shaped and likely to cause excessive drag out, the plating chemistry should be modified to suit, by reducing the chemical composition where possible, to reduce costs and effluent loading.
If the work is flat and likely to stick together, choose a barrel with a ribbed interior, and look at the possibility of reducing the surface tension of the process solutions to minimise sticking. Using ballast or mixing loads can also help. Parts that are hollow and may float should have some pieces of polypropylene inside the barrel to knock them about and sink them. Pins and wires are best processed in mesh or slotted cylinders or better still use an oblique tub type barrel.
The correct quantity of work in a horizontal barrel is just over half full, this gives good contact to the danglers and usually a good tumbling action. Once the correct workload is established, calculate the surface area of the load. Then calculate the required current. This will normally be between 10% and 25% of the current specified for rack plating the same area. Try to plate a batch, to see if the necessary current be achieved? Often it is not possible due to either the hole size being too small or the solution conductivity too low. Try to resolve the problem with a different cylinder, or modify the chemistry. Running at an excessively low CD rarely gives good results as the deposit is burnished off nearly as fast as it is deposited.
Barrel rotation should be about 6-12 RPM for best tumbling action and horizontal barrels should be run completely submerged, to give the best chance of fresh solution transfer into the barrel, and maximise the current transfer into the cylinder through the holes.
Use cylinders with the largest possible hole size to maximise solution and current transfer.
There are hundreds of different barrel designs available today, from designs for plating on plastic buttons, wheel spokes, herring bone and counter bored perforations, slotted perforations, changeable inserts, where one cylinder can be used with different perforation inserts for many work types. Disc contacts, rod and hanger contacts, and vibratory barrels.
These vibratory barrels are designed for minute and delicate components, where the components move relatively gently about, and are widely used in the electronics industry.
Many major companies now specify barrel plating for small decorative parts, for example in bright nickel and gold and were pleasantly surprised initially by the quality achieved using barrels as the thickness were much more even and the brightness was indistinguishable from parts rack plated.
The labour cost of barrel plating these small parts is negligible compared to wiring or jigging. Why not give barrel plating a try on suitable work? You will be pleased with the results!
RC: 241
Better barrel plating for jewellery. (Special Feature).Barrel plating was developed 100 years ago, initially using "cement mixer" type oblique barrels containing the solution and anode, and later about 1925, horizontal submerged barrels developed, and both type have evolved through the years to the many specialised units available today.
Unfortunately the technique of barrel plating has become in many cases, a poor relation within the plating industry, being regarded as a cheap and inferior method of electroplating by the end customer Low cost is definitely a benefit of barrel plating, but if the correct conditions are used, the quality can be as good as or even superior to rack finishing.
Barrel plating techniques are most successful when the work is repetition work and the plant, barrels, and chemistry are tuned to suit the work, as may be the case with an in-house plating department.
It is inevitable that in a jobbing shop where barrel plating work is infrequent, the types of work vary widely, and the plater has only one portable barrel available, the results can be disappointing.
To select a barrel unit to suit the work to be plated does seem extravagant, but when costs of jigging or wiring thousands of small parts are considered, buying a suitable barrel is a cost reduction.
Consider firstly the physical properties of the work, i.e. quantity to be plated, shape of components; will the parts cause excessive drag out? are they flat and likely to stick together? Do they stack, float, or have thin pins or wires, which will go through barrel perforations and burn, or bend? are there sharp edges or corners that would cut mesh lined barrels?. What is the total surface area of a correctly filled barrel load? Is the material very thin and likely not to conduct current through the full barrel load.
After considering the work to be processed, a suitable barrel must be chosen, and if the work is cup shaped and likely to cause excessive drag out, the plating chemistry should be modified to suit, by reducing the chemical composition where possible, to reduce costs and effluent loading.
If the work is flat and likely to stick together, choose a barrel with a ribbed interior, and look at the possibility of reducing the surface tension of the process solutions to minimise sticking. Using ballast or mixing loads can also help. Parts that are hollow and may float should have some pieces of polypropylene inside the barrel to knock them about and sink them. Pins and wires are best processed in mesh or slotted cylinders or better still use an oblique tub type barrel.
The correct quantity of work in a horizontal barrel is just over half full, this gives good contact to the danglers and usually a good tumbling action. Once the correct workload is established, calculate the surface area of the load. Then calculate the required current. This will normally be between 10% and 25% of the current specified for rack plating the same area. Try to plate a batch, to see if the necessary current be achieved? Often it is not possible due to either the hole size being too small or the solution conductivity too low. Try to resolve the problem with a different cylinder, or modify the chemistry. Running at an excessively low CD rarely gives good results as the deposit is burnished off nearly as fast as it is deposited.
Barrel rotation should be about 6-12 RPM for best tumbling action and horizontal barrels should be run completely submerged, to give the best chance of fresh solution transfer into the barrel, and maximise the current transfer into the cylinder through the holes.
Use cylinders with the largest possible hole size to maximise solution and current transfer.
There are hundreds of different barrel designs available today, from designs for plating on plastic buttons, wheel spokes, herring bone and counter bored perforations, slotted perforations, changeable inserts, where one cylinder can be used with different perforation inserts for many work types. Disc contacts, rod and hanger contacts, and vibratory barrels.
These vibratory barrels are designed for minute and delicate components, where the components move relatively gently about, and are widely used in the electronics industry.
Many major companies now specify barrel plating for small decorative parts, for example in bright nickel and gold and were pleasantly surprised initially by the quality achieved using barrels as the thickness were much more even and the brightness was indistinguishable from parts rack plated.
The labour cost of barrel plating these small parts is negligible compared to wiring or jigging. Why not give barrel plating a try on suitable work? You will be pleased with the results!
RC: 241
Better barrel plating for jewellery. (Special Feature).Barrel plating was developed 100 years ago, initially using "cement mixer" type oblique barrels containing the solution and anode, and later about 1925, horizontal submerged barrels developed, and both type have evolved through the years to the many specialised units available today.
Unfortunately the technique of barrel plating has become in many cases, a poor relation within the plating industry, being regarded as a cheap and inferior method of electroplating by the end customer Low cost is definitely a benefit of barrel plating, but if the correct conditions are used, the quality can be as good as or even superior to rack finishing.
Barrel plating techniques are most successful when the work is repetition work and the plant, barrels, and chemistry are tuned to suit the work, as may be the case with an in-house plating department.
It is inevitable that in a jobbing shop where barrel plating work is infrequent, the types of work vary widely, and the plater has only one portable barrel available, the results can be disappointing.
To select a barrel unit to suit the work to be plated does seem extravagant, but when costs of jigging or wiring thousands of small parts are considered, buying a suitable barrel is a cost reduction.
Consider firstly the physical properties of the work, i.e. quantity to be plated, shape of components; will the parts cause excessive drag out? are they flat and likely to stick together? Do they stack, float, or have thin pins or wires, which will go through barrel perforations and burn, or bend? are there sharp edges or corners that would cut mesh lined barrels?. What is the total surface area of a correctly filled barrel load? Is the material very thin and likely not to conduct current through the full barrel load.
After considering the work to be processed, a suitable barrel must be chosen, and if the work is cup shaped and likely to cause excessive drag out, the plating chemistry should be modified to suit, by reducing the chemical composition where possible, to reduce costs and effluent loading.
If the work is flat and likely to stick together, choose a barrel with a ribbed interior, and look at the possibility of reducing the surface tension of the process solutions to minimise sticking. Using ballast or mixing loads can also help. Parts that are hollow and may float should have some pieces of polypropylene inside the barrel to knock them about and sink them. Pins and wires are best processed in mesh or slotted cylinders or better still use an oblique tub type barrel.
The correct quantity of work in a horizontal barrel is just over half full, this gives good contact to the danglers and usually a good tumbling action. Once the correct workload is established, calculate the surface area of the load. Then calculate the required current. This will normally be between 10% and 25% of the current specified for rack plating the same area. Try to plate a batch, to see if the necessary current be achieved? Often it is not possible due to either the hole size being too small or the solution conductivity too low. Try to resolve the problem with a different cylinder, or modify the chemistry. Running at an excessively low CD rarely gives good results as the deposit is burnished off nearly as fast as it is deposited.
Barrel rotation should be about 6-12 RPM for best tumbling action and horizontal barrels should be run completely submerged, to give the best chance of fresh solution transfer into the barrel, and maximise the current transfer into the cylinder through the holes.
Use cylinders with the largest possible hole size to maximise solution and current transfer.
There are hundreds of different barrel designs available today, from designs for plating on plastic buttons, wheel spokes, herring bone and counter bored perforations, slotted perforations, changeable inserts, where one cylinder can be used with different perforation inserts for many work types. Disc contacts, rod and hanger contacts, and vibratory barrels.
These vibratory barrels are designed for minute and delicate components, where the components move relatively gently about, and are widely used in the electronics industry.
Many major companies now specify barrel plating for small decorative parts, for example in bright nickel and gold and were pleasantly surprised initially by the quality achieved using barrels as the thickness were much more even and the brightness was indistinguishable from parts rack plated.
The labour cost of barrel plating these small parts is negligible compared to wiring or jigging. Why not give barrel plating a try on suitable work? You will be pleased with the results!
RC: 241
Better barrel plating for jewellery. (Special Feature).Barrel plating was developed 100 years ago, initially using "cement mixer" type oblique barrels containing the solution and anode, and later about 1925, horizontal submerged barrels developed, and both type have evolved through the years to the many specialised units available today.
Unfortunately the technique of barrel plating has become in many cases, a poor relation within the plating industry, being regarded as a cheap and inferior method of electroplating by the end customer Low cost is definitely a benefit of barrel plating, but if the correct conditions are used, the quality can be as good as or even superior to rack finishing.
Barrel plating techniques are most successful when the work is repetition work and the plant, barrels, and chemistry are tuned to suit the work, as may be the case with an in-house plating department.
It is inevitable that in a jobbing shop where barrel plating work is infrequent, the types of work vary widely, and the plater has only one portable barrel available, the results can be disappointing.
To select a barrel unit to suit the work to be plated does seem extravagant, but when costs of jigging or wiring thousands of small parts are considered, buying a suitable barrel is a cost reduction.
Consider firstly the physical properties of the work, i.e. quantity to be plated, shape of components; will the parts cause excessive drag out? are they flat and likely to stick together? Do they stack, float, or have thin pins or wires, which will go through barrel perforations and burn, or bend? are there sharp edges or corners that would cut mesh lined barrels?. What is the total surface area of a correctly filled barrel load? Is the material very thin and likely not to conduct current through the full barrel load.
After considering the work to be processed, a suitable barrel must be chosen, and if the work is cup shaped and likely to cause excessive drag out, the plating chemistry should be modified to suit, by reducing the chemical composition where possible, to reduce costs and effluent loading.
If the work is flat and likely to stick together, choose a barrel with a ribbed interior, and look at the possibility of reducing the surface tension of the process solutions to minimise sticking. Using ballast or mixing loads can also help. Parts that are hollow and may float should have some pieces of polypropylene inside the barrel to knock them about and sink them. Pins and wires are best processed in mesh or slotted cylinders or better still use an oblique tub type barrel.
The correct quantity of work in a horizontal barrel is just over half full, this gives good contact to the danglers and usually a good tumbling action. Once the correct workload is established, calculate the surface area of the load. Then calculate the required current. This will normally be between 10% and 25% of the current specified for rack plating the same area. Try to plate a batch, to see if the necessary current be achieved? Often it is not possible due to either the hole size being too small or the solution conductivity too low. Try to resolve the problem with a different cylinder, or modify the chemistry. Running at an excessively low CD rarely gives good results as the deposit is burnished off nearly as fast as it is deposited.
Barrel rotation should be about 6-12 RPM for best tumbling action and horizontal barrels should be run completely submerged, to give the best chance of fresh solution transfer into the barrel, and maximise the current transfer into the cylinder through the holes.
Use cylinders with the largest possible hole size to maximise solution and current transfer.
There are hundreds of different barrel designs available today, from designs for plating on plastic buttons, wheel spokes, herring bone and counter bored perforations, slotted perforations, changeable inserts, where one cylinder can be used with different perforation inserts for many work types. Disc contacts, rod and hanger contacts, and vibratory barrels.
These vibratory barrels are designed for minute and delicate components, where the components move relatively gently about, and are widely used in the electronics industry.
Many major companies now specify barrel plating for small decorative parts, for example in bright nickel and gold and were pleasantly surprised initially by the quality achieved using barrels as the thickness were much more even and the brightness was indistinguishable from parts rack plated.
The labour cost of barrel plating these small parts is negligible compared to wiring or jigging. Why not give barrel plating a try on suitable work? You will be pleased with the results!
RC: 241
Better barrel plating for jewellery. (Special Feature).Barrel plating was developed 100 years ago, initially using "cement mixer" type oblique barrels containing the solution and anode, and later about 1925, horizontal submerged barrels developed, and both type have evolved through the years to the many specialised units available today.
Unfortunately the technique of barrel plating has become in many cases, a poor relation within the plating industry, being regarded as a cheap and inferior method of electroplating by the end customer Low cost is definitely a benefit of barrel plating, but if the correct conditions are used, the quality can be as good as or even superior to rack finishing.
Barrel plating techniques are most successful when the work is repetition work and the plant, barrels, and chemistry are tuned to suit the work, as may be the case with an in-house plating department.
It is inevitable that in a jobbing shop where barrel plating work is infrequent, the types of work vary widely, and the plater has only one portable barrel available, the results can be disappointing.
To select a barrel unit to suit the work to be plated does seem extravagant, but when costs of jigging or wiring thousands of small parts are considered, buying a suitable barrel is a cost reduction.
Consider firstly the physical properties of the work, i.e. quantity to be plated, shape of components; will the parts cause excessive drag out? are they flat and likely to stick together? Do they stack, float, or have thin pins or wires, which will go through barrel perforations and burn, or bend? are there sharp edges or corners that would cut mesh lined barrels?. What is the total surface area of a correctly filled barrel load? Is the material very thin and likely not to conduct current through the full barrel load.
After considering the work to be processed, a suitable barrel must be chosen, and if the work is cup shaped and likely to cause excessive drag out, the plating chemistry should be modified to suit, by reducing the chemical composition where possible, to reduce costs and effluent loading.
If the work is flat and likely to stick together, choose a barrel with a ribbed interior, and look at the possibility of reducing the surface tension of the process solutions to minimise sticking. Using ballast or mixing loads can also help. Parts that are hollow and may float should have some pieces of polypropylene inside the barrel to knock them about and sink them. Pins and wires are best processed in mesh or slotted cylinders or better still use an oblique tub type barrel.
The correct quantity of work in a horizontal barrel is just over half full, this gives good contact to the danglers and usually a good tumbling action. Once the correct workload is established, calculate the surface area of the load. Then calculate the required current. This will normally be between 10% and 25% of the current specified for rack plating the same area. Try to plate a batch, to see if the necessary current be achieved? Often it is not possible due to either the hole size being too small or the solution conductivity too low. Try to resolve the problem with a different cylinder, or modify the chemistry. Running at an excessively low CD rarely gives good results as the deposit is burnished off nearly as fast as it is deposited.
Barrel rotation should be about 6-12 RPM for best tumbling action and horizontal barrels should be run completely submerged, to give the best chance of fresh solution transfer into the barrel, and maximise the current transfer into the cylinder through the holes.
Use cylinders with the largest possible hole size to maximise solution and current transfer.
There are hundreds of different barrel designs available today, from designs for plating on plastic buttons, wheel spokes, herring bone and counter bored perforations, slotted perforations, changeable inserts, where one cylinder can be used with different perforation inserts for many work types. Disc contacts, rod and hanger contacts, and vibratory barrels.
These vibratory barrels are designed for minute and delicate components, where the components move relatively gently about, and are widely used in the electronics industry.
Many major companies now specify barrel plating for small decorative parts, for example in bright nickel and gold and were pleasantly surprised initially by the quality achieved using barrels as the thickness were much more even and the brightness was indistinguishable from parts rack plated.
The labour cost of barrel plating these small parts is negligible compared to wiring or jigging. Why not give barrel plating a try on suitable work? You will be pleased with the results!
RC: 241
Better barrel plating for jewellery. (Special Feature).Barrel plating was developed 100 years ago, initially using "cement mixer" type oblique barrels containing the solution and anode, and later about 1925, horizontal submerged barrels developed, and both type have evolved through the years to the many specialised units available today.
Unfortunately the technique of barrel plating has become in many cases, a poor relation within the plating industry, being regarded as a cheap and inferior method of electroplating by the end customer Low cost is definitely a benefit of barrel plating, but if the correct conditions are used, the quality can be as good as or even superior to rack finishing.
Barrel plating techniques are most successful when the work is repetition work and the plant, barrels, and chemistry are tuned to suit the work, as may be the case with an in-house plating department.
It is inevitable that in a jobbing shop where barrel plating work is infrequent, the types of work vary widely, and the plater has only one portable barrel available, the results can be disappointing.
To select a barrel unit to suit the work to be plated does seem extravagant, but when costs of jigging or wiring thousands of small parts are considered, buying a suitable barrel is a cost reduction.
Consider firstly the physical properties of the work, i.e. quantity to be plated, shape of components; will the parts cause excessive drag out? are they flat and likely to stick together? Do they stack, float, or have thin pins or wires, which will go through barrel perforations and burn, or bend? are there sharp edges or corners that would cut mesh lined barrels?. What is the total surface area of a correctly filled barrel load? Is the material very thin and likely not to conduct current through the full barrel load.
After considering the work to be processed, a suitable barrel must be chosen, and if the work is cup shaped and likely to cause excessive drag out, the plating chemistry should be modified to suit, by reducing the chemical composition where possible, to reduce costs and effluent loading.
If the work is flat and likely to stick together, choose a barrel with a ribbed interior, and look at the possibility of reducing the surface tension of the process solutions to minimise sticking. Using ballast or mixing loads can also help. Parts that are hollow and may float should have some pieces of polypropylene inside the barrel to knock them about and sink them. Pins and wires are best processed in mesh or slotted cylinders or better still use an oblique tub type barrel.
The correct quantity of work in a horizontal barrel is just over half full, this gives good contact to the danglers and usually a good tumbling action. Once the correct workload is established, calculate the surface area of the load. Then calculate the required current. This will normally be between 10% and 25% of the current specified for rack plating the same area. Try to plate a batch, to see if the necessary current be achieved? Often it is not possible due to either the hole size being too small or the solution conductivity too low. Try to resolve the problem with a different cylinder, or modify the chemistry. Running at an excessively low CD rarely gives good results as the deposit is burnished off nearly as fast as it is deposited.
Barrel rotation should be about 6-12 RPM for best tumbling action and horizontal barrels should be run completely submerged, to give the best chance of fresh solution transfer into the barrel, and maximise the current transfer into the cylinder through the holes.
Use cylinders with the largest possible hole size to maximise solution and current transfer.
There are hundreds of different barrel designs available today, from designs for plating on plastic buttons, wheel spokes, herring bone and counter bored perforations, slotted perforations, changeable inserts, where one cylinder can be used with different perforation inserts for many work types. Disc contacts, rod and hanger contacts, and vibratory barrels.
These vibratory barrels are designed for minute and delicate components, where the components move relatively gently about, and are widely used in the electronics industry.
Many major companies now specify barrel plating for small decorative parts, for example in bright nickel and gold and were pleasantly surprised initially by the quality achieved using barrels as the thickness were much more even and the brightness was indistinguishable from parts rack plated.
The labour cost of barrel plating these small parts is negligible compared to wiring or jigging. Why not give barrel plating a try on suitable work? You will be pleased with the results!
RC: 241
Better barrel plating for jewellery. (Special Feature).Barrel plating was developed 100 years ago, initially using "cement mixer" type oblique barrels containing the solution and anode, and later about 1925, horizontal submerged barrels developed, and both type have evolved through the years to the many specialised units available today.
Unfortunately the technique of barrel plating has become in many cases, a poor relation within the plating industry, being regarded as a cheap and inferior method of electroplating by the end customer Low cost is definitely a benefit of barrel plating, but if the correct conditions are used, the quality can be as good as or even superior to rack finishing.
Barrel plating techniques are most successful when the work is repetition work and the plant, barrels, and chemistry are tuned to suit the work, as may be the case with an in-house plating department.
It is inevitable that in a jobbing shop where barrel plating work is infrequent, the types of work vary widely, and the plater has only one portable barrel available, the results can be disappointing.
To select a barrel unit to suit the work to be plated does seem extravagant, but when costs of jigging or wiring thousands of small parts are considered, buying a suitable barrel is a cost reduction.
Consider firstly the physical properties of the work, i.e. quantity to be plated, shape of components; will the parts cause excessive drag out? are they flat and likely to stick together? Do they stack, float, or have thin pins or wires, which will go through barrel perforations and burn, or bend? are there sharp edges or corners that would cut mesh lined barrels?. What is the total surface area of a correctly filled barrel load? Is the material very thin and likely not to conduct current through the full barrel load.
After considering the work to be processed, a suitable barrel must be chosen, and if the work is cup shaped and likely to cause excessive drag out, the plating chemistry should be modified to suit, by reducing the chemical composition where possible, to reduce costs and effluent loading.
If the work is flat and likely to stick together, choose a barrel with a ribbed interior, and look at the possibility of reducing the surface tension of the process solutions to minimise sticking. Using ballast or mixing loads can also help. Parts that are hollow and may float should have some pieces of polypropylene inside the barrel to knock them about and sink them. Pins and wires are best processed in mesh or slotted cylinders or better still use an oblique tub type barrel.
The correct quantity of work in a horizontal barrel is just over half full, this gives good contact to the danglers and usually a good tumbling action. Once the correct workload is established, calculate the surface area of the load. Then calculate the required current. This will normally be between 10% and 25% of the current specified for rack plating the same area. Try to plate a batch, to see if the necessary current be achieved? Often it is not possible due to either the hole size being too small or the solution conductivity too low. Try to resolve the problem with a different cylinder, or modify the chemistry. Running at an excessively low CD rarely gives good results as the deposit is burnished off nearly as fast as it is deposited.
Barrel rotation should be about 6-12 RPM for best tumbling action and horizontal barrels should be run completely submerged, to give the best chance of fresh solution transfer into the barrel, and maximise the current transfer into the cylinder through the holes.
Use cylinders with the largest possible hole size to maximise solution and current transfer.
There are hundreds of different barrel designs available today, from designs for plating on plastic buttons, wheel spokes, herring bone and counter bored perforations, slotted perforations, changeable inserts, where one cylinder can be used with different perforation inserts for many work types. Disc contacts, rod and hanger contacts, and vibratory barrels.
These vibratory barrels are designed for minute and delicate components, where the components move relatively gently about, and are widely used in the electronics industry.
Many major companies now specify barrel plating for small decorative parts, for example in bright nickel and gold and were pleasantly surprised initially by the quality achieved using barrels as the thickness were much more even and the brightness was indistinguishable from parts rack plated.
The labour cost of barrel plating these small parts is negligible compared to wiring or jigging. Why not give barrel plating a try on suitable work? You will be pleased with the results!
RC: 241
Better barrel plating for jewellery. (Special Feature).Barrel plating was developed 100 years ago, initially using "cement mixer" type oblique barrels containing the solution and anode, and later about 1925, horizontal submerged barrels developed, and both type have evolved through the years to the many specialised units available today.
Unfortunately the technique of barrel plating has become in many cases, a poor relation within the plating industry, being regarded as a cheap and inferior method of electroplating by the end customer Low cost is definitely a benefit of barrel plating, but if the correct conditions are used, the quality can be as good as or even superior to rack finishing.
Barrel plating techniques are most successful when the work is repetition work and the plant, barrels, and chemistry are tuned to suit the work, as may be the case with an in-house plating department.
It is inevitable that in a jobbing shop where barrel plating work is infrequent, the types of work vary widely, and the plater has only one portable barrel available, the results can be disappointing.
To select a barrel unit to suit the work to be plated does seem extravagant, but when costs of jigging or wiring thousands of small parts are considered, buying a suitable barrel is a cost reduction.
Consider firstly the physical properties of the work, i.e. quantity to be plated, shape of components; will the parts cause excessive drag out? are they flat and likely to stick together? Do they stack, float, or have thin pins or wires, which will go through barrel perforations and burn, or bend? are there sharp edges or corners that would cut mesh lined barrels?. What is the total surface area of a correctly filled barrel load? Is the material very thin and likely not to conduct current through the full barrel load.
After considering the work to be processed, a suitable barrel must be chosen, and if the work is cup shaped and likely to cause excessive drag out, the plating chemistry should be modified to suit, by reducing the chemical composition where possible, to reduce costs and effluent loading.
If the work is flat and likely to stick together, choose a barrel with a ribbed interior, and look at the possibility of reducing the surface tension of the process solutions to minimise sticking. Using ballast or mixing loads can also help. Parts that are hollow and may float should have some pieces of polypropylene inside the barrel to knock them about and sink them. Pins and wires are best processed in mesh or slotted cylinders or better still use an oblique tub type barrel.
The correct quantity of work in a horizontal barrel is just over half full, this gives good contact to the danglers and usually a good tumbling action. Once the correct workload is established, calculate the surface area of the load. Then calculate the required current. This will normally be between 10% and 25% of the current specified for rack plating the same area. Try to plate a batch, to see if the necessary current be achieved? Often it is not possible due to either the hole size being too small or the solution conductivity too low. Try to resolve the problem with a different cylinder, or modify the chemistry. Running at an excessively low CD rarely gives good results as the deposit is burnished off nearly as fast as it is deposited.
Barrel rotation should be about 6-12 RPM for best tumbling action and horizontal barrels should be run completely submerged, to give the best chance of fresh solution transfer into the barrel, and maximise the current transfer into the cylinder through the holes.
Use cylinders with the largest possible hole size to maximise solution and current transfer.
There are hundreds of different barrel designs available today, from designs for plating on plastic buttons, wheel spokes, herring bone and counter bored perforations, slotted perforations, changeable inserts, where one cylinder can be used with different perforation inserts for many work types. Disc contacts, rod and hanger contacts, and vibratory barrels.
These vibratory barrels are designed for minute and delicate components, where the components move relatively gently about, and are widely used in the electronics industry.
Many major companies now specify barrel plating for small decorative parts, for example in bright nickel and gold and were pleasantly surprised initially by the quality achieved using barrels as the thickness were much more even and the brightness was indistinguishable from parts rack plated.
The labour cost of barrel plating these small parts is negligible compared to wiring or jigging. Why not give barrel plating a try on suitable work? You will be pleased with the results!
RC: 241
Better barrel plating for jewellery. (Special Feature).Barrel plating was developed 100 years ago, initially using "cement mixer" type oblique barrels containing the solution and anode, and later about 1925, horizontal submerged barrels developed, and both type have evolved through the years to the many specialised units available today.
Unfortunately the technique of barrel plating has become in many cases, a poor relation within the plating industry, being regarded as a cheap and inferior method of electroplating by the end customer Low cost is definitely a benefit of barrel plating, but if the correct conditions are used, the quality can be as good as or even superior to rack finishing.
Barrel plating techniques are most successful when the work is repetition work and the plant, barrels, and chemistry are tuned to suit the work, as may be the case with an in-house plating department.
It is inevitable that in a jobbing shop where barrel plating work is infrequent, the types of work vary widely, and the plater has only one portable barrel available, the results can be disappointing.
To select a barrel unit to suit the work to be plated does seem extravagant, but when costs of jigging or wiring thousands of small parts are considered, buying a suitable barrel is a cost reduction.
Consider firstly the physical properties of the work, i.e. quantity to be plated, shape of components; will the parts cause excessive drag out? are they flat and likely to stick together? Do they stack, float, or have thin pins or wires, which will go through barrel perforations and burn, or bend? are there sharp edges or corners that would cut mesh lined barrels?. What is the total surface area of a correctly filled barrel load? Is the material very thin and likely not to conduct current through the full barrel load.
After considering the work to be processed, a suitable barrel must be chosen, and if the work is cup shaped and likely to cause excessive drag out, the plating chemistry should be modified to suit, by reducing the chemical composition where possible, to reduce costs and effluent loading.
If the work is flat and likely to stick together, choose a barrel with a ribbed interior, and look at the possibility of reducing the surface tension of the process solutions to minimise sticking. Using ballast or mixing loads can also help. Parts that are hollow and may float should have some pieces of polypropylene inside the barrel to knock them about and sink them. Pins and wires are best processed in mesh or slotted cylinders or better still use an oblique tub type barrel.
The correct quantity of work in a horizontal barrel is just over half full, this gives good contact to the danglers and usually a good tumbling action. Once the correct workload is established, calculate the surface area of the load. Then calculate the required current. This will normally be between 10% and 25% of the current specified for rack plating the same area. Try to plate a batch, to see if the necessary current be achieved? Often it is not possible due to either the hole size being too small or the solution conductivity too low. Try to resolve the problem with a different cylinder, or modify the chemistry. Running at an excessively low CD rarely gives good results as the deposit is burnished off nearly as fast as it is deposited.
Barrel rotation should be about 6-12 RPM for best tumbling action and horizontal barrels should be run completely submerged, to give the best chance of fresh solution transfer into the barrel, and maximise the current transfer into the cylinder through the holes.
Use cylinders with the largest possible hole size to maximise solution and current transfer.
There are hundreds of different barrel designs available today, from designs for plating on plastic buttons, wheel spokes, herring bone and counter bored perforations, slotted perforations, changeable inserts, where one cylinder can be used with different perforation inserts for many work types. Disc contacts, rod and hanger contacts, and vibratory barrels.
These vibratory barrels are designed for minute and delicate components, where the components move relatively gently about, and are widely used in the electronics industry.
Many major companies now specify barrel plating for small decorative parts, for example in bright nickel and gold and were pleasantly surprised initially by the quality achieved using barrels as the thickness were much more even and the brightness was indistinguishable from parts rack plated.
The labour cost of barrel plating these small parts is negligible compared to wiring or jigging. Why not give barrel plating a try on suitable work? You will be pleased with the results!
RC: 241
