R A Chilton Ltd
Copper Electroplating
Electroplated copper squirrel cage motors are used for high speed Air Bearing Spindles. Spindles produced by our customers and electroplated by R A Chilton are commonly used for PCB drilling spindles, Dicing Spindles, Grinding Spindles, and Precision Machining Spindles. Typically an air bearing spindle rotates at 60,000 to 350,000rpm. The properties of electroplated copper make it ideally suited to this high speed rotation as it has the strength and adhesion to remain firmly in place when rotated at the incredibly high speeds demanded by the PCB drilling application.
Electroplated Copper Rotor on a finished air bearing shaft. This shaft runs at 200krpm and is used in the AW200B PCB drilling spindle. Picture of finished product provided by kind permission of our customer Air Bearings Ltd
Finished AW200B PCB drilling spindle. Picture of finished product provided by kind permission of our customer Air Bearings Ltd
An excellent description of how an air bearing spindle works is provided here, by kind permission of our customer Westwind Air Bearings
Copper rotors improve motor efficiency when compared to aluminium laminated rotors.
The properties of electroplated copper differ from copper produced by other methods. The fine grain structure and plating additives give the copper its superior strength and hardness.