Substrate flatness is checked before coating
Panels are checked on a straight edge and corrected before they go near the chamber.
If skippedPVD does not level. A wave in the sheet becomes a wave in the finished wall, in a colour that highlights it.
PVD panels:
a micron of colour
on a surface that shows everything
PVD is the finish that makes a lobby read as one colour. It is also the finish that reveals every wave in the sheet behind it.
Grades quoted are 304 and 316L; other grades are sourced to order and named in the quote. Cut and finished in our own factory in Foshan.
- Thickness
- 1.0–3.0 mm
- Colours
- 15
- Colour match
- ΔE ≤ 1.5
- Batch
- One per colour
01
What PVD actually is
Physical vapour deposition: a metal film deposited onto stainless in a vacuum chamber. It is not paint, and it is not plating in the electroplating sense.
A PVD coating is between 0.2 and 1 micron thick — far thinner than paint, and metallurgically bonded rather than sitting on top. That is why it does not chip like paint, and why it will not hide a surface defect either.
The substrate decides the result. A PVD finish over a panel that is 1.2 mm out of flat looks exactly as out of flat as the panel, in a colour that makes it easier to see.
Where it belongs
- Interior feature surfaces: lobby walls, column casings, lift fronts, bar fronts
- Anywhere a specific brand colour is required across a large area
- Surfaces that will be touched, where paint would wear through
Where it does not
- Exterior horizontal surfaces with standing water — use 316L and a plain finish
- Anywhere the client expects a scratch to be repairable on site — PVD cannot be touched up locally
02
The specification
| Property | Figure | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Substrate | 304 or 316L | 316L for exterior or coastal; the coating is not the corrosion barrier |
| Thickness range | 1.0–3.0 mm | Below 1.0 mm the panel is too flexible for a large flat face |
| Coating thickness | 0.2–1 µm | Thin enough that substrate flatness shows through |
| Colours | 15 | Champagne, bronze, black, copper, gold tones, plus custom on request |
| Colour match | ΔE ≤ 1.5 | Against a physical approved sample, under a fixed lamp |
| Batch | One per colour per job | Two runs of the same colour are two colours |
| Abrasion | Per ASTM D3363, ≥ 4H pencil | Ask for the test record, not the claim |
| Repairability | Not local | A damaged part is re-made, not touched up |
03
What decides whether it looks right
One batch per colour, held
The whole job is plated together, even if it means waiting for line capacity.
If skippedA second run is a second tint, and it will end up adjacent to the first one.
The colour is approved under your light
Approved against a 1:1 mock-up under the room's actual lamp specification.
If skippedChampagne gold is correct in Foshan daylight and green in a warm-lit lobby.
04
PVD in four frames
01 · to be shotPVD chamber with parts racked
02 · to be shotColour samples, 55, on a single strip
03A mirror-polished gold panel formed into a dome, the whole workshop reflected in it
04A copper-toned bowl, polished to a mirror, before delivery
The material is the easy part.
Send the drawing and
we will talk about the joints.
Grade and finish are a specification. Whether two panels meet cleanly, in one colour, with no cutting on site, is the job.