[fargap]

I\'m having a few prototype printed circuit boards made, and I\'d like to gold plate the edge contacts myself - the PCB people charge a way-high setup fee for the service.

So, I figure I can nikel plate and then gold plate with your Plug N Plate method. But...I don\'t know if I can get the edge contacts masked, ie, left just plain copper - it may be that they will have to be tin plated along with the rest of the board. If that is so, can I nickel plate and then gold plate over the tin plate, or can I just gold plate the tin without nickel (too soft?), or should I really insist that the contacts I want to plate be left plain copper.

The other question is whether I need to buy two plug n plate kits - one for nickel and one for gold - or can I just buy one gold kit, and a bottle of nickel solution?

Thanks