Quote: But it may be a bit cheaper to have them ready before I send them off.
I've had a lot of stuff plated, in my experience you need to remove any paint, and I'd recommend removing any serious rust, but otherwise existing plating and surface rust will be removed as part of the process. I don't think you save any money doing a lot of prep because they have to really clean it with chemicals to prepare the surface for plating which deals with the rust etc.
Only other reason I found to prepare beforehand is if you want to change the finish of the part. Plating will not cover or change any surface characteristics. Mostly the original metal finish is what you want, but occasionally if a part has been marked I might glass bead it to get a uniform finish....but after plating it looks like a glass beaded part that has been plated !!
