The old adage you only get one chance to make a first impression may never ring more true than when discussing coatings. When a customer opens a shipping container, the first thing they see is the finish on your product. If the coating is scratched, chipped, blemished or rusted, the impression customers retain of the quality of the company producing the product is marred. This conflicts with the objective for the product to be judged solely on its performance.
Manufacturers are busy making the product, as they should be, and only think of the coating as an afterthought. In actuality it's the first thing a customer sees and is the first line of protection against corrosion and wear of the product. Companies providing coating expertise should be ask to assist in the designing stages to avoid problems arising during the coating process. Sometimes parts are designed without holes for hanging the parts during the coating process or do not have holes for drainage during the wash process. Your coatings supplier would be glad to sit down with you to discuss your application in the early stages of design to help in explaining what happens during the coating application. This can possibly save the company money and time if done at this stage. Coatings are not only for decoration. Coatings can provide a function and be used for protection of your product. The quality of the finish on a product goes a long way in developing a lasting relationship between the supplier and the end customer.
There are many companies that apply coatings across the United States. Some decorate parts with liquid paints and others with powder paints. Then there are specialty coating companies that deal with the functional and protective coatings as well as the decorative applications.
First, let us consider the majority of production painting. Many parts have a paint applied to add color and protect it from moisture or mild corrosion. Liquid coatings can be a single component or multiple component paint that is either sprayed, dipped, flow coated or dip-spinned. Powder coating is a colored dry powder that looks like colored flour. Powder coatings can be electrostaticly applied, fusion bonded or fluid-bed dipped. Your coatings applicator can tell you which is best and most cost effective for your application.
Besides adding a decorative finish to your parts, there are many coatings that serve a purpose to hold up to a function or protect your product in a severe application. Your specialty coatings partner will help you decide which coating to use for wear, non-stick, EMI/RFI shielding, UV protection, corrosion resistance, high temperature applications, FDA food and medical concerns and many other uses.
Specialty coating companies work with the normal enamels, epoxies, polyesters and urethanes, but they also work with the exotic coatings such as Teflon, Xylan, Halar, phenolic, polyethylene, nylon, fluorocarbon, copper and nickel based and many other types. Since a specialty coatings applicator's expertise crosses all industries and has a wide variety of coating experience, they are able to decide which is best. Just with Teflon, Xylan, Halar, and the other fluorocarbon coatings; there are close to a hundred coatings to choose from for any application. Each coating is designed for a specific application. To steer you in the correct direction, contact your specialty coating vendor.
By asking a few questions during the early stages of development, a special coatings engineer can funnel through the vast array of coatings to a few examples that will work in your application. A few of the questions may be:
* What is the function of your part?
* What is the purpose of the coating?
* What temperatures will the part be subject to?
* What comes in contact with the part?
* Can the part withstand the curing temperature of the coating?
* Do you have to meet a military specification?
* What is the substrate?
* What dielectric strength is needed?
* How many ohms per square?
* Is this an application where we are concerned with the FDA?
* Are there any chemicals that come in contact with the part?
With these and other questions, your specialty coatings vendor is able to use their vast knowledge and experience to dial towards using a coating system such as epoxy, nylon, polyethylene or a fluorocarbon on your product.
Remember, the coating is always the first thing your customer sees about your product and it is the first in line of defense to protecting your product.
Call your specialty coatings expert today. They can help you now and in the future.
One such specialty coating facility with over sixty years of experience is Van Westrum Corporation.
Please contact:
Mark S. van Westrum, email: vwc@vanwestrum.com
Van Westrum Corporation
On the web: www.vanwestrum.com
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