We usual receive inquiries from customers who want to discuss issues related to prototype surface treatments.

For example, how to achieve the glossy/matt effect of the parts? I want to cover the surface of stainless steel parts with a protective layer to achieve the anti-corrosion effect. What kind of surface treatments should I choose? How can I print my company's logo on the surface of the parts?

We would be happy to discuss these issues with the customers and propose customized surface treatments for their CNC prototypes. WayKen not only provides custom CNC machining services, but also provides CNC prototyping one stop services in house.

This article presents a few common surface treatments solution that we hope will be helpful to your project.

As machined

As machined is common in some mechanical parts and requires tight tolerances for assembly use. Or some interior parts, without rendering the appearance. In this case, we can choose as machined surface treatments. The advantage is that there is no need to increase the extra cost of surface treatments and also obtain tight tolerance. The disadvantage is that machining tool marks can be seen on the surface of parts.

Polishing

Both plastic parts and metal parts can be polished. There are three kinds of common polishing, transparent parts polishing, aluminum parts polishing and ABS parts(opaque plastic parts)polishing. Transparent piece of polishing material is acrylic, usually because of it has the good transparency rate. Through changing sand paper, from the 400 # to 2000 # sand paper, will remove the machining mark on the surface of the parts, will wear parts for defects and the uneven area, in order to obtain a smooth surface smooth, then use polishing wax artificial or use tool polishing. A beautiful transparent part is done.

If it is a transparent light guide, you can clearly see the beam of light passing through, and see the light reflected from the tiny teeth. If it is on display, I think visitors must be attracted by this beautiful work of art.

Aluminum parts polishing and ABS parts polishing process and transparent acrylic polishing are process of the general project. However, the application may be different.

Bead blasting

Bead blasting is based on further surface treatments of as machined. The main purpose of bead blasting is to cover the machining marks on the surface of the parts, make the parts more beautiful, and also help to prevent scratch. This is the lower cost of surface treatments.

Bead blasting can be divided into coarse sand and fine sand, and different sand sizes will give different satin effects. However, it is worth noting that bead blasting may affect the key dimensione, especially the assembly position. For example, high assembly tolerance such as H6/H7, we do not recommend bead blasting, which is more suitable for machining.

Anodizing

Anodizing is divided into clear or colored anodizing.

Anodizing surface treatment products are also common in daily life and industry, especially aluminum anodizing, such as AL6061/7075.

There are many types of anodizing, such as micro-arc anodizing, anodizing oxidation, hardcoat anodizing and so on. But the general anodizing oxidation, because the operation process is relatively simple, can also achieve the protection of the CNC prototypes. Prevent corrosion on the surface of the product, improve wear resistance, can also be used as a decorative layer, can anodizing a variety of colors.

Passivation

The principle of passivation is to form a protective film on the surface of the parts, when stainless steel and air contact, the chromium atoms in stainless steel and oxygen atoms will occur chemical reaction, closely combined together to form a protective layer, we can call it passivation film.

The passivation film can protect the surface of parts effectively, avoid oxidation, and achieve the effect of anti-rust and corrosion. It is worth noting that the selection of the passivating post-treatment is also important, because different types of steel contain different concentrations of chromium atoms, which will affect the effect of the passivizing film.

Powder Coating

The principle of powder coating is to form a layer of oxide film on the surface of the parts.

In the process of powder coating, electrostatic effect, the continuous accumulation of electric charge, powder will be adsorbed to the surface of the parts, will form a compact powder coating, these powder coating after a series of chemical reactions, will form a strong and durable and good performance of the film cover on the surface of the parts.

Powder coating can be achieved in a range of thickness, usually between 50~300μm, if the parts assembly tolerance is very strict is not recommended for powder coating.

The disadvantage is that the color of powder coating is less selective, because the powder coating has been used in the manufacturer's production of pigment formula deployment of a specific color, consumers can not easily use the raw color on the site deployment, so the conventional powder coating is black or white.

There is a point when the appearance of the powder coating is relatively poor smoothness, because the paint curing needs to be heated treatment, powder coating has fluidity, easy to appear uneven.

Concluding Remarks

There are five post-processing options outlined above, but there are many others. Such as painting, screen printing, electroplating, powder spraying and so on. If you have any ideas, please feel free to contact us and we will give you feedback as soon as possible.

Author's Bio: 

Hi, I am Malik. I started writing about tech for a decade ago. I am passionate about a wide range of topics including science,technology
, finance, health, insurance, entertainment, politics, sports, property, and pretty much everything under the sun! Other than writing, I’ve worked in I.T. across a number of industries, including banking, retail, and software.