Surface Finishing & Coating

For today's manufacturers of precision components, there's no getting around deburring, rounding and polishing. These production steps are often seen as a necessary evil due to the high costs associated with them in some cases. Use of the right technology permits reliable processing at reduced costs.

Carr Lane Mfg. Co. offers a new LIFE-EX PVD coating as an option on its round and diamond pins. So hard it cannot be measured on the Rockwell C scale, LIFE-EX is a thin film of vaporized solid metal that has been deposited onto Carr Lane's round and diamond pins as a pure metal or alloy coating.

Walter Surface Technologies has announced the launch of its Surfox 205 and Surfox Mini TIG and spot weld cleaning system. This new generation of Surfox 205 uses an electrochemical process to clean and passivate TIG and spot welds on stainless steel, aluminum and titanium.

END USER: Mennie Machine Co., (815) 339-2226, www.mennies.com. SOLUTION PROVIDERS: Engman-Taylor Co. Inc., (262) 255-9300, www.engman-taylor.com; Walter USA LLC, (800) 945-5554, www.walter-tools.com/us. CHALLENGE: Reduce cycle times, deburring, inconsistent tool life and varying costs. SOLUTION: A program for productivity services.

Ransohoff, a division of Cleaning Technologies Group LLC, has introduced its Mega Jet Pressure Blast; an economical manual high-pressure spray washer for very large, heavy parts where floor space comes at a premium. The parts can be loaded with an overhead hoist crane on to a rotating table.

Weiler Abrasives Group announced the expansion of its resin fiber discs (RFDs) offering to include five new products for varying performance requirements: Tiger Ceramic, Zirc and Aluminum, and Wolverine Zirc and Aluminum Oxide. These discs are designed to provide an aggressive cut rate and a smooth finish on tool steel, aluminum and any material in between. The products are ideal for heavy stock removal, edge chamfering, weld blending, grinding, and surface preparation and finishing.

J.W. Winco Inc. offers GN 2184 edge protection profiles. The RoHS-compliant GN 2184 edge protection profiles are installed on the front edge of metal sheets and plates, protecting the surfaces from damage by sharp edges.

Heule Tool Corp. introduces new COFA-C series tooling for deburring elliptical or contoured surfaces in larger diameters. Replaceable solid-carbide coated blades for holes from 6 - 26 mm are available from stock, with various coatings providing longer tool life and optimum performance based on materials being machined.

Nanodiamond material specialist Carbodeon of Finland has worked with metal finishing specialist CCT Plating of Germany to develop a new electroless nickel, PTFE and nanodiamond composite coating. Electroless nickel-PTFE (EN-PTFE) coatings provide excellent anti-adhesive and low friction properties but are traditionally soft and wear quickly in abrasive conditions. By adding NanoDiamond particles to the EN-PTFE coating, Carbodeon has been able to improve the abrasive wear resistance of these coatings without compromising the sliding or release properties.

A profile of Basin Precision Machining LLC in the Jefferson Co. (Wisconsin) Daily Union describes the company's pioneering use of an ATL iTEM400/600 thermal deburring machine--the first to be used in the U.S. In the feature, Basin president and CEO Erik Anderson contrasts traditional deburring via cutting or drilling with the new ATL process: "We actually take the sharp edges off of a part with an explosion." The machine uses a controlled explosion to generate 6,000 degrees in 20 milliseconds, which oxidizes burrs off of a part.

Osborn introduced the JacksonLea brand LeaSpray HP spray gun for use with all JacksonLea polishing compounds. Engineered for industrial liquid buffing compounds, the LeaSpray HP spray gun is similar to other powder coating and painting guns, but it has a versatile design that fits all types of control systems and applications, including hand, automatic and robotic applications.

Omegasonics has introduced a new ultrasonic generator, the Matrix 9000 Mark II, that provides the latest enhancements in electronics. The third generation of this generator series, the Matrix 9000 Mark II eliminates 20 percent of the components on the power board.