Feature Articles

Just How Clean Is Clean?
Most finishing consultants have lost count of the number of times that inadequate cleaning and pretreatment was the cause of defective painting or plating. Skip plating, blistering, delamination—these are just some of the commonly found defects caused by poor cleaning.

Adding E-Coat to an Existing Powder Coating Line
If sales for your finishing business have been declining, you may need to consider adding a new coating line to bring in new business. An option may be to add an electrocoat system to your current powder line to increase your coating capabilities.

Solvon Meeting Military Inspection
Poly Systems in Bayonne, N.J., has released an updated version of its Solvon FB cleaning solvent blends consisting of a high-purity, patented combination of n-propyl bromide and pentafluorobutane.

Alternative Bath Control Practice
Your finishing operations can improve quality and lower cost by a change from the standard process control practice to add material following bath analysis

NEWS: Water Company Finds Source of Hex Chrome: Itself
The Louisville Water Co., which serves about 850,000 residents with water in the Kentucky region, found the source of its hexavalent chromium issues: its own equipment.

Military “STARs” Are Born With Paint Facilities
The Yermo Annex Marine Corps. Logistics Base in California and the Corpus Christi Army Depot Aviation Center in Texas have acquired new systems to help train and enhance employees’ painting abilities.

Navy Is Full Steam Ahead On Powder Coating
With the military increasing its use of powder-based coatings to cover vehicles, equipment and ships—the Army has recently announced that it will allow the use of powder coatings in its CARC coverings that are normally e-coated—more assets are getting the powder coating treatment than ever before, much to the joy of the powder manufacturers.

The EPA’s Common Sense Initiative and Its Legacy on the Finishing Industry
The Common Sense Initiative was the centerpiece of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s much-touted regulatory reinvention in 1994. Called a “bold experiment,” the EPA developed the Common Sense Initiative to address claims that its regulatory process had become burdensome, inefficient and costly.

Tech Notes

A “Bizarre” Approach: Using Moisture to Cure CARC Coatings
When veteran inventors Mike Bunnell and Daryl Bruischat put their minds together to build a better mousetrap for the drying and curing of waterborne CARC paints, they both hoped to come up with a system that might change the industry somewhat.