Feature Articles

Why Vacuum Coating?
There is common interest among platers and vacuum coaters.

Nickel Saved is Nickel Earned
Those in the plating industry are continually working on the development of a process to recover valuable nickel from spent electroless nickel solutions. Now there is a two-stage method to do just that.

Employment Inches Forward, Factory Production Rises
NASF Economist Ken Mayland says total nonfarm payrolls rose 155,000 for December, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics; the two previous months were revised a net 14,000 higher as the unemployment rate for the last month of the year stood at 7.8 percent.

Taking the (Oxide) Edge Off
Metal fabricators that laser-cut with oxygen take steps to prepare parts better for powder coating.

Progress in Replacing Decorative Electroplating Chrome Coatings on Plastics with Physical Vapor Deposition Coatings
Decorative electroplated chrome coatings on plastics have been produced for decades. For environmental reasons, there has been a shift away from hexavalent chrome (Cr6) to trivalent chrome (Cr3) with increased investments towards elemental chrome PVD coatings to maintain the true chrome appearance.

Bringing You the Future of Coatings with PVD
Products Finishing partners with Society of Vacuum Coaters

Microabrasive Precision Shot Peening
Precision shot peening brings an entirely new concept to the field of microabrasive blasting, and it is complementary to its larger cousin. Using glass bead media, several companies have been shot peening for years with microabrasive blasting technology.

New Chromium Electroplating Housekeeping Requirements
Alert for Platers: Your Deadline is March 19, 2013 as EPA finalized the residual risk and technology review for the national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) for hard and decorative chromium electroplating and chromium anodizing tanks under 40 CFR Part 63

Vacuum Deposition and Coating Options
This overview takes a look at vacuum deposition technologies as processes that may be used to create coatings that can be substituted for or enhances the properties of electroplated coatings. Initially, this work discusses trends in metal finishing and environmental regulation.

PPG Also Wins $1.5 Million Through DoD’s SERDP
PPG will work with ARL to develop a powder topcoat that will meet military standards for ultraviolet durability, matte finish and resistance to chemical agents.

Battle for CARC Powder Coating
Sherwin-Williams and PPG were awarded research grants by the Department of Defense in June 2012 to develop a zero-volatile organic compound, zero-hazardous air pollutant exterior topcoat to replace the military’s current generation of liquid-applied chemical agent resistant coatings (CARC) by 2015.