Feature Articles

Advice & Counsel
While I am familiar with iron and zinc phosphating, my facility is considering the addition of a manganese phosphating line and I am wondering what the differences are.

Fact or Fiction: A Belated Thanks to The Internet
I've published almost 200 articles in either P&SF or other places. There isn't much I would change about my views covered in these publications, yet one stands out as an exception.

Promoting Surface Finishing in Creative Ways
One of the association’s priorities has been to promote surface finishing and educate new audiences about the industry and its value, and to do it in creative ways.

Finisher's Think Tank: Rinsing: An Important Part of the Cycle
The following points may apply to specific metal finishing operations, such as: plating, painting and powder coating, anodizing, colorizing, oxidizing and other specialties.

An Overview of Hard Chromium Plating Using Trivalent Chromium Solutions
For more than forty years, academic and industrial researchers from all over the world have taken a strong interest in alternative processes for hard chromium plating using hexavalent ions. The benefits of substitute processes are obvious, as the toxic and carcinogenic aspects of hexavalent chromium are well known.

Investigation of the Blackening Process of Electroless Nickel-Phosphorous Coatings and Their Properties
Electroless black nickel-phosphorus plating is an advanced electroless nickel plating process formulated to deposit a black finish when processed through an oxidizing acid solution.