finishing talk newsletter - july 2008

8/14/2019 Finishing Talk Newsletter - July 2008

1/16

Finishing Spotlight:

Inside This Issue:

shaped media, porce-

lain is also used to

accomplish the same

task. The big differencebetween these two

compositions is, once

again, the weight fac-

tor. In fact, that is the

main popularity of steel

media - it is heavy,

about 300 lbs per cubic

foot versus about 100

lbs for porcelain and

most other ceramic

abrasives. Steel worksrelatively fast to pro-

duce a bright, shiny

surface appearance;

however, shine does

not necessarily trans-

late into smoothness.

In addition to steel and

By: A.F. Kenton,

President of Nova

Finishing Systems

I have not mentioned

anything about bur-

nishing media up to

now. That is because,

other than size and

shape, there are no

major differences or

variations for this type

of media; but size still

determines weight, and

that is a factor for se-lection. Non-abrasive

shapes work parts the

same way that abra-

sives do, but because

there are no abrasives,

there is little to no ma-

terial removal. Any ma-

terial removed is due

to metal fatigue

caused by flexing. An

exception to this is asharp, spiral cut cylin-

der that is only made

by one company, and

is designed to actually

remove material as

long as the spiral ribs

are still intact. Fine,

inorganic materials can

be added to steel for

deburring, but it is not

recommended becauseof cost factors, and

because all steel media

is heat treated to cre-

ate a case hardening

that is very thin. Be-

s ides stee l and

stainless steel metal

J U L Y 2 0 0 8 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 6

M A S SF I N I S H I N G

1

I N D U S T R Y E V E N T S

2

N E W S & N O T E S

3

F R O M T H EF O R U M

6

F I N I S H I N GS P O T L I G H T

9

T H E L A S TW O R D

1 5

C O N T E N T S

From the Forum:

(page 6)

Dummying

Tanks

T H E B A S I C F U N D A M E N T A L S O F M A S S F I N I S H I N G( P A R T I I )

Continued on page 4

(page 9)

Finding a

Solvent Solution

thats Right for

you

(page 15)


2/16

Page 2F I N I S H I N G T A L K

July 14-18

MST Conferences

Orono, ME

www.mstconf.org

July 17-18

Lean & Green Summit

Boulder, CO

www.leanandgreensummit.com

August 5-6 :

Powder Coating School

Mystic, CT

surfacefinishingacademy.com

August 15 :

Bel-Air Finishing Workshop

North Kingston, RI

www.belairfinishing.com

August 18-19 :

AESF Electroforming Course

Rochester, NY

(202) 457-8401

September 3-5:

Composites World Expo

Schaumburg, IL

www.compositesworldexpo.com

September 8 -13:

IMTS '08

Chicago, IL

www.imts.com

September 10 -11:

Powder Coating Forum

Cleveland, OH

www.pcimag.com/pcforum

September 14 -16:

Southern Metal Finishing

Charleston, SC


September 15 -16:

Powder Coating School

Charleston, SC


September 18 :

Overview of UV Coatings Tech.

Virtual Learning Conference

www.coatingstech.org

Have an upcoming event? Tell

us about it at

www.finishingtalk.com!

I N D U S T R Y E V E N T S 2 0 0 8


3/16

Page 3V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 6

N E W S & N O T E S

US & Canada Students pursu-ing careers in machining technol-ogy and manufacturing technol-ogy will have two new scholar-

ships available through the Soci-ety of Manufacturing Engineers(SME) Education Foundation,thanks to funding from the GeneHaas Foundation. The Gene HaasFoundation Machining Technol-ogy Scholarship and Manufactur-ing Technology Scholarship willbe awarded to qualifying studentsstarting this summer. The Foun-dation made the scholarshipspossible through a $160,000

grant. Through its partnershipwith Project Lead the Way -- anonprofit program that offers sci-ence, technology, engineeringand math (STEM) curriculum inmiddle and high schools -- theSME Education Foundation willhave the opportunity to drawfrom a national network of stu-dents participating in programs atmore than 3,000 schools. Thisscholarship is specifically desig-

nated for students interested incoursework focused on machineoperation & maintenance. Formore info visit http://www.sme.org/foundation andhttp://www.pltw.org.

Indianapolis, IN On-line regis-tration for COATING 2008, theinternational conference andtrade show for the end users ofindustrial coatings, is now avail-

able on the show website:www.thecoatingshow.com. Fo-cusing on todays hot topics,COATING 2008, September 23 25, will bring you the latest ongreen technologies, energy effi-ciency, cost reduction and qualityimprovement in both its confer-ence sessions and through itsmore than 150 exhibitors on the

show floor. The three-day confer-ence will feature more than 30sessions covering everythingfrom liquid to powder coating,

electrocoating to IR curing andpretreatment to porcelainenamel. Call Goyer Managementwith questions, or to have a reg-istration brochure mailed to you,at 513-624-9988.

Troy, MI BNP Media has an-nounced that Finishing Todaymagazine will cease publishingeffective after the July 2008 is-sue. Finishing Today magazine

provided coatings professionalswith the latest industry and prod-uct news, including advances infinishing materials and equip-ment, and current trends in envi-ronmental, legislative and busi-ness issues that impact finishingoperations. After exploring a fullrange of viable positionings, in avery crowded and competitivemarket, a very difficult decisionwas made to close down Finish-

ing Todaymagazine, stated JohnSchrei, Publishing Director of BNPMedia, the largest family-ownedb-to-b media company in thecountry. www.bnpmedia.com

On behalf of all of us here atFin-ishing Talk , we want to wish allof our friends and the staff atFinishing Today the best, and weare sorry to see you go!!~FT~

Plymouth Meeting, PA Fed-

eration of Societies for CoatingsTechnology (FSCT) President

Yasmin Sayed-Sweet has an-nounced that Joe Pontoski hasresigned as FSCT Executive Di-rector effective July 8, 2008. Joehas been an outstanding leaderfor the FSCT especially duringthis past year as we finalized the

merger with the National Paint &Coatings Association (NPCA). Hisdedication, commitment and pas-sion for the organization will be

sorely missed and we wish himevery success in the comingyears. Following Pontoskis res-ignation, Pat Ziegler, Director ofCommunications, and the FSCTCEO will takeover Pontoskis du-ties. For more information, pleasecontact NPCA's Andy Doyle, (202)462-6272, orwww.coatingstech.org.

Charlotte, NC With over 330

exhibitors and roughly 5,600trade visitors, the American Coat-ings Show enjoyed a hugely suc-cessful premiere as the new high-light event of the US paint andcoatings industry. Held from June2-5, 2008 at the Charlotte Con-vention Center in NC, the com-bined trade show and conferenceexceeded all expectations rightfrom the start. 332 exhibitorsfrom 14 countries displayed a

comprehensive range of productsat over 69,000 sq. ft of space onall aspects of paint and coatingsformulation. Companies fromabroad accounted for 24 percentof the exhibitors, and in additionto the US, leading countries rep-resented at the show includedChina, Germany, India, Canada,South Korea, and Great Britain.Featuring more than 70 presenta-tions and other events as well as

750 attendees from 25 countries,the American Coatings Confer-ence, which ran from June 2 toJune 4, had more than twice theattendance originally expected.For information about the Ameri-can Coatings Show & Conference,please visit www.american-coatings-show.com.


4/16

Page 4

B A S I C F U N D A M E N T A L S O F M A S S F I N I S H I N G , C O N T F R O M P G 1 . . .

worked. One of the more com-

mon suggestions is to select a

shape that is larger than the

holes in the part. If you have togo smaller, try not to select a

media that will get stuck in the

hole or is close to the hole di-

ameters when you double or tri-

ple up the media in a bunch.

Round or diameter media seems

to get stuck more than the geo-

metric shapes. Before selecting

a media, get a couple of sample

pieces, bunch them up, and just

trying to force them into possi-ble problem areas of the part or

parts is one of the best ways to

check out this lodging problem.

Why lodging occurs at all is an

interesting story; however, the

main reason is that the shape of

or crush, and the other to

scrape. The shape, in mass, also

affects the way the parts move

within the equipment. That is,rounded shapes tend to move

more and allow parts to seek

greater depths than straight

edge shapes. Geometric shapes

tend to have a build up of resis-

tance and force that removes

material, while somewhat sup-

porting parts higher up in the

work mass. Both shapes work

(provided the media can get into

the work areas), but for smooth-ness I suggest rounded shapes,

and for a lot of material removal

I suggest geometric shapes.

One of the biggest problems

with either shape is the media

getting stuck in the part to be

porcelain, aluminum shaped ma-

terials, brass, zinc, and other

metals are available in cut wire

products and balls.Before we talk about the subject

of organic materials, I want to

mention a few things about the

physical shape of media, be-

cause shapes are a factor in the

processing of parts. Most shapes

can fall into two categories; I

have classified them as either

bulldozers or steamrollers.

Maybe rollers or scrapers would

be better terminology. In either

case, you have shapes that have

a lot of diameter, or straight

edge exposed in contact with

the parts being worked. That

means that the main function of

the media shapes is either to roll

F I N I S H I N G T A L K


5/16


the media is such that the cen-

ter of gravity is usually right in

the physical center of the shape.

That means that the actual

movement of the media is very

stable and tends not to want to

move at all, which is contrary tothe purpose of mass finishing.

That stability factor is usually

overcome by the energy forces

or action of the equipment,

which sets this media into mo-

tion. However, if the media

should find itself restricted, it

usually just rattles around to a

very small degree until it cant

move any more.

Now, with all of this information

about media shapes, there is

one exception to all of the

above. There is one shape,

called either the V shaped cylin-

der, cylinder wedge, or tri-

cylinder that looks and is made

differently from almost all the

other shapes. It is interesting

because of its unusual appear-

ance and behavior characteris-tics. This shape looks like a

piece of pie or triangle in one

direction and a cylinder in the

other direction and it has its

center of gravity on the outside

edge. This latter statement

means that the media shape is

very unstable and very mobile.

It exhibits the characteristics of

both a roller ( it has an overall

round shape) and a scraper( two flats forming a very sharp

wedge); therefore, it is usually

the best general purpose shaped

media available for all applica-

tions.

Up to now, all of the media that

we have discussed is run in what

is called wet processes. That is,

these shapes are run with water

and some chemical compound.

All mass finishing systems are

built with drain systems and pro-

visions for liquid input. Because

parts are made with cutting oils

and pick up oils, greases, anddirt either by design for protec-

tion or by accident, chemicals

are normally necessary to aid in

the processing of the parts.

Common practice is to use a wa-

ter based biodegradable product

in a diluted strength which can

either be premixed or propor-

tioned into the system. The pH

of the product is important, but

not the only factor. Inhibitors for

protection and wetting agents

are also desirable. The pH of

waters is listed as 6.7 pH. Any

number above water is consid-

ered basic, or caustic after 11,

or acidic under the pH of wa-

ter. Most chemical additives are

interchangeable with either fer-

rous or non-ferrous parts, but

most people use basic chemicals

for ferrous parts and acidic prod-

ucts for non-ferrous and bur-

nishing.

At one time chemical com-

pounds that produced a lot of

suds were considered desirable

for cleaning of the parts. How-

ever, it was determined that the

suds actually slowed down the

mechanical action of media in

mass, causing longer time cy-cles. This same slow down of

the media in mass can also be

accomplished by just using too

much water in the process, but

it can also be accomplished by

accident when drains become

clogged or restricted due to de-

bris. Even though chemicals are

used to assist cleaning and

brightening metals, which is a

removal process, an inhibitor in

the product is usually desirable

to protect parts against oxida-

tion. Lastly, there are now some

stronger chemical additivescalled accelerators that are used

to help speed up the deburring

process. Because the chemical

does most of the work instead of

the media, it is usually recom-

mended the media contain no

abrasive; thereby, there is cost

savings of the media which does

not have the same wear rates as

abrasives.

Dry organic media is the last

category of media used in mass

finishing systems and, as the

name implies, this media is run

dry. Anything that can be proc-

essed wet can be done with dry

organic materials. The only

problem is the longer cycle time

due to the weight factor. The

main advantage over wet proc-

essing of this media is in the de-burring or polishing of small or

flat parts. Both types of parts

mentioned have a tendency to

stick together due to water ad-

hesion, and they also adhere to

the sides of the equipment being

used. This characteristic causes

uneven surface finishing. The

other advantage of dry process-

ing is the elimination of water

pollution controls or restrictions;but there is a trade off. Instead

of water and waste disposal

problems, there is some concern

for dust particles that need ei-

ther a cover or proper air venti-

lation.

Dry organic media comes in the

Continued on page 8...


6/16


F R O M T H E F O R U M : D U M M Y I N G T A N K S B E F O R E E L E C T R O P L A T I N G

Our column for July is a quick refresher on

dummying. Forum members Harold Evans,DustinGebhardt, and Finishing Market dis-

cuss the basics of dummy plating, and Finishing

Market tosses in a few pictures. Feel free to add

your thoughts to their ongoing discussion by vis-

iting the forums at www.finishingtalk.com/

community and choosing the Electroplating fo-

rum. For more From the Forum discussions,

check out our monthly internet television show,

Finishing Talk Live, where hosts Paul Fisher andPaul Skelton bring the boards to life!

www.finishingtalklive.com

Harold Evans

What is dummying tanks? How is it done? What

happens to the anodes while dummying is going

on? I will need to answer my students questions

in the near future.

Dustin Gebhardt

Dummying is the common term for dummy plat-

ing, or using a scrap piece to plate, usually at

lower or higher then normal current densities.

If you were constantly nickel plating zinc, or cop-

per, or brass parts, you would frequently dummy

plate the bath at low current densities to PREF-

ERENTIALLY remove the copper and zinc. Nor-mally, the dummy has a large surface area, to

maximize the amount of material removed. In

my experience, a large piece of corrugated sheet

metal is used with a current density close to

5ASF or lower.

There are other uses for dummy plating. In a

hex chrome bath, it can be used to remove chlo-

rides and activate the anodes. These dummies

are usually very small to prevent the buildup of

tri chrome. You can also perform a high-current

density dummy plate to remove excess bright-

ener.

A separate dummy tank is usually one that is

used to perform the dummying in. You can also

do a continuous dummy, where you use a small

tank with a separate rectifier, anodes, and

dummy panel to perform the dummying continu-

ously. Usually, you pump the solution into the

tank, which is higher in elevation than the main

tank. As the dummy tank fills, it overflows back

into the main tank. Many platers use them in

high-production shops to minimize down time.

One thing to consider with the current price of

nickel. While dummy plating targets a certain

contaminant (usually), you are still plating a ma-

jority of your normal metal. That is to mean, in

a nickel bath, you can try to dummy out zinc,

but the majority of the deposit on the dummypanels will still be nickel. The zinc content will

be higher than on a normal deposit, but it will

still be mostly

nickel.

Finishing M arket

Hello Harold,

As far as I know

you can use almost

any kind of com-

patible material to

perform this dummy

plating. You can

see in the pictures

that these Dummy

Plates have been

fabricated so as to maximize the surface area.

Posted on March 14, 2008


7/16


Dustin Gebhardt

Those type of panels tend to work very

well. They can also be rotate 90 degrees to help

remove shelf roughness in a pinch. The smaller

you make the "shelves" the more uniform the

surface area will be, and generally the more ef-

fective the panels will be. This will allow you to

HCD dummy the bath without affecting the LCD

chemicals, and vice versa. With panels that

have larger folds, you tend to build up a lot of

plating on the corners and very little in the con-

cave areas, making the panels less efficient.

Do you have something to add? Log on to the

Finishing Talk forums today to join in on this

discussion or start a discussion of your

own! www.finishingtalk.com/community

Carolina Process Control provides the metal finishing industrywith a single source solution for all their industrial waste water treatment system and component needs. We design,build and install turn-key waste treatment systems for pHneutralization, heavy metal removal, water recycling, zero dis-charge and other chemical processing applications.

www.carolinaprocesscontrol.com

117 Westerly Hills Dr.

Forest City,

NC, 28043

Ph: (828) 245-1115

Fax: (828) 245-1216


8/16


B A S I C S O F M A S S F I N I S H I N G - C O N T I N U E D F R O M P A G E 5

form of small random shaped

particles of granules or sawdust

fiber, which can either be used

by itself, or in a two part form.

The finer material is normally

used with larger wood shapes in

a 5:1 mix of shapes to particles.

The reason for this two part mix

is that there is hardly any weight

to the organic materials. They

weigh only between 20 to 35

pounds per cubic foot; there-

fore, bulk or the wood shapes

are desirable for adding weight

to the process to improve cycle

times. Other, non-abrasive heav-

ier media can be added for bulk

and produce good results.

When any dry organic materials

are combined or mixed with pol-

ishing rouge, they are excellent

in producing almost hand buffed

looking, polished parts. When

combined with inorganic materi-

als, they are very effective as

abrasives. Because of the weightfactor, the deburring and polish-

ing qualities of these blended

mixes still take a longer time to

produce the same results as wet

process media, but usually the

surface finish is of superior, finer

and cleaner quality.

Within the last 5 years, a new

form of dry organic materials

has been developed that looks

something like plastic media.

There is now a patented com-

posite process that takes inor-

ganic and dry organic materials

and makes them into shapes,

which are used in dry process-

ing. These shapes are made in

such a way that they can actu-

ally have more inorganic abra-

sives than the dry organic mate-

rial, but they are still used dry.

Also because of the increased

weight of this preform, it is now

competitive to wet processing

media in time cycles and without

the problems associated with

water. According to the manu-

facturer, this new material will

outlast all other abrasive media

by 5 to 20%. The advantages

offered by this dry media and

applications normally warrant

the extra high cost of this new

product.

As you can tell, there are three

main factors that control de-

burring or burnish of parts in a

mass finishing system, they are:

the equipment, the media, and

either the liquid or additive to

the operation. Surface finishing

on parts can be repeated over

and over again if these elements

are constant. Any variation ofone of these elements will

change the results or time cycle.

Basically, once a machine sys-

tem is selected you are locked

into some limitations of that ma-

chine system. Therefore, that

means that media selection is

probably the most important

variable in the processing of

parts, and effects the costs of

operation and the surface finishthe most. Hopefully, with some

of these basic fundamentals

down, you can better achieve

the processing results you are

looking for. If you do, however,

need help or further information,

you can contact A.F. Kenton at

Nova Finishing Systems Inc. or

call 1-800-444-4159.

[1] NOTE: The author has writ-

ten a book which completely

classifies all methods of de-burring and/or surface finishing

into 5 energy classes of equip-

ment and then rates them with a

numbering system based upon

how they perform and what they

are capable of achieving. The

book is entitled Understanding

Deburring and Mass Finishing

Systems.

[2] NOTE: Although zirconia is

listed here, the more common

fast cut media is made with alu-

minum oxide and has very simi-

lar characteristics and normally

costs less.

Nova Finishing Systems Inc.,

manufactures small, heavy-duty

bowl finishers that stack up to

most of the big equipment on

the market, but cost much less.Nova series vibratory equipment

also comes with the same war-

ranties of the larger machines.

For more information on this

equipment line, contact:

Nova Finishing

PO Box 185, Hatboro,

PA 19040

215-942-4474

800-444-4159

Fax 215-953-1342

[email protected]

You can read Part I of this

article by checking out the

June issue on our website:

www.finishingtalk.com/publication

~FT~


9/16


F I N I S H I N G S P O T L I G H T :

The widely discussed and an-ticipated Sur/Fin 2008 confer-ence and tradeshow culminated

on June 18th, after three days of

industry discussion, education,

exhibition, and camaraderie.The conference, put on by the

National Association for SurfaceFinishing (NASF), showcased

more than 150 exhibitors and

attracted more than a thousand

finishers and general attendees.

Special events this year includedthe NASFs Indianapolis Branch

Reception, held at Jillians res-taurant and game room just a

few blocks away from the Indi-

anapolis Convention Center. Anunanticipated number of people

turned up for food and fun butthe more, the merrier! Finishing

Talk Lives co-hosts Paul Fisher

and Paul Skelton filmed a live

showing of their IPTV show,

with special guest Michael Sieg-mund of MacDermid. They put

on a great show, despite diffi-culty competing at times with

the mingling sounds of onlook-

ers, numerous pool games, andeven a bowling alley.

Busloads pulled up at the Indi-

anapolis Motor Speedway on

Continued on next page...


10/16


Tuesday night, for a private Industry

Night Party. The Hall of Fame mu-

seum opened its doors to the hoardsof eager party goers, and presented

its dazzling array of antique race carsand motorcycles, speedway memora-

bilia, and more, to the delight of all in

attendance. There was a delicious ca-

tered buffet spread out in the Pavil-ion, and the evening was highlighted

by small bus tours of the Speedwayitself, giving riders the opportunity to

get off and take photos at the finish

line (which is composed of bricks fromthe original track surface!).

Educational opportunities consisted ofa wide array of symposiums and train-

ing courses. Featured sessions werethose that were covered during the

Automotive Symposium, Airline/

Aerospace Symposium, and the Sur-

face Finishing Research technical con-ference. Within these broader fields

were classes, lectures, and workshops


11/16


with themes such as Nano-Technology, Organic Finishing,

Light Metal Finishing, Conver-sion Coatings, Electroless

Deposition, Management Out-

look, Process & Environmental,

and more. This years featuredspeaker, Dr. Robert Schnorbus

of J.D. Power, gave those inattendance an in-depth look

into the impact of global sourc-ing, supplier concerns, and

other related regional and

global issues affecting theautomotive industry.

The NASF member pavilion

was a popular spot for casual

socializing, catching up withphone calls or e-mail, taking aquick break from all the walk-

ing - I think I even spied a few

people attempting to catch upon their sleep after a night out

in Indy - in addition to a con-

venient location to learn moreabout the NASF and member-

ship benefits.

Planning for SUR/FIN 2009 inLouisville, Kentucky is already

underway (that means a

shorter drive for those of us atFinishing Talk next year!). You

can find additional informationabout SUR/FIN, the NASF, edu-

cational opportunities and

more by visiting www.nasf.org.


12/16


E ffective July 7, 2008, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will amend the list of hazardous wastesfrom non-specific sources (called F-wastes) by modifyingthe scope of the EPA Hazardous Waste No. F019. Specifi-cally, the agency plans to exempt wastewater treatmentsludges from zinc phosphating, when such phosphating isused in the motor vehicle manufacturing processprovided that the wastes are not placed outside on theland prior to shipment to a landfill for disposal, and thewastes are placed in landfill units that are subject to ormeet the specified landfill design criteria.

Note: This final action on the F019 listing does not affectany other wastewater treatment sludges either from thechemical conversion coating of aluminum or from otherindustrial sources. Additionally, this rule amends the Com-prehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and

Liability Act (CERCLA) list of Hazardous Substances andReportable Quantities so that the F019 listing descriptionis consistent with the amendment to F019 under regula-tions for hazardous wastes from non-specific sources.

This final rule could directly affect businesses that gener-ate certain wastes from the manufacturing of motor vehi-cles in the (1) automobile manufacturing industry and (2)light truck/utility vehicle manufacturing industry (NAICS

codes 336111 and 336112, respectively). Other motorvehicle manufacturing industries (e.g., heavy-duty truckor motor home manufacturing) are not affected by thisrule.

Entities potentially affected by this action are at leastseven current F019 generators within these two indus-tries, consisting of four auto and three light truck/utilityvehicle plants, and up to 42 other facilities in these twoindustries that may begin applying aluminum parts andcould potentially generate regulated F019 waste withoutthis final rule (based on 2005 Biennial Report data).Note: This action might also affect the 19 auto and lighttruck plants with prior F019 delistings issued between1997 and 2007, because this action could supplant theirdelisting status and conditions, depending upon the ex-tent of state government voluntary adoption of this final

rule [1].

The EPA has established a docket for this action underDocket ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-2006-0984. All documentsin the docket are listed at the www.regulations.gov web-site. For information on specific aspects of the rule, con-tact James Michael of the Office of Solid Waste (5304P),U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20460, via e-mail [email protected], or by phone at (703) 308-8610.

E P A A M E N D S H A Z A R D O U S W A S T E L I S T I N G


13/16


Products Finishingmagazine recently unveiled theproduct of its collaboration with the popular metalfinishing community and forum, Finishing Talk. Over

the past two years, Finishing Talk has exploded ontothe industry scene as a cutting edge online commu-nity, forum, newsletter, and marketing company formetal finishing professionals. With a rapidly growingmembership and an active community forum, Finish-ing Talk was an appealing choice for a cooperativeweb endeavor with Products Finishing.

"The people that use PFOnline will now have anotherresource that harnesses the power of the Internet,"says Products Finishing Publisher Don Kline. "Theycan now get their questions answered by an active

community that includes top finishing professionalsfrom all over the world. PF is excited to be workingwith Finishing Talk."

Products Finishingmagazine is an industry renownedpublication with more than 40,000 subscribers - thelargest circulation in the finishing industry. Themagazine's Web site, www.pfonline.com, is an estab-lished and respected resource for metal finishers. Itcontains a large database of industry suppliers andproducts, extensive archives of past issues, an inter-

active clinic touting prominent consultants and edu-cators, and more. The addition of the Finishing TalkForums to the site will be an added benefit, possiblydrawing a new generation of finishers into the Web

site.

The collaboration will be a big boost for the up andcoming Finishing Talk community, as well. ThoughFinishing Talk will remain an independent Web siteafter the integration, the forums will also be accessi-ble through Products Finishing'ssite. This will serveto increase traffic on the forums and bring addedexposure to other products and services that Finish-ing Talk currently offers.

"We are pleased to have this opportunity to expandour membership and provide a place for finishers to

discuss issues of importance to them, within a like-minded community. With a new gateway to the fo-rums, via PF online, more of these individuals willbenefit from this great service - and it's free!" com-mented Paul Fisher, Administrator of Finishing-Talk.com, and publisher of the Finishing Talknews-letter (yep, thats us!).

Visit the new portal at:

www.pfonline.com/forums.

Starting on June 1st 2008 and ending August 31st, Finishing Talk will be holding an article contest. Articles

must be industry-related (powder coating, painting, electroplating, anodizing, etc), and no longer than 2,000

words. The winning articles will be published in upcoming issues of Finishing Talk. Articles will be judged on

relevance to the industry, professionalism, accuracy, organization of ideas, originality and overall flow. Accom-

panying images may be submitted along with the article or editorial. We are open to a variety of styles - from

the purely technical to pure opinion - so go ahead and submit what youve got! Articles may have been pub-

lished previously, but the author may only submit a pre-published article if they hold the rights to it and have

the authority to do so. The 1st place prize will be 6 months of free banner ads for your company on the

Finishing Talk website. 2nd place receives 3 months of banner ads , and 3rd place will receive a banner

ad for 1 month. You may submit your article digitally either through the Finishing Talk forums at

www.finishingtalk.com/community and click on article submissions, or by e-mail to Anna Levitsky,

[email protected]. You may also mail a hard copy to PO Box 349, Rutherfordton, NC 28139. Good luck!

F I N I S H I N G T A L K S A R T I C L E C O N T E S T E X T E N D E D

P R O D U C T S F I N I S H I N G I N T E G R A T E S F I N I S H I N G T A L K F O R U M S


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F I N D I N G A S O L V E N T S O L U T I O N T H A T S R I G H T F O R Y O U B Y A N N A L E V I T S K Y

In the finishing industry, sol-vents are primarily used for partscleaning. Many of these, such as

trichloroethalene (TCE), can beadvantageous in that they are fastacting and quick to evaporate,which minimizes drying time. Onthe downside, these same solventscan be extremely toxic, carryingthe health risks of liver and kidneydamage, neurological disorders,and even cancer. They are alsoculprits when it comes to soil andwater contamination, and otherareas of environmental degrada-tion. So what is a finisher to do?The good news is that an increas-ing number of alternatives to tra-ditional solvents are appearingacross the spectrum, making iteasier to safeguard your workershealth and the health of your com-munity.

Where do I begin?

The mounting government crackdown on non-reusable or non-recyclable solvents is a good

enough reason in and of itself tostart rethinking and minimizing theuse of solvents in your operation.But where to start? The easiestfirst step is the first step of any

sustainable approach; that beingto reduce wherever possible. Ifyou can use less of any hazardoussubstance, then make sure to doso.

Once youve filtered out what canbe reduced, its time to focus on

what can be replaced. It is impor-tant to first go through and iden-tify the uses and volumes of sol-vents you have in your facility,which will allow you to determinewhich ones should and can besubstituted with something else.Examine your current stock of sol-vents, keeping an eye out forthose containing chemicals or

and to remove grease and oil,whereas the CO2 Snow relies onflakes of frozen CO2 to clean sur-faces. Another cleaning alternative

is Supercritical Fluids. Lacking insurface tension, these fluids canquickly and thoroughly dissolvecontaminants, and are easy toremove. Yet another option is Me-dia Blasting, which is a processthat uses abrasive media (such assand, glass beads, and more re-cently plastic particles) dispersedat high pressure against a surfaceto remove contaminants.

A great resource for finding com-

parable solvent replacementsis the Toxics Use ReductionInstitutes (TURI) Surface Solu-tions Laboratory,(www.cleanersolutions.org). Hereyou will find the easy to navigate

Replace a Solvent page, allowingyou to search for alternativesbased on the solvent you wish toinvestigate, and then narrowingdown your results by contaminant,substrate, and even equipment

type. TURI is an especially helpfulresource, due in large part to thefact that they actually test thesealternatives, and rate them ac-cording to their effectiveness inapplication. Another good re-source is the Integrated SolventSubstitution Data System (ISSDS)at http://es.epa.gov/issds.

Always consider the potential envi-ronmental impacts, health andsafety concerns, solvency, flam-

mability, cost, and stability of asolvent before choosing the rightone(s) for your needs. Since thereis no single miracle solvent outthere, be sure to evaluate eachoption thoroughly in order toachieve the best results, whilecausing the least negative impactto your workers, your community,and your environment.

compounds that may soon bephased out. You should ask your-self the following questions:

1. What are the parts that need

to be cleaned?

2. What contaminants are being

removed during the cleaning proc-ess?

3. Why are these parts being

cleaned? (In some instances, itmay turn out to be an unneces-sary step and expenditure)

4. How can I stop contamination

at its source, prior to the need for

cleaning?5. To what degree must theparts be cleaned?

After you have answered thesequestions, you can apply thisknowledge to your quest to findthe most functional and effectivealternatives.

Alternatives to ConsiderThere are several popular andcleaner alternatives to solvent

cleaners available to finishers to-day. One of the most popular iswater-based cleaning, also knownas Aqueous cleaning. Variousprocesses to remove contaminantsinclude the use of acidic and/oralkaline aqueous solutions, as wellas immersion, pressure spray andultrasonics. A compromise be-tween solvent use and aqueouscleaners is what is known as aSemi-Aqueous cleaner: a semi-

stable mixture of water and sol-vents (or emulsions). These areoften used for removing waxes,heavy greases, tar and baked-onorganic materials.

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Blasting isanother option that consists of twomain technologies: CO2 Pellets andCO2 Snow. The Pellets combinesolid CO2 and a gas to strip paints

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PO Box 349

Rutherfordton, NC 28139

July 2008

Anna Levitsky, Editor

Phone: 704-995-2263

[email protected]

www.FinishingTalk.com

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