21 metal surface finishes types for custom CNC parts

1、Micro arc oxidation

Micro-arc oxidation, also known as micro-plasma oxidation, is a combination of electrolyte and corresponding electrical parameters. It relies on the instantaneous high temperature and high pressure generated by arc discharge on the surfaces of aluminum, magnesium, titanium and their alloys to grow mainly matrix metal oxides. ceramic film layer。

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2、Brushed metal

Metal wire drawing is a surface treatment method that uses grinding products to form lines on the surface of the workpiece to achieve a decorative effect.

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3、bluing

In bluing, the entire carcass is filled with colored glaze, and then fired in a blast furnace with a furnace temperature of about 800°C. The colored glaze melts from a sandy solid to a liquid, and after cooling becomes a brilliant color fixed on the carcass. At this time, the color glaze is lower than the height of the copper wire, so it must be filled with the color glaze again, and then fired, usually four or five times in a row, until the pattern is filled in to be level with the filigree pattern.

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4、Spray

Spraying  is a cold working process that uses shot particles to bombard the surface of the workpiece and implant residual compressive stress to improve the fatigue strength of the workpiece.

5、sandblasting

Sandblasting is a process that uses the impact of high-speed sand flow to clean and roughen the surface of the substrate. It uses compressed air as power to form a high-speed jet beam to spray the spray material (copper ore, quartz sand, emery, iron sand, Hainan sand) at high speed. To the surface of the workpiece that needs to be processed, so that the appearance or shape of the outer surface of the workpiece surface is changed.

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6、Etching

Etching is a technique that removes material using a chemical reaction or physical impact. Usually referred to as etching, also known as photochemical etching, it refers to removing the protective film from the area to be etched through exposure plate making and development, and then contacting the chemical solution during etching to achieve the effect of dissolving corrosion and forming concave and convex or hollow molding effects.

7、In-Mold Decoration

IMD stands for In-Mold Decoration (in-mold decoration technology), which is called coating-free technology. It is an internationally popular surface decoration technology. It has a transparent film on the surface, a printed pattern layer in the middle, an injection molding layer on the back, and a product friction-resistant layer in the middle of the ink. , prevent the surface from being scratched, and keep the color from fading for a long time.

8、Out Mold Decoration

The abbreviation of OMD (Out Mold Decoration) is an integrated display of vision, touch and function. It is a decoration technology extended by IMD. It is a 3D surface decoration technology that combines printing, texture structure and metallization characteristics.

9、Laser engraving

Laser engraving, also called laser engraving or laser marking, is a surface treatment process that uses optical principles. A laser beam is used to carve a permanent mark on the surface of a material or inside a transparent material.

10、Electrical discharge machining 

Electrical discharge machining (EDM) is a special machining method that uses the electric erosion produced by pulse discharge between two poles immersed in the working fluid to erode conductive materials. It is also called electric discharge machining or electroerosion machining, and is referred to as EDM in English. Tool electrodes commonly use corrosion-resistant materials with good conductivity, high melting points, and easy processing, such as copper, graphite, copper-tungsten alloy, and molybdenum. During the machining process, the tool electrode also suffers loss, but it is less than the amount of metal removed from the workpiece, and is even close to no loss.

11、Laser engraving 

Laser engraving uses high-energy-density laser to react with the steel surface to form snakeskin/etching/pear or other forms of texture.

12、Pad printing 

Pad printing is one of the special printing methods, that is, using a steel (or copper, thermoplastic plastic) gravure plate, using a curved pad printing head made of silicone rubber material, dipping the ink on the gravure plate onto the surface of the pad printing head, and then applying it to the surface of the pad printing head. Text, patterns, etc. can be printed by pressing the surface of the desired object.

13、Screen printing

Screen printing is to stretch silk fabric, synthetic fiber fabric or metal mesh on a screen frame, and use manual carving of paint film or photochemical plate making to make a screen printing plate. Modern screen printing technology uses photosensitive materials to make screen printing plates through photographic plate making (so that the screen holes in the graphic and text parts of the screen printing plate are through holes, while the screen holes in the non-graphic and text parts are blocked. live). During printing, the ink is transferred to the substrate through the mesh of the graphic part through the squeezing of the scraper, forming the same graphic and text as the original.

14、

Direct thermal printing refers to applying a thermal sensitive agent to paper to turn it into thermal recording paper. The thermal recording paper changes the physical or chemical properties of the substance (color developer) under the action of heat to obtain an image. a method.

15、The principle of thermal transfer 

The principle of thermal transfer is to use a printer to print a digital pattern on special transfer paper with special transfer ink, and then use a special transfer machine to accurately transfer the pattern to the surface of the product under high temperature and high pressure to complete the product printing. system.

16、Lithographic printing:

Lithographic printing: Since the graphic part and the non-graphic part of lithographic printing are on the same plane, during printing, in order to enable the ink to distinguish the pattern part of the printing plate from the non-pattern part, the principle of oil-water separation is used to first make the printing plate The water supply device of the component supplies water to the non-image and text parts of the printing plate, thus protecting the non-image and text parts of the printing plate from being soaked by ink. Then, the ink supply device of the printing component supplies ink to the printing plate. Since the non-image and text parts of the printing plate are protected by water, ink can only be supplied to the image and text part of the printing plate. Finally, the ink on the printing plate is transferred to the emulsion, and then the pressure between the rubber roller and the impression roller is used to transfer the ink on the emulsion to the substrate to complete a printing. Therefore, lithography is a Indirect printing method.

17、Curved surface printing

Curved surface printing is to first put ink into a gravure plate engraved with text or patterns, then copy the text or pattern onto the curved surface, then use the curved surface to transfer the text or pattern to the surface of the molded product, and finally use heat treatment or ultraviolet light irradiation to make it The ink cures.

18、Hot stamping

Hot stamping, commonly known as “hot stamping”, refers to hot stamping the text and patterns of colored foil and other materials on the front cover or back cover of a hardcover book, or using hot pressing to emboss various convex and concave book titles or patterns. 

19、Water transfer printing 

Water transfer printing is a type of printing that uses water pressure to hydrolyze polymers on transfer paper/plastic films with colored patterns. The process includes the production of water transfer decals, soaking decals, pattern transfer, drying and finished product.

20、For flat screen printing

For flat screen printing, the printing mold is a polyester or nylon screen (pattern) fixed on a square frame and with a hollow pattern. The patterned areas on the pattern can see through the color paste, while the non-patterned areas are closed with a polymer film layer. When printing, the pattern plate is pressed tightly against the fabric, and the color paste is filled on the pattern plate. Use a scraper to reciprocate and scrape the color paste to the surface of the fabric through the pattern.

21、Calendering 

Calendering is also called calendering. The last step of leather finishing. The finishing process uses the plasticity of fibers under mixed heat conditions to flatten the surface of the fabric or roll out parallel fine diagonal lines to enhance the luster of the fabric. After the material is fed in, it is heated and melted, then shaped into sheets or films, then cooled and rolled. The most commonly used calendering material is polyvinyl chloride.