I would like to in-mold paint, die or laminate a thermal/compression formed EVA (Ethylene Vinyl Acetate) foam. The foam is used as padding, so the coating must be flexible. Die process temperatures range from 220–400°F. Do you have any suggestions?
I am curious if you know of a prefabricated low-temp melting polyester disk (1.5-inch diameter or so) that I could lay down on the top of the hot disk to bond to the clear polyester to create the nice plastic backing.
The products are standing bathtubs. The inside is covered with porcelain enamel and the outside is painted. Upon receipt, the customer found all of them to have paint problems—many bubbles formed under the paint layer.
One of our customers ordered enclosures made of galvanized steel for a special job. I am not sure how to pretreat this material, although I have had many suggestions.
I am the paint line manager of a company situated in the Middle East. The temperature here gets up to 55°C (131°F). We paint parts for motor vehicles. We have a problem with loss of gloss on painted parts. Why do we encounter this problem of loss of gloss when using waterborne basecoat system on aluminum bonnets?
We’re having a problem with our clear coat. Our base coat paint turns out okay but when we started to clear coat, there came the fish eyes. I was taught that if silicone has been used in or around where you were painting this would happen. How can we correct this problem?
There is an institute (Name Withheld) that will teach painting, custom painting, etc, but you must also sign up for their auto collision and refinishing course. Unfortunately, I learned that these courses would cost me $28,000 as quoted to me by the institute representative. I thought that was FAR too high, and will pursue your advised method of practicing and learning by trial and error, picking up pointers from people I meet, or technical books you can buy at the painter supply shops.
My company is purchasing machined and painted lifting hooks from a third party manufacturer and wish to move these processes in-house. The dipping process seems to work well but I am having a hard time finding a company that makes this type of small-part, low-volume equipment. Do you have any suggestions?
There is a copper band on the outside circumference on the part which does not require painting so it is covered during paint process. We see very slight bleed-out from under this band after 2–3 days.
Our inquiry is about whether we should install an automatic spray coating system for applying a shop primer in our structural steel fabrication facility. This system needs to be able to coat sheet metal and structural profiles in different shapes like I, U and so on. Is automatic coating a satisfactory method to paint these parts or shall we coat them manually?
We are seeking advice on automating the painting booth. We have turntables to turn the tanks and now plan to automate the process with automatic gun heads. Our initial thought is to use automatic heads with high-volume pumps. We currently use an industrial enamel but would consider newer coatings and processes if they are applicable. Could you provide some practical advice before we start purchasing equipment and planning our production flow?
I must take issue with your reply to B. L. in the February 2006 issue. Although there is no doubt that he needs to stop using toluene for hand wipe cleaning due to its toxicity and flammability, there are a number of perfectly acceptable alternatives.
