Auxiliary and Ancillary Products

As our team of trained technicians and sales representative talks with metal finishing shops we notice many needs for chemicals which are not “plating” chemistries. These may include  uses for general purpose floor cleaners, rust inhibitors or anti-splatter for welding.  Clients are often surprised to learn we offer many good and effective chemicals for these applications. But these products don’t just appear in your shop without planning. How do you find the right product for your business? Well you could just type it into the computer and hope a search engine takes you to the correct … [Read more...]

Routine Maintenance in the Finishing Shop

Years ago on there was a television ad for a car repair shop that encouraged people to change their oil and brakes as well as maintain their fluids in the car. The tagline was simple: “Pay me now or pay me later.” Unfortunately in a metal finishing shop the same statement is true. Equipment maintenance in a metal finishing shop is often considered nothing more than an inconvenient hassle at the bottom of every plant manager’s "To-Do" list. However, with a little bit of proper care and some attention to planning, equipment can operate for longer periods of time without failure and dreaded … [Read more...]

Hard Chrome Plating

The process of hard chrome plating has been used since the early part of the 20th century. It is a process that is used in nearly every aspect of manufacturing where wear resistance and lubricity are critical. Typically coating thickness deposited are between 8 to 250 mm (0.00032”-.0098”) and hardness between 800-1000HV. High hardness and resistance to abrasion are retained unchanged up to 200o C. Early processes were standard chromic acid and sulfate processes. The late 1940’s gave to processes that used anions such as fluoride to improve plating rates and finish quality. Later evolution in … [Read more...]

Asterion CEO Blair Vandivier Interviewed by Products Finishing

This interview was originally published by Products Finishing Online here. Blair Vandivier is a lawyer, a pilot and a former college golfer, as well as a board member of the NASF. Several years ago, Vandivier merged his successful Benchmark Products with Roger Sowinski’s New Surface Technologies to form Asterion, a surface technology company that provides specialty chemical finishing products for pretreatment, powder coating and plating. We were lucky to score a round of golf with Vandivier at his exclusive Crooked Stick Golf Club in Indianapolis, Indiana, where we also met his personal … [Read more...]

Execute the Basics All the Time, Every Time for Ultimate Success

It's the little things you do that make the big things in life easier to handle. Most of us have heard the stories of John Wooden, coach of 10 NCAA national championship basketball teams at UCLA, beginning each season teaching the team about putting socks on properly and tying your shoes right. Wooden says, "If you want to win championships, you must take care of the smallest details." The same holds true in plating. Executing the basics properly and taking care of the smallest details first without short cuts makes all the difference in the world when it comes to executing the perfect finish … [Read more...]

Plating Fundamentals: Checklists

Metal finishing operations and managers often overlook the importance of line maintenance. Rapid production demands and ever shifting production schedules lead to conflicts between making repairs and making money. Committing to the required dollars for equipment repair and upgrading is easy to postpone. Plating shops do everything they can to manage their bottom line by controlling short term expenses. Unfortunately, production is often disrupted as a result of avoidable equipment breakdown and failure. When we talk to industry leaders in plating, they point to the importance of discipline … [Read more...]

Plating Fundamentals: Clean Your Parts

In plating, there is one very simple secret for plating good parts: Be sure you have clean parts. It's not groundbreaking and won't break your process. Much like when you wash dishes at home, we soak and “scrub” parts in our plating process. You'll also use different types of cleaners depending on the soils you are trying to remove Most common cleaners are one of two types: “soak” cleaners or "electro" cleaners. Soak cleaners work simply by reacting with soil as parts are dipped in them. Electro cleaners use electricity to create a reaction that separates soil from your parts. While most … [Read more...]

Hexavalent to Trivalent (and Back Again)

As the demand for non-chromium protection of zinc and zinc alloy plating has increased, trivalent chromium passivation systems have appeared. Early on, an interesting phenomenon was observed: Hexavalent chrome was found on coatings that were not supposed to contain hexavalent chrome. It was thought that the processor must be cheating and using hexavalent chrome in the working solution in order to achieve increased corrosion resistance. While all of the questions have not been answered, there are some conclusions. Before explaining the various parts of this mystery, it's important to … [Read more...]

Asterion Acquires Southeastern Chemical, Inc.

Indianapolis, In.- Asterion LLC is proud to announce that they have acquired Southeastern Chemical, Inc. as of September 1, 2014.  Asterion LLC is an industry leading surface technology company with which many of you are already familiar. Asterion, has been the preferred supplier of metal finishing chemistry for the majority of Southeastern’s valued customers. For Southeastern’s customers, the transition from working with Southeastern Chemical to working directly with Asterion, LLC will be  seamless.  Doug Trageser, President of Southeastern Chemical has agreed to join Asterion, LLC as … [Read more...]

Roundup: Keeping Your Process Clean and Safe

We're 100% devoted to making sure we bring to your manufacturing process only the safest and most tested solutions. To ensure you're working in the cleanest and safest environments, we've developed a wide variety of blogs- written by our industry experts- for use in the every day administration of your plant. Let's look at a few of the most useful resources we've created so you'll have a quick, one-stop catalog of topics to pick from: How to Keep Your Shop Clean One of our more recent posts, this blog walks you through the common mishaps and dangers a dirt plant can present. It includes … [Read more...]