Secoa Metal Finishing

Epoxy Powder Coating: Never Out of Style

Epoxy Powder Coating: Never Out of Style

A Brief History of Epoxy 

Epoxy resins have been around for nearly a century. They were first developed in the early 1930s and commercialized circa 1946. They quickly became popular in the aerospace industry, then for military applications. Demand continued to grow as epoxy’s many benefits became more well-known, and it remains a common coating choice to this day. 

Benefits of Epoxy Powder Coating

Epoxy powder coating offers a variety of advantages. It is extremely durable, and has high chemical and corrosion resistance. It also has excellent electrical insulation capabilities and adhesion properties. Epoxy will bond well to most surfaces and last for a long time, even in harsh environments. 

Common Applications

Due to its versatility, epoxy powder coating is used for a vast range of applications in all kinds of different industries, including: 

  • Oil and Gas: Thanks to their high chemical resistance and overall durability, epoxy powder coatings can be used to coat pipes and valves for use in the oil and gas industry. 
  • Automotive: Epoxy coatings have many uses in the automotive industry. Their durability makes them good for coating underbody parts and components, while their insulation properties make them good for motor-based applications. 
  • Aerospace: Epoxy powder coatings have been used for aerospace applications since the 1950s, and they continue to be used in the industry to this day. 
  • Industrial Manufacturing: Due to its high corrosion resistance and ability to withstand harsh conditions, epoxy powder coating is frequently used in industrial manufacturing operations. 

Contact Secoa Today

Epoxy powder coating has been a sought after coating method for decades, and will continue to be so long into the future. If you need a reliable epoxy powder coating supplier, contact Secoa Metal Finishing today. You can reach us by phone at (706) 383-2893 or send an email to sales@secoatech.com.

The Power of Release Coating

Non- Stick and Release Coatings

Since the dawn of the industrial revolution, new inventions meant to improve manufacturing operations have been cropping up every day. One such invention, often used but seldom celebrated, is release coating. For decades, release coating has been used in industries across the board, and for good reason. 

Benefits of Release Coating

Release coating offers a vast array of benefits that make it perfect for industrial manufacturing applications. It is sturdy and durable, providing excellent protection to machine surfaces. It also reduces friction, keeping equipment running smoothly without need for costly, dirt-attracting lubricants. Additionally, many types of release coating can withstand high temperatures, and can thus be used for applications that involve extreme heat. 

Release Coating Applications

Thanks to its durability and impressive non-stick properties, release coating is used in all sorts of industries. Common release coating applications include:

  • Cookware and bakeware
  • Automotive components
  • Manufacturing equipment
  • Electrical components
  • Medical devices
  • And more

Release Coatings from Secoa Metal Finishing

At Secoa Metal Finishing, we provide a wide range of high quality non-stick coatings, each with their own unique advantages. We offer: 

  • Fluoroclad 5: Ideal for applications where non-stick properties are desired
  • Fluoroclad 6: Provides excellent abrasion resistance
  • Fluoroclad 7: Specifically formulated for use on cookware, bakeware, and cutlery
  • Fluoroclad 19: Durable two-coat system with superior release properties
  • Fluoroclad SDFC: Ceramic reinforced two-coat water-based system engineered to repel slag buildup and weld splatter

Contact Us to Learn More

If you want to know more about the features and benefits of release coatings, or if you are searching for high-quality non-stick coating services, get in touch with Secoa Metal Finishing today. Give us a call at (706) 383-2893 or send an email to sales@secoatech.com.

Secoa: Our Specialty Finishing Services

Secoa Metal Finishing has been providing high-quality specialty finishing services in Georgia since 1964. We take pride in our work and strive to meet each customer’s every need. We also want to make sure you understand all of the ways in which we can be of service. So, let’s take some time to talk about what exactly we do, and why it matters.

Metal Preparation Services

The first step in most metal finishing processes is surface preparation. If a metal surface isn’t properly prepped before it is coated, the end result will be subpar at best. That’s why we at Secoa make sure to perform the appropriate metal preparation for every project. We offer both burn-off and blasting services, which can be used on a range of ferrous and non-ferrous substrates, including iron, steel, aluminum, titanium, and magnesium, among others.

Our burn-off ovens—which are 7 X 7 X 20—are able to accommodate parts up to 20 feet long. They are also pollution controlled and fully compliant with Georgia’s state air quality regulations, as well as all corresponding federal regulations. Our 20 X 20 X 10 walk-in blasting units are useful for prepping large parts or large quantities of smaller parts. They use 70 grit aluminum oxide media, and include several hand blasters for jobs that require more delicate work.

Metal Preparation

Coating Services

Secoa specializes in providing custom coating solutions for a vast array of industrial applications. We carry a variety of powder coatings (polyester, nylon, epoxy, and more) with all kinds of useful benefits. Powder coatings can increase surface durability, reduce friction between moving parts, provide chemical and corrosion resistance, and even improve the appearance of your parts or equipment. Metal coatings from Secoa are versatile, dependable, and reliable. You can count on us to improve, protect, and enhance your products and equipment with our specialty finishing services.

Anodizing

In addition to surface preparation and powder coating services, Secoa offers industrial anodizing. Anodizing provides exceptional protection for metal surfaces even in the harshest environments, which makes it excellent for certain industrial applications. Secoa is one of only a few U.S. companies licensed to apply DiamonDyze™, so if you want beautiful, top-tier anodizing, we’re the company you need.

Contact Secoa Today

Do you want the best metal finishing services Georgia has to offer? Then get in touch with Secoa today. You can reach us at (706) 383-2893 or send an email to sales@secoatech.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

 

Anti-Rust Coatings: Types and Uses

Corrosion is a constant concern in any industrial manufacturing operation. Corrosion can cause extensive damage to machines, leading to disastrous equipment failures and expensive repairs. Fortunately, there are ways to protect your equipment from corrosion, first among them being anti-rust coating. At Secoa Metal Finishing, we offer a variety of anti-rust coatings designed to keep your operations running smoothly in even the most corrosion-conducive environments. 

Polyester Powder Coating

Polyester powder coatings are highly corrosion resistant, and can be made even more so with the addition of a zinc-rich primer or an epoxy primer. They also offer excellent UV protection, vast color selection, and are available for comparatively low prices. It is versatile and effective, which makes it perfect for a wide range of applications. 

Nylon Powder Coating

Secoa Metal Finishing carries Rilsan® Nylon 11, a high-performance nylon powder coating with a variety of benefits. This coating is durable, abrasion resistant, and of course, offers protection against chemicals and corrosion. This anti-rust coating will help keep your equipment in prime operating condition even when exposed to corrosive elements like moisture and certain chemicals. 

Epoxy Powder Coating

When it comes to protecting against rust, epoxy coating is top of the line. It is extremely durable and corrosion resistant, and can keep machinery safe in even the harshest conditions. As a result, it is often used for heavy duty applications with a high risk of corrosion, like wastewater treatment. 

High Build Thermoplastics

High build thermoplastics can be applied to steel to increase corrosion resistance and enhance UV properties. They provide an excellent solution for many municipal and architectural projects, and are often used in the food industry as well. 

If you’re in need of a corrosion resistant coating for your equipment, look no further than Secoa Metal Finishing. Contact our team today for more information about our anti-rust coating offerings, or for help choosing the right coating solution for your specific application. Give us a call at (706) 383-2893 or send an email to sales@secoatech.com. We look forward to assisting with all of your metal finishing needs.

Is it Possible to Powder Coat Rusted Metal?

Powder coating is a very durable metal finishing method, and it can certainly prevent rust from forming, but is it possible to apply powder coating to a surface that is already rusted? While the answer to this question is technically yes (it is not impossible to apply powder coating to a rusted surface), it should never be done. Applying powder coating over rust will result in a very poor finishing job. In the short term, rust under powder coating will cause immediately noticeable surface imperfections. In the long term, rust will continue to grow underneath the powder coating, which may cause the powder coating to fall off completely as the surface deteriorates. At Secoa, we know that rust will ruin a coating job. That’s why our specialty finishing services include metal preparation. Proper surface preparation is an essential part of the coating process; removing contaminants (such as rust) before applying powder coating helps ensure a pristine finish. Secoa offers multiple metal preparation services, including blasting and burn-off. Thanks to our top of the line equipment, we have the capability to strip and prepare a wide range of both ferrous and non ferrous substrates, including iron, steel, aluminum, magnesium, titanium, and more. We always remove rust from a surface before applying a coating in order to achieve the highest quality results.  
Fire Hydrant Restoration: Before and After
Would you like to learn more about Secoa’s specialty finishing services? Contact us today! Call (706) 383-2893 or send an email to sales@secoatech.com. We are ready to assist you with all of your finishing needs.

Eco-Friendly Metal Finishing: Powder Coating

Are you looking for an eco-friendly metal finishing option? If you answered yes, then you should consider powder coating. Powder coating has a plethora of features that make it a top tier choice for all kinds of finishing applications; one such feature is its “green” nature. Powder coating is a lot better for the environment than many metal finishing alternatives.

Powder Coating and Air Pollution

One major reason powder coating is considered eco-friendly is because it doesn’t contribute to air pollution. Many other finishing options, like paint, contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are eventually released into the air. When VOCs are released, they cause damage to the ozone layer. Powder coating does not emit VOCs, which means it doesn’t cause air pollution by releasing toxic fumes into the environment.

 Powder Coating and Hazardous Waste

In addition to producing VOCs, wet paint produces a lot of hazardous waste, because it often requires reworks that involve solvents. These solvents produce harmful fumes while in use, and then need to be disposed of (at which point they are considered hazardous waste). Retouching powder coating does not require any harsh chemicals, and since its inert on its own, the powder coating process does not produce any hazardous waste.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

During the powder coating process, there is always some powder that fails to adhere to the surface. Rather than being thrown out, this excess powder can be reclaimed and used again later. Therefore, powder coating is a good choice for anyone concerned about unnecessary waste. If you want to learn more about eco-friendly metal finishing, contact Secoa Metal Finishing at (706) 383-2893 or sales@secoatech.com. We provide a range of metal finishing services, including powder coating, in Georgia. We look forward to hearing from you.

What’s the Difference Between Corrosion and Rusting?

What’s the Difference Between Corrosion and Rusting?

In the world of metal finishing, products are often described as anti corrosion coatings, anti rust coatings, or both. Using this pair of descriptions for one product may seem redundant, as the terms corrosion and rust are often assumed to be direct synonyms, and used interchangeably as a result. However, there are a few differences between corrosion and rusting.

Defining the Terms

Technically speaking, corrosion is the process in which oxidation caused by chemical or electrochemical reactions causes a material to deteriorate, while rusting is the oxidation of iron that has been exposed to air and moisture. Rust is a type of corrosion, but not all corrosion is rust.

What Does it Look Like?

Rust has a very distinctive orange-brown color, and because rust is a type of corrosion, some corrosion does, too. But, not all corrosion is orange-brown. Some types of corrosion are other colors, like green or blue.

What Does it Affect?

One of the key differences between corrosion and rusting is the material affected. Corrosion can occur on a variety of surfaces, including metals, ceramics, polymers, and even wood. Rusting, however, occurs only on iron and iron alloys.

So, using the term “anti corrosion coating” indicates that a product can be used for applications involving a wide variety of materials, while using the term “anti rust coating” explicitly indicates that a product will work well for applications that involve iron or iron alloys.

Though most coatings that prevent rust will likely prevent other types of corrosion as well, it may prove useful to be aware of this distinction.

What is the Cause?

Another notable difference between corrosion and rust is cause. Corrosion can occur on particular surfaces when they are exposed to air or specific chemicals. Rusting occurs when an iron or iron alloy is exposed to both air and moisture.

In Conclusion

Overall, the differences between rust and corrosion are minimal, but they do exist. It is probably safe to assume that most of the time, anti corrosion coatings will prevent rust, and anti rust coatings will prevent other types of corrosion.

This is certainly true of our products at Secoa Metal Finishing. Our protective coatings are great for preventing many types of corrosion, rust included. If you would like to learn more about our corrosion resistant, anti rust coatings, give us a call at (706) 383-2893 or send an email to sales@secoatech.com

Comparing the Benefits of Anodizing, Painting, and Powder Coating

There are many different types of metal finishing; some of the most popular are anodizing, painting, and powder coating. Choosing the right type of coating for your application can be essential to achieving the desired results. If you have a piece of metal that needs to be coated, you may find yourself wondering, “Which is best? Anodizing, painting, or powder coating?”

Anodizing

Anodizing is an electrochemical process that can be used to form a protective coating of oxide on a metal surface. One thing that sets anodizing apart from other finishing methods is that the coating it creates is actually a part of the metal, so it cannot peel or flake. As a result, anodizing makes metal surfaces extremely durable. Anodizing is great for applications that require high levels of corrosion resistance and abrasion resistance. Anodizing also makes metal surfaces non-conductive, which can be useful in certain circumstances. In most cases, anodizing is restricted to aluminum substrates only.

Powder Coating

Powder coating is a metal finishing process that involves applying dry powder to a metal surface, and then heating the powder until it cures. There are several reasons one might choose powder coating as a metal finishing method. Though powder coated surfaces are generally not as durable as anodized surfaces, they are still extremely resistant to corrosion, abrasions, and general wear and tear; powder coating is a quick and simple process, which makes it convenient; and powder coating comes in a huge variety of colors.

Painting

Using wet paint is the most conventional metal finishing method. Though paint is much less durable than powder coating or anodizing, it does have its advantages. For example, paint can be used to coat surfaces that can’t be heated; it comes in an even more impressive array of colors than powder coating; and it is often very affordable.

The Verdict

So, which is best: anodizing, painting, or powder coating? Well, the answer is that there is no clear answer. Each of these finishing methods is best for its own specific range of applications. If you need extreme durability, you may want to look into anodizing. If you need corrosion resistance, but you also want a lot of color choices, powder coating may be your best option. If you just want a classic coating that is simple and cost-effective, painting is the way to go.

If you are seeking out metal finishing services, make sure to do your research and choose the process best suited for your application. If you are in need of powder coating or anodizing in Georgia, contact Secoa Metal Finishing at (706) 383-2893 or sales@secoatech.com. We provide high quality metal finishing services to those in Georgia, and beyond!

What Industries Use Metal Finishing?

Metal finishing is a process that can provide a wide range of benefits, ranging from corrosion resistance to general durability. Different types of metal coating have different features that make them well suited for different applications. At Secoa Metal Finishing, we offer metal coatings with applications in a vast array of industries.

The Aerospace Industry

Friction and corrosion are big concerns in the aerospace industry. It is important for a lot of the equipment used in this sector to have a low friction coefficient, and to be corrosion resistant.

At Secoa Metal Finishing, we serve the aerospace industry with a variety of metal coatings that help address these concerns. For example, we offer a wide range of fluoropolymers that are excellent for reducing friction, and our Nylon 11 coating is extremely corrosion resistant.

The Food Processing Industry

Non-stick properties are extremely useful in the food processing industry. Fluoropolymer coatings have non-stick properties, and can be applied to cookware and bakeware to make cleanup easy, prevent corrosion, and reduce the potential of food contamination between cleaning cycles.

In addition to improving the non-stick properties of food processing equipment, fluoropolymer coatings provide a high level of heat resistance that is very useful for baking and cooking applications.

The Medical Industry

Metal finishing is often used in the medical industry to make medical instruments cleaner, safer, and more effective. Metal coatings can enhance a metal’s antibacterial properties, and make it easier to sterilize, which is important in a medical setting where cleanliness could mean a patient’s survival.

Metal coatings can also inhibit electrical conductivity. This is important because using medical instruments that are highly conductive could increase burn risk during a procedure.

At Secoa Metal Finishing, we carry Rislan Nylon 11, various fluoropolymers, and other types of coating that are commonly used in the medical industry.

Metal finishing services are extremely beneficial in all kinds of industries. Whether an application requires corrosion resistance, heat resistance, low electrical conductivity, or non-stick properties, applying the right metal coating is a smart and viable solution.

If you are in need of metal finishing in Georgia, give us a call at (706) 383-2893 or send an email to sales@secoatech.com. We look forward to helping you find the perfect metal finishing solution for your application.

Powder Coating vs Galvanizing: A Comparison of Steel Finishing Methods

Steel is a remarkably strong material, and as a result, it is commonly used for a wide variety of industrial applications. However, it is also susceptible to things like corrosion. As such, it is important to apply protective coatings to structures and equipment made of steel. Two of the most common metal finishing methods for preventing damage to steel components are powder coating and galvanizing.

Powder Coating

Powder coating is extremely popular in the metal finishing industry. The powder coating process involves applying a dry, electrostatically charged coating to a surface, and then curing it until a protective layer is formed. There are many benefits using powder coating on steel components. Powder coating is extremely durable, and can protect a surface from chipping, abrasions, corrosion, and chemical damage, among other things. It is also available in a wide array of colors and textures.

Galvanizing

Galvanizing is a metal finishing process that involves dipping steel in molten zinc, which creates a metallurgic bond between the two materials. Galvanizing results in a layer of zinc that protects the steel from the elements and prevents it from succumbing to corrosion. Galvanized steel can last for 50-100 years, and requires very little maintenance, which makes it cost effective in the long-term.

Which Is Best?

So, which method is better for finishing steel? Powder coating or galvanizing? The truth is, neither of these metal finishing methods is inherently superior to the other. While powder coating is the best choice for some applications, galvanizing is better for others.

For example, because powder coating offers so many more color options than galvanizing, it is a better choice for applications where aesthetics are important. Meanwhile, galvanizing makes steel more temperature resistant than powder coating, and so is better for applications that involve extreme heat or extreme cold.

If you have a steel component that needs a protective coating, do your research to find out which method best suits your application before committing to one or the other.

If you have questions about metal finishing, feel free to contact Secoa Metal Finishing by calling (706) 383-2893 or sending an email to sales@secoatech.com. We offer high-quality metal finishing services in Georgia and the surrounding area.