Our equipment for metal surface treatment is kept up-to-date through regular investment

The continual investment enables us to provide a powder coating service which excels in quality, consistency and adaptability to evolving needs.

This facility can process small, fragile aluminium and magnesium components, as well as accommodating sections up to 4 metres long, in volumes from one-off prototypes through to full scale production. All staff have, or are working towards, NVQ Level 2 in BIT Training.

Metal pre-treatment and powder coating

2 x 13-stage immersion pre-treatment lines, fully plc controlled, offering both a high degree of control and the ability to handle high volumes

7-stage pre-treatment pilot line, installed in June 2018, providing in-house capability to test and develop new pre-treatments
Automated powder coating line for smaller components of up to 1.2m in length
Automated powder coating line, a £500K investment in August 2016, for parts up to 4m in length
The latest GEMA OptiCentre powder management system and GEMA’s SIT dense phase powder pumps
GEMA Magic rapid colour change process
A smaller coating booth for prototype and sample work, with a dedicated box oven that can also accommodate sections up to 4 metres in length

INTRICOAT facility for powder coating low volume machined aluminium components

Machined components are becoming ever more complex together with an increasing demand for finishes with premium aesthetics. This has intensified the requirement for precise powder coating on advanced and often delicate designs.

Our INTRICOAT service provides a hands-on service for intricate designs, utilising masking schemes designed on CAD systems. We have invested in a dedicated separate facility, located within our plant, to be used exclusively for handling these small, complex components in low volume.

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.Surface characterisation laboratory for testing surfaces and surface treatments

At Powdertech we are clear that our role goes further than providing exemplary aluminium surface treatments. We want to be certain that the processes we provide are 100% fit for any intended purpose, most especially when it comes to TiZr coating for bonding. This includes ensuring that the bonds achieved following our TiZr conversion coating consistently meet and exceed our customers’ requirements. The results of our Instron testing enable us to work with our clients to help them to understand the optimal surface finishing pre-treatment process they need to take their bonding strategies to the next level, and to achieve repeatability going forwards.

We now have world leading Instron equipment as part of our testing suite. This is an electromechanical universal testing machine, able to perform a wide range of mechanical tests including tensile, compression, bend, peel, tear, friction, and shear testing. Tests are performed on all the aluminium alloys we work with, from 3xxx series up to 7xxx series, and in all formats, cast, extruded and sheet.
The Instron 34TM-50 tests materials, components, and products in accordance with ASTM, ISO and other industry standards. It has a 50kN load cell and 100kN 80mm wide grips, with a thermal chamber capable of reaching 350C.
Our laboratory has the capability to test pull-off adhesion to ASTM D 4541 using a Defelsko Positest AT-A as well as number of other methods for evaluating surface performance of substrates.