11 Essential Surface Treatment Techniques for Retail Excellence

With 20 years of custom-making experience, we are proficient in 11 common surface treatment effects frequently used in the retail industry, adding unique charm to your product displays.

As someone who's always believed in the power of presentation, I'm excited to dive into the world of surface treatments. These processes are not just technical necessities; they are artistic expressions that can transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. From screen printing to the intricate art of laser engraving, each method offers a unique way to enhance the visual appeal of an object.

Screen printing, Pad printing, Brushed metal, Polishing, Sandblasting, Radium carving, Plastic spraying, Anodizing, Electrophoretic, and Electroplating.

Screen printing

Screen printing is through screen printing. Using a piece of screen tension on a frame, and then smear the photopolymer on the screen; The image to be printed is output by laser, and the screen is placed under the exposure lamp for a few minutes. Finally soak the frame with water to wash away the photopolymer, while the other parts that do not need to be printed still retain(template). Dry the template and start printing.

Screen printing can be divided into many types according to its layout, printing machine varieties, ink properties, and substrate types, but as far as its printing mode is concerned, it can be divided into the following types:

1.Flat screen printing:

Flat-scree

?

n printing is a method of printing on a printing substrate with a flat-screen mesh. Fixed plate squeegee move during printing.

2. Curved screen printing:

Curved screen printing

?

Curved screen printing is a method of printing curved substrates (spherical, cylindrical, and conical) with a flat-screen mesh. When the squeegee is fixed during printing, the substrate and the printing mesh move horizontally together.

3. Rotary screen printing:

Rotary screen printing is a printing method using a cylindrical screen printing substrate with a fixed squeegee in the cylinder, and the cylindrical printing mesh and the substrate using simultaneous linear velocity movement.

4. Pad printing

?

Pad printing is an indirect concave rubber head printing technology, which has become a major method of surface printing and decoration of various objects. The designed pattern is etched on the printing plate, the etching plate is coated with ink, and then most of the ink is transferred to the printed object through the silicone head.

Brushed metal

?Brushed metal is a repair process, and can also play a beautiful role. The effect can be divided into vertical brushed, random brushed, ripples brushed, radial brushed, and so on. Usually, it is also brushed before plating.

1. Vertical brushed

Vertical brushed refers to the machining of straight lines on the surface of the aluminum plate by mechanical friction. Continuous straight lines can be obtained by continuous horizontal linear friction on the surface of the aluminum plate with a stainless steel brush. Changing the diameter of the steel wire of the stainless steel brush can obtain different thickness lines.

2.Random brushed

Random brushed is a kind of non-regular, no obvious grain sub-gloss wire pattern obtained by moving the aluminum plate back and forth under the high-speed running copper wire brush. This type of processing needs high surface requirements for aluminum or aluminum alloy plates.

3. Ripples brushed

Rippled brushes are generally made on a brushing machine or friction machine. The wavy lines are obtained by grinding the brush on the surface of the metal plate by using the axial motion of the upper group of grinding rollers.

4.Radial brushed

Radial brushed is a kind of silk thread obtained by rotating and polishing the surface of a metal plate with kerosene blending polishing paste on a cylindrical felt or diamond nylon drilling machine. It is mostly used for the decorative processing of circular signs and small decorative dials.

Polishing

?Modification of the surface of a workpiece using flexible polishing tools and abrasive particles or another polishing media. Polishing can’t improve the dimensional accuracy or geometric accuracy of the workpiece, but to obtain a smooth surface or mirror luster, and sometimes also used to eliminate luster.

According to different polishing processes: rough polishing, medium polishing, and fine polishing, The best polishing effect can be achieved by selecting the appropriate polishing wheel, and the polishing efficiency can be improved at the same time.

Sandblasting

Sandblasting is to obtain the surface of the film light decoration or fine reflector to meet special design needs such as soft luster. At the same time, it can make the combination of printing material and substrate stronger. Sandblasting is usually carried out in a special sandblasting machine. According to the requirements of the thickness of the sand surface, select the appropriate number of quartz sand, and spray it into the appropriate sand surface. Uniform and moderate sandblasting treatment can overcome the common defects on the surface of the metal.

Laser engraving

Laser carving, which carves traces through the chemical and physical changes of the surface material caused by the light energy of the laser beam, or burns off part of the material through the light energy, showing the graphics and text that need to be etched; According to the different carving methods, it can be divided into dot-matrix carving and vector cutting.

1.Dot matrix engraving

Dot matrix engraving-similar to high-definition dot matrix printing; the laser head swings to the left and right, engraving a line composed of a series of points at a time, and then the laser head moves up and down at the same time to carve out several lines, and finally form a full-page image or text.

2.Vector Cutting

?Vector cutting is different from dot matrix engraving, vector cutting is carried out on the outer contour of the picture and text. This mode is usually used in wood, paper, acrylic, and other materials for penetrating cutting, but also in a variety of material surface marking operations.

Spray paint

Spray the paint into a fog with compressed air on the utensils that need to be sprayed.

1.Matt paint

?Matt paint on the product spraying wear-resistant anti-skid frosted paint, not only makes the product more textured but also will not appear serious wear phenomenon.

2. Plush paint spray

Plush paint spray is a two-component high-elastic polyurethane paint, with high elasticity, abrasion resistance, and impact resistance, has a soft feel, especially when the hands often touch the product is comfortable and high-grade, improves the added value of the product.

As we've journeyed through these various surface treatment processes, it’s clear that each technique holds the potential to transform your project from ordinary to extraordinary. Whether you're a seasoned professional or a curious novice, I encourage you to explore these methods in your next project. Dive into the world of screen printing, experiment with metal finishes, or challenge yourself with laser engraving. The only limit is your imagination. So, what's your next project going to be? Share your ideas, and let's continue to push the boundaries of creative expression together.

Common surface treatment processes include Screen printing, Pad printing, Brushed metal, Polishing, Sandblasting, Radium carving, Plastic spraying, Anodizing, Electrophoretic, and Electroplating.

Coating

A surface treatment method by spraying plastic powder on a part. Coating, which is often referred to as electrostatic powder spraying, uses an electrostatic generator to electrify the plastic powder.?Adsorb it on the surface of the parts, and then bake it at 180 ℃ or 220 ℃ to melt and adhere the powder to the metal surface. Spray products are mostly used in indoor products, paint film shows a flat or matte effect.

Anodizing

Electrochemical oxidation of metals or alloys. The formation of an oxide film on metal products (anodes) under the action of applied current in the corresponding electrolyte and specific process conditions. Anodizing, if not specifically specified, usually refers to sulfuric acid anodizing.

Electrophoresis

Charged particles under the action of the electric field.?The phenomenon of moving toward an electrode that is opposite to its electricity. Aluminum alloy surface treatment is usually aluminum oxide as an anode, placed in water-soluble latex.?Through direct current, deposited on the surface of the aluminum oxide film to form a paint film. After painting, the paint film should be baked and solidified to form a firm and hard paint film. A kind of protection is formed for aluminum, its adhesion, uniformity, and weathering resistance make the color of aluminum more smooth and uniform, and make aluminum achieve acid and alkali resistance.

Electroplating

1.Water plating

The most common electroplating method of water plating is an electrochemical process. Using positive and negative electrodes and adding current in the bath, gold plating, silver plating, nickel plating, chromium plating, cadmium plating and so on. The electroplating solution is very polluted. The process of water plating is mainly composed of pretreatment and electroplating. The function of pretreatment is to change the original non-conductive plastic material into the conductive plastic material.

2. Vacuum evaporation

Vacuum evaporation is a method to heat metal in high vacuum, melt and evaporate it.?And form the metal film on the surface of the sample after cooling. The thickness of the coating is 0.8-1.2uM. The method of heating metal: some use the heat generated by resistance, and some use an electron beam.

When the resin is vapor-deposited, the vapor deposition time is adjusted to ensure that the heat generated when the metal is cooled does not deform the resin. Further, a metal or an alloy having a melting point and a too-high boiling point is not suitable for vapor deposition.

3. Sputtering

Argon (Ar) ion was impacted on the surface of (target) by glow discharge (glow discharge).?The atoms of the target were ejected and stacked on the surface of the substrate to form thin films. The properties and uniformity of the sputtering film are better than those of the evaporating film, but the coating speed is much slower than that of the evaporating film. Almost all of the new sputtering equipment uses powerful magnets to spiral the electrons to accelerate the argon ionization around the target.?Increasing the impact probability between the target and argon ions, and improving the sputtering rate. In general, most of the metal coatings are deposited by DC sputtering.?The non-conductive ceramic materials are deposited by RF AC sputtering. The basic principle is that argon (Ar) ions are impinged on the surface of the target (target) by glow discharge (glow discharge) in a vacuum. The cations in the plasma will accelerate toward the negative electrode surface as the splashed material. This impact will cause the material of the target to fly out and deposit on the substrate to form a thin film.

Electroless Plating

Electroless Plating refers to the method of reducing metal ions in solution to metal. Depositing them on the surface of plating parts by the chemical method without external current passing through.

1. Electroless plating can be used in a variety of substrates, such as metals (steel, aluminum, magnesium, etc.), non-metals (ceramics, plastics, wood, etc.), and semiconductors.

2. The thickness of the electroless coating is uniform.?No matter how complex the workpiece is, as long as appropriate technical measures are taken, a uniform coating can be obtained.

3. Electroless coatings have good physical, chemical, and mechanical properties.?Such as good corrosion resistance, wear resistance, and hardness, low phosphorus coatings have good electromagnetic properties.?While high phosphorus coatings have good non-magnetic properties.

Ready to transform your retail displays? These advanced surface treatments can elevate your products from ordinary to extraordinary. Embrace the power of these techniques to enhance both durability and aesthetic appeal. If you're curious about integrating these methods into your product presentation, let's connect. Together, we can explore how these treatments can turn your products into showcases of craftsmanship and style.