When it comes to abrasives used for general purpose repair and maintenance, paint and rust removal, maintenance applications requiring reduced profiles, new construction, or cleaning surfaces to create a smooth finish, the choices are many. Should you use slag, garnet, steel grit or some other type of abrasive? The choice depends on the application and your objectives.

A new four-page brochure from Michelman, titled “Your Competitive Edge,” communicates the company’s brand position and identity, as well as overall company capabilities.

The Powered Zone Roller Conveyor from Dürr Ecoclean is a reconfigurable motor-driven roller conveyor that allows parts to accumulate without contacting one another.

Envirothane® 550 from Enviroline Group is a two-component, high-gloss urethane exterior coating designed for industrial and commercial applications requiring excellent gloss and color retention, as well as superior UV, chemical, abrasion and moisture resistance.

The new Sikkens Automatchic 3 handheld color measurement tool from Sikkens is designed to make the task of color matching faster and easier. The tool first “reads” the color and then automatically searches for the closest formula, even if a color code is not available. Errors are detected automatically and, if necessary, formulas are optimized.

698 and 699 TPC-HS, two new high-solids topcoats from Salcomix, BASF Coatings AG’s industrial paint brand, are designed to be applied easily and economically while offering a high degree of UV, gloss and color stability.

E-coat is widely recognized as one of the most efficient coating processes. However, in today’s ultra-competitive environment, the quest for improved efficiencies is relentless. Recent increases in energy costs, the desire to process more parts through the same system, and concerns for the environment have led to an interest in electrocoat materials with lower cure temperatures. Fortunately, new developments are meeting the market demand for a lower-temperature cure with a high-performance cathodic epoxy electrocoat finish.

The pan-European consortium FOREMOST (Fullerene-based Opportunities for Robust Engineering: Making Optimized Surfaces for Tribology) has developed its first composite coating, based on ApNano Materials’ nanoparticles (inorganic fullerenes [IF]). The new coating is being considered for plating advanced parts by some of FOREMOST’s partners and other industrial firms to achieve improved efficiency, reduced emissions and extended equipment lifetimes in harsh conditions.

PPG Industries has been named a Metal of Honor winner by Metal Roofing magazine. According to the magazine, the company was selected by attendees of the 2007 METALCON trade show and readers as one of the metal roofing industry's top companies in terms of quality of products, service, delivery and competitive pricing.

Many different features and designs influence curing uniformity, including the thermal insulation, accuracy of the temperature controller and thermocouple, thermocouple placement, location of exhaust outlets and fresh air inlets, through-metal heat transfer, and chamber pressure. Although each parameter affects the ability of the equipment to achieve a given temperature tolerance, factors such as the air volume, distribution of the air through the work chamber, and shell losses play a key role in keeping the heat uniform within the work chamber, ensuring that each area within the oven receives the same air temperature regardless of its location.