7 Techniques For Finishing A Metal Surface
All metal prototyping and CNC machined components will leave behind a pattern of characteristic scratches on the workpiece. These are caused by the type of cutting tool, how sharp it is and the material it’s made from. In some cases these scratches can be ignored but usually to make a truly “finished” part one or more […]
Making Surface Textures with Machine Tools
To get the right look and feel on your new product, you need to be able to not only define what kind of surface texture you want but also what technique you want us to use to create it. This will save time, money and frustration on your next project. Different techniques have different purposes, […]
Getting a Beautiful Finish on Painted Parts
The process of painting beautiful parts There are some unique challenges that present themselves when trying to achieve the perfect paint finish for prototypes or low-volume production. High volume batch production can be automated to produce large runs of identical parts, but small batches must be carefully handled on a case-by-case basis. Let’s take a closer look […]
Pad Printing: Fast And Durable
Star Rapid has just increased our capacity with the introduction of our latest piece of equipment, the Kent G-Turbo 90 S/2 pad printer. This is an industrial machine with two independent pads capable of printing in two colors. It has a solid granite armature for maximum stability and is specially rated as a “green” machine […]
Getting A Handle On Surface Finish
We’ve talked before about color on a prototype, and the subtle ways that color affects our emotional response to a manufactured object. The final surface finish of a part is also important, not only for the mechanical fitness for a given application but also for the visceral appeal to the end user, although describing this phenomena […]
What’s In A Color?
Remember when personal computers first started coming into the modern workplace? Almost all of them, regardless of manufacturer, used the same ubiquitous colored plastic case. Called “putty”, it was a generic light brown mixed with off-white, and you would find this same color used for printers and copiers, telephones and filing cabinets and fax machines. […]
