Products Finishing

APR 2016

Products Finishing magazine is the No. 1 industrial finishing publication in the world. We keep our readers informed about the latest news and trends in plating, painting, powder coating, anodizing, electrocoating, parts cleaning, and pretreatment.

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8 APRIL 2016 — PFonline.com THE VOICE OF FINISHING 80 YEARS Find more information at short.PFonline.com/top_shops . HP&C; is one of the Southwest's leading "one-stop" provider of corrosion protection services, including one of the largest electroless nickel tanks in the region. TOP SHOPS SPOTLIGHT Houston Plating and Coatings William Howard Brooklyn's Epner Technology Gets the Oscar Academy Awards design requires expert gold platng. David Epner will never be confused with Brad Pitt or George Clooney, but Epner, the owner of Brooklyn-based Epner Technology, has also hoisted an iconic Oscar statuette—by plating all 62 of the Academy Awards statuettes. "They turned out even better than I expected," says Epner, who used his Laser Gold process to get the Oscars to shine brighter than ever with a fnish that is three times harder than normal 24-karat gold. "A few weeks ago, we were plating components for the James Webb space telescope," he says. "That same gold was put onto a fgure that has made us famous." Polich Tallix Fine Art Foundry in Rock Tavern, New York, created this year's statuettes, and owner Dick Polich called his friend Epner to give Oscar a 24-karat gold fnish. Laser Gold—which was originally devel- oped by Epner for Xerox more than 30 years ago—had been the sole NIST standard (No. 2011) for infrared refective material for more than 20 years and also has been specifed on some of the most advanced military and space programs, as its hardness can exceed 180 on the Knoop scale. Like almost every casting, Epner says porosity was present and can be a plater's nightmare, but thanks to a cooperative vacuum impregnating frm, the critical deadline was met. Afer impregnation, the frst step was to polish the raw bronze. Each Oscar was then racked, electro- cleaned, cyanide copper fashed, given an acid copper plate and a bright nickel plate, then a gold strike and immediately immersed in the Laser Gold plating tank. This is pretty good work for Polich, 84, and Epner, 83, who have been long-time friends afer Epner gold plated a 300-pound bronze head for one of Polich's artist customers. "We two old farts really hit it of," Epner says. For more information, visit epner.com . Carlisle Acquires MS Oberflächentechnik AG Carlisle Co. has acquired MS Oberfachentechnik AG, a Swiss- based developer and manufacturer of powder coating systems and related components. MS designs and manufactures custom- ized powder coating systems and components for several end markets and sells primarily to customers in Europe. With this acquisition of MS, the company adds a ffh brand to its portfolio of Binks, DeVilbiss, Ransburg and BGK brands, serving various end markets for paints and coatings, including OE automotive, automotive refnishing, aerospace, agriculture, construction, marine, rail and other industrial applications. For more information, visit carlislef.com . N E W S

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