Category: Additional Finishing Services

Improving Looks And Performance With Anodizing

Want to know why anodizing is one of our favorite forms of surface treatment? In this video from Serious Engineering, Gordon Styles breaks down the many benefits of anodizing for aluminum, magnesium and titanium parts.  Great looks, corrosion resistance, improved surface hardness – it’s all there and more. Check it out and don’t forget to […]

Anodized Aluminum Colors: Understanding Color Matching

A Walkthrough of the Aluminum Anodizing and Color Matching Process Anodizing is a great way to put an attractive and physically durable finish on aluminum parts. Anodizing improves corrosion resistance, surface hardness, prevents scratching and is an ideal foundation for painting, glue or powder coating. There are many challenges when trying to match colors on […]

What Makes a Great Paint Job

When people think of paint, they tend to think of it in a general sense. They often picture a smooth liquid substance that—once applied to a surface—can bring walls, buildings, and furniture to life. The definition doesn’t do justice to the sophisticated chemistry underlying modern coating technology. At Star Rapid, we use a variety of […]

8 Things You Need to Know About Anodizing Aluminum

Anodizing is a method for changing the surface chemistry of metals and other substrates. It protects against corrosion, enhances aesthetic qualities, resists scratching and is one of the most durable surface finishes available. Let’s take aluminum as an example to see how this process cleverly exploits oxidation for a result that’s both decorative and functional.

What are the Top Passivation Techniques?

What Does Passivation Mean? Passivation means to alter the chemical structure of a metal at or just below the surface, so that it’s more stable and doesn’t want to react with other elements in an undesirable way. There are several different manufacturing processes that we routinely use to passivate the surface of a part. The […]

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 […]