A customer coating in constant evolution: Sercolor case

The Tyranny of the Time by Patricia Malavolti

Let us resume a critical topic for coatings in architecture (and also in industrial design): which materials, how to use them, the relationship between the real material and its mimicry.

Architecture and design – that means the project - must always deal with time: in fact time is the variable that requires control. The main purpose of the coatings consists of  protecting materials with a"waterproofing" layer in order to not let deteriorate them, not only in terms of appearance but, and above all, in terms of  mechanical and functional characteristics. So we do not coat the materials just to give sensations but also to find the right balance between the naturalness of the material and the requirements connected to maintenance, cleaning, durability.

Everything is linked to time (and money): to prevent  materials’ deterioration the designer has to find the right coating that enhances the idea and allows its appropriate use. A choice that makes the difference.

Anyway coating is the last step of a process that involves more products and more players: the choice of the treatment and of the surface finishing cycle is essential to achieve the desired appearance. So it is not right to talk only about coating, but you need to know the whole process. The right process will lead to the best finish for the enhancement of the surface. Some "risky" design choices about finish reduce manufactured pieces’ lasting and caused an increase of costs for the maintenance of an adequate appearance over time, for the cleaning and for the functionality.

What does  time have ti do with the relationship between the "real" material and its mimicry? The link is due to the necessity to find the right compromise between the appearance of the material - especially when it is required in its natural appearance, for example by using  wood, or natural aluminium or oxidized iron - and the problems that these materials have without any protective coat: they get dirty, change the appearance and lose structural features - for example wood; they release on other materials their own residuals and they can not be cleaned - like Corten; they do not keep an acceptable appearance, or may be it is inherent in the production technology the difficulty of keeping  the same appearance, or in the process steps performed  in different times- as the anodized aluminium.

For this reason coating products which “imitate” materials or some finishing, in terms of aesthetical appearance, have been developed.

How can you deal with the problem without incurring the copy? The debate is open 

Wooden floors: natural unevenesses for a sustainable product

The presence on the market of materials

alternative to wood that reproduce its aesthetic

appearance  has changed the perception of the

consumer, which tends to ask for  floors with  large

sizes  or “herringbone” recovering the idea of

the floors "nailed down" of the past and with natural

appearance.

For durability and surface resistance requirements and

in order to make easier the maintenance, the market

actually includes almost only industrially treated

and coated floors that guarantee a stable quality.

Naturalness and old floors atmosphere: to meet these

trends, Tavar floors finish can be obtained also by

using dyed reagents, both traditional and waterborne.

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Long lasting and high quality level powder coatings for a leader company in the “contract” furniture industry

«Each product must have a reason to exist.

This in the truth that emerges from the

selection of exemplary products which

represent best the success that Segis has realized».

This expression, quoted in Segis website, an Italian

company located in Poggibonsi in the province of Siena, a company leader in design and manufacturing

of innovative and high quality level seating for contract industry, describes exactly the company’s philosophy: to manufacture what can be useful to the market, paying attention to the

strictest International quality standard, looking for

the best materials, finishes and focusing the whole

productive process on a manufacturing in accordance

with the environmental sustainability principles.

Everything reflects Franco Dominici’s thoughts, creator

and founder of the company in 1983 and today in the

company together with his son Francesco.

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Organic or inorganic “Patina”?

In some areas of Southern Europe among architects is widespread a material launched in the 30s b y

the United States Steel Corporation, patented under the name Cor-Ten (originally, a low alloy steel with 0.2 -0.5 % copper, 0.5-1.5% chromium and 0.1-0.2% phosphorus).

Born as a material able to self-protect from electrochemical corrosion, it changed over the years, in order to obtain good structural properties (yield strength up to 580 MPa), both characteristics that

have convinced many designers to use it, for example, for bridges’ building, first in the United States, then in Europe.

Recently architects committed to civil building urban design and other decorative applications began to use the Cor-Ten steel (in the United States, the different types available in the market are called

weathering steels) both for the belief of using a high strength material and without maintenance, and for its aesthetic appearance, regarded as the result of a “natural” aging and thus inherently “real” or “true”, and not artificially produced or modified by man as some industrial processes for surface decoration. 

Unfortunately, some of these features are more the result of a well-designed communication rather than the result of the analysis of objective figures.

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Innovation and new technologies in Euromask’s service: samples in 3 days!

As known, since 20 years Euromask is a leader in production

and trade of professional masking systems for every surface treatments: from liquid to powder coatings, from galvanic to sandblasting processes, masking tapes, silicone and rubber plugs, caps protections and hanging hooks.

In fact, Euromask is always in the forefront developing new technologies and productive/management processes in order to provide the best service to its customers, trying to improve and evolve itself as market require, right as a leader does.

That’s why with pride, Euromask is announcing the power to provide hanging hooks and mold samples for every appliance within record time!

Thanks to the new hook-machine for steel wires from 1,5 to 5 mm, Euromask will be able to dispatch huge quantity of hooks within 6 working days. In this way Euromask triples its daily output and is able to supply the growing demand of hooks, maintaining its “first-in, first-out” method.

But… that’s far from enough!

As a matter of fact, thanks to a new evolutionary step, Euromask developed a new technology in order to create and produce custom silicone samples suitable for many applications, high temperature and chemical bath processes included.

What to do? Simply provide a technical drawing or a physical sample of the part that needs to be masked. Than, Euromask’s experts will create a 3D drawing needful to produce a customer’s preliminary test silicone sample within record times: from 3 to 5 working day that depends on the complexity of the final object. This is a real improve, compared to the average timing of the market!

Moreover, the most important aspect is that once the sample is accepted by the customer, it will be perfectly the same in dimensions and features to the future product range.

In summary, Euromask shows once more its market leadership and won’t stops to challenge itself, in order to improve its own quality and its services for all customers.