POWDER COATING SOLUTIONS

Architectural

Corrosion

Military

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POWDER COATING EXPERTISE

Large Volume

Small Batch

Multi-Coating

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Advanced Finishing USA is Celebrating 50 Years!

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About Advanced Finishing

Full-service custom powder coating and finishing

We coordinate all aspects of production from cleaning, pre-treating, and finishing to assembly, packaging, and drop shipping. Our purpose-designed 80,000 sq. ft. plant is equipped to efficiently handle applications of almost any weight, size, configuration, or quantity.

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Additional Services

Wet Painting, Sub-Assembly, Process Consulting

We have structured our services to provide customers with a superior finished product but also opportunities to reduce cost and improve margin. Advanced Finishing USA is an experienced sub-assembler and can handle all but the most complex projects.

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Experience

Walter J. Yahn founded Advanced Finishing U.S.A. in 1970. A Penn State Industrial Engineer by profession, Walt was a visionary. He foresaw the growth of the powder coatings industry and its potential contribution to manufacturing in the region. This propelled him to establish Advanced Finishing U.S.A. and to develop a full array of powder coating technologies and capabilities. Walt slowly built his company into a leading powder coating specialty business, creating a reputation for quick response, customer focus, and uncompromising attention to quality.

Quality

Our commitment to quality goes back to our roots in 1970. Founder Walter Yahn was an early student of Deming and the other pioneers of the Total Quality Management movement. He understood immediately the importance of customer focus, quality, and service to a small business. His vision remains the foundation of our company. Today, Advanced Finishing adheres to such stringent quality standards as ISO 9001 compliance. The company uses CARC, FDA & DOT approved coatings and can meet most AAMA, Military, and automotive specifications.

Capacity/Capability

The ability to accommodate large products is what separates Advanced Finishing USA from competitors. Our multi-metal, Architectural Aluminum, Batch, and Corrosion Facilities are all able to accommodate products up to 9,000 lbs. and over 40 ft. long.

Whether your order involves a small batch or thousands of individual parts, Advanced Finishing USA production facility is designed to match our customer’s needs. Few powder coating finishing companies offer the product volume capability Advanced Finishing provides.

HISTORY

Advanced Finishing U.S.A. specializes in applying strong, durable powder coatings to industrial equipment, fabrications, castings, stampings, and extrusions. Founded by visionary Walter J. Yahn in 1970. A Penn State Industrial Engineer by profession, Walt foresaw the growth of the powder coatings industry and its potential contribution to manufacturing in the region. This propelled him to establish Advanced Finishing U.S.A. and to develop a full array of powder coating technologies and capabilities.

MISSION/VALUES

We will continue the uncompromised dedication to ingenuity, quality, and complete customer satisfaction, which has been the foundation of our family business since its inception.

Quality Statement: “Best quality, on-time every time, using the QMS for continuous improvement.”

LOCATION

Advanced Finishing USA’s location and proximity to major interstate highways is a distinct advantage for our customers. This allows us to finish, assemble, package, and ship product en-route to final customers as the last link in the supply chain. Conveniently located near the junctions of I-79, I-80, and I-90, Advanced Finishing U.S.A. is on major supply routes from coast to coast, and from Canada to Mexico.

Frequently Asked Questions

HOW DOES POWDER DIFFER FROM PAINT?

Paint in general is a solid pigment in a solvent solution. It is applied wet and either air-dries or is baked dry in an oven. As the paint dries, the solvents evaporate, releasing any VOC’c (volatile organic compounds) contained in the solvent, leaving a thin (less than 1mil) dry film of colored pigment and resin. Powder coatings, in general, are finely ground plastic particles. The powder is fluidized using clean compressed air, and either pumped through a gun, electrically charged, and sprayed onto a cold, grounded part, or a hot part is dipped into the fluidized powder. In either case, after cooling the part is then placed into an oven where each particle of powder melts into the particles near it and together they flow into a uniform film, ranging from 2 to 20 mils thick.

HOW LONG DOES POWDER COATING LAST?

The life of the coating depends on the application. For corrosion and abrasion coatings, two months may suffice, however 2-3 years is not a-typical. For outdoor applications, five to seven years with minimal color and gloss reduction is usual, however for patio furniture, rust may occur at welds within 1-2 years. High-end architectural applications meeting AAMA 2605 specifications can be warranted for 10 to 20 years. For electrical applications such as bus bars, coatings may last as long as 10-15 years. In general, the life expectancy of powder coating is longer than paint, making it a more reliable finish.

HOW THICK IS POWDER COATING?

Average cold application to a flat plate would be 1-3mils or .001" to .003". Application to a warm part can result in 3-5 mils. Spray or fluid bed dip on a hot part can achieve 8-12 mils, and multiple coats, depending on the powder resin, can yield a thickness in excess of 125 mils or 1/8 inch.

HOW IS POWDER COATING APPLIED?

All powder-coating applications begin by either fluidization of the powder with compressed air or through vibration of the powder. Finely ground plastic powder is placed in a reservoir that is attached to an air plenum. The plenum and reservoir are separated by a porous membrane, which allows only air to pass through it. When clean, compressed air enters the plenum, it moves through the membrane and aerates the powder, giving it a fluidized quality. In this fluidized state, the powder may be pumped like a liquid to a spray gun. There are two primary methods of powder coating: Electrostatic Spray and Dipping.

WHAT COLORS ARE AVAILABLE?

As with paint, there are an infinite number of colors and textures available, many of which are stock. Two common color standards that many suppliers use for color specification are RAL colors and Federal Standard colors. Unlike paint, powder cannot be made a pound at a time, so color matching is often more costly. Fortunately, there are many different powder suppliers, and they each have their own array of colors and textures. The RAL Color Chart is available below for your convenience.

HOW DO THE POWDERS DIFFER?

There are two main types of powder coatings: Thermoplastic and thermoset. Thermoplastic powders flow when they are heated, but do not fully cure, or crosslink. After they cool, if they are re-heated, they will re-soften. They never completely set up. Thermoset powders cure when they are heated, and their resins crosslink, finishing a chemical process that cannot be reversed. The basic powders are epoxy, urethane, nylon, vinyl, and floropolymers. Each of these resins has its inherent strengths and weaknesses, depending on the application.

CAN YOU MATCH A COLOR?

Yes. If a customer has a paint chip, a powder supplier can match it, both color and gloss. It may not be an exact match, but it will be very close. Also, colors approaching red, orange, and yellow are more expensive, and you may have to fulfill a minimum order quantity. So if you want to coat a doorknob to match the electric yellow paint on your house, you may end up buying enough powder to coat the entire floor of the house, for the cost of a used sedan.

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