Masking 101: How to increase productivity and product quality in your powder coating shop
Are you still masking products manually before they go to your powder coating shop? When do die-cut tape masks make sense? Or should you be using custommolded masks? This article answers these questions and more with the aim to increase your understanding of how and when to use the variety of masking devices available. It discusses common masking methods, die-cut and molded masks, consistency and coverage benefits, application and removal ease, and masking availability.
IWhen you walk into your powder coating shop and see workers with razor blades removing excess tape from masked areas on parts, you might as well reach into your billfold, take out all the money (if you have any in there that is), crumple it, and throw it down the drain because that’s what you’re doing: Throwing money down the drain. You obviously aren’t aware that other solutions will make the masking application faster, the finish better, the workers safer, and your overall line more efficient. Most of the time, when a worker uses tape and then cuts away excess material to protect a surface before coating application, the worker could almost certainly do it faster with diecut tape (Figure 1) or a molded mask (Figure 2).