(Cycle on spraying machine one arm – paper belt)

▹ Substrate: solid wooden panel

▹ Lacquer: catalysed acrylic primer and finishing coat

The phases of the cycle:

➀ Rough sanding
➁ Coating application: transparent acrylic primer (80-100 g/sqm)
➂ Air drying time 1 hour; in a hot room or vertical oven 35°C for 30 min.
➃ Manual sanding for the edges and automatic sanding for the flat surface
➄ Coating application: transparent acrylic finish (80-100 g/sqm)
➅ Air drying 1.5h - 2h; in a hot room or vertical oven for 60 min.

What's the purpose of sanding the rough piece?

Machine start-up is generally preceded by preparation of the substrate. This consists of sanding the rough piece, a process that can be done manually or by machine. Pre-sanding of rough pieces is performed in almost all coating cycles, on both wooden and non-wooden materials (e.g. fibre cement and some plastics), and its purpose depends on the specific substrate.
In the case of wooden materials, sanding is designed to smooth and remove wood fibres that have been lifted by damp. On non-wooden materials, it is generally designed to aid adhesion of the first coating layer.
Once the machine start-up procedures and relative pre-wash cycles have been completed, the nozzles are mounted on the spray guns. These are selected according to:
- the type of coating product (water/solvent-based)
- the g/m2 of product to be deposited on the product
- line speed in m/min

What's the best configuration for coating 80% of products?

For 80% of products (maximum thickness 35 mm) the ideal coating configuration is to set the two angles of each gun at 45° and set the height at 160 mm (as measured from nozzle tip to piece surface).

How do I prepare the coating?

Coatings are prepared in the proportions normally shown on the packaging or according to personal experience. As a rule, each customer has a customised blend.
The coating is loaded by running the pump, inserting the dip tube in the pre-readied coating tin and performing all the tasks needed to ensure the product reaches the spray guns and the machine is ready for production.

The purpose of the first sample: checking the weight.

The first sample, normally the weight verification one, is now fed through in order to calculate the amount of coating needed per square metre. Pressure is then adjusted as desired.

At this point the operator can start coating the doors.

Keyword: cleaning Whatever the coating cycle, even the simplest, operators must take meticulous care of the machine. They must clean the spray guns, avoid rejects caused by accidental dust falls and, the following day, thoroughly clean the nozzles, pump, circuit and product or suction filters. 

What does "end of shift cleaning" mean? And how much time does it take?
End of shift cleaning can be completed in 15 minutes and involves the following:

1. Flushing of the multi-gun circuit
2. Nozzle removal and subsequent manual cleaning
3. Cleaning of the spray gun arm with solvent and brush
4. Dusting of internal booth walls

▷ Key word: quality. ◁

For each coating cycle, even the simplest, the machine and the operator determine the outcome. The machine must deliver in terms of performance, speed and coating uniformity, and the operator needs to keep it efficient, especially as regards the guns and nozzles (improves application quality), cleanliness, filters and air recirculation (ensures it stays dust-free).

This procedure considerably reduces end-of-shift cleaning times and significantly increases Transfer Efficiency, which means less coating consumption.

Vacuum finishing technology uses an automated process to convey parts through a multi-process finishing system. The system features a vacuum coating unit, also known as the application head, that controls the amount of coating applied on to up to four sides of each part. The control of the application head allows the operator to minimize the amount of spent coating, keeping costs low. Unused coating remains in the coating chamber to be applied to future parts entering the system. Not only does this reduce the cost of your finishing production, it is also environmentally friendly.

Shiplap is a great example of how vacuum coating can automate and optimize overhead cost of a finishing line. It is growing in popularity and increasingly available at retail stores for DIY (do-it-yourself) home remodeling projects. With a vacuum coating system, you can sand, coat, and UV cure up to four sides in a single pass, you can be ready to pack and ship in no time - you can quickly ramp up production for an order of almost any size. Read on for more ways that vacuum coating can help your business reduce cost and streamline the finishing process.

Another cost-reducing feature of vacuum finishing technology – specifically UV curing with the compact CVS Vacuum Finishing System – is the 100% solid UV coatings that are solvent-free and cure through polymerization rather than evaporation. This process emits no VOC’s (volatile organic compounds) that can negatively affect the ozone, meaning there are no overhead costs for permitting, insurance premiums, or government compliance fees. Without these additional operational costs, you will easily see your per-piece cost decrease and margin increase!

Lastly, with this system providing three processes in one, compact system – there is no need to purchase, house, power, and maintain multiple pieces of equipment and obtain the additional labor required to operate them. The CVS Vacuum Finishing System is comprised of sanding, UV Coating, and UV Curing units integrated by a 12-inch-wide conveyor, compatible with solvent-based coatings. If water-based coatings are what's in your wheelhouse, read more about the CVR Vacuum Finishing System here.

The features of vacuum technology are not limited to cost reduction. Other system features include:

• No VOC’s, no emissions, no permitting
• Small footprint
• One system comprised of multiple processes – no need for different sets of equipment
• Options for water-based and solvent-based coatings
• Machine-side control panel is easy to use with a touch screen featuring large print and color graphics

These vacuum finishing systems are built exclusively to support the North American market by Delle Dedove technologies, also known as DV Systems. Contact us today.

Whether you’re into horizontal spray coating or vertical applications, we at Cefla Finishing have been building innovative spray coaters since the 1960’s, installing them around the world  and developing new solutions year after year to increase production efficiency, enhance the quality of the final product and enable lower operating costs.

Open-air office environments have been all the rage in recent years, but recent changes in our communities, including social distancing policies, are giving wall partition and cubicle systems a come-back. Even conference rooms are having to be rethought to encourage safe working environments. The solution: modular, even temporary, structures are helping employers stay flexible.

Hard and soft surfaces for office and lobby furniture can be made from a variety of materials, including wood, plastic, material, and recycled materials. Furniture can be mass produced or can be as unique as the individual who requested it, it is based much on personal taste, preferred style, trends, and budget. No matter the material, taste or budget, all office furniture requires a finish to enhance its features and provide durability.

Cefla Finishing’s technologies and solutions enhance the look of wall partitions, table surfaces, chairs, lobby furniture, cubicles. A proper finish provides a beautiful and safe working environments for employees and customers, while offering a durable surface that is easy to clean. Cefla Finishing technologies result from over 70 years of experience, bringing you the best automated solutions for the treatment and painting office furniture and office wall systems.

Contact us and discuss your needs with a finishing expert

What are the advantages of vertical door and window coating?

Given their considerable size, being able to hang doors and windows is essential. Moreover, overhead lines allow both sides to coated.

How can I measure workpiece coating quality and how can I make my window coating process more efficient?

Thanks to an automatic system. While quality is entirely subjective, using an automatic system guarantees coating application consistency/precision on the produced batches. Whereas a manual system may cause significant variations in terms of both productivity and quality, and thereby low coating process efficiency, an automatic coating system ensures steady product consumption and application consistency throughout the day.

Thanks to Danilo Tamburini - Product Manager

Contact us and discuss your needs with a finishing expert.

Edges may be straight, but flexibility is what makes the difference when processing them. The more flexible your edge processing solution is, the more straightforward your production will be.

Smartedge copes perfectly with an increasing tendency for small batches and frequent demands for customisation, avoiding production bottlenecks and unprofitable downtime. Smartedge will finish any type of edge - sanding, coating, drying - from start to finish. No need to stop machinery for time-consuming adjustments according to edge shape or thickness. Disassembling the application head, re-aligning the components to handle a different edge can repeatedly hold up production. Our patented Edge&Go head for vacuum application technology enables continuous processing of different edges.

Same shape thickness adjustments between 16 and 50 mm take between 5 and 10 seconds. Edge shape changeovers using Edge&Go in no more than 15 seconds; for example, from a straight edge with a 3 mm radius to a J-Pull.

Contact us and discuss your needs with a finishing expert.