Now many industries of precision parts will use CNC machining production, but after CNC machining is completed, many products surface is still relatively rough, this time you need to carry out secondary surface finishing treatment.

First of all, surface treatment is not suitable for all CNC processing products, some products can be directly used after processing, and some need to be hand-polished, electroplating, oxidation, radium carving, screen printing, powder spraying and other special processes. Here are some things you should know about surface treatment.

1, improve product accuracy; After the product processing is completed, some products have a rough surface and leave a large residual stress, which will reduce the accuracy of the product and affect the precision of the match between the parts. In this case, the product surface treatment is required.

2, provide product wear resistance; If the parts usually use scenarios are interacting with other parts, long-term use will increase part wear, which also requires processing of the product surface to extend the service life of the parts.

3, improve the corrosion resistance of the product; Parts used for a long time in highly corrosive places require special surface treatment, requiring polishing and spraying of anti-corrosion materials. Improve corrosion resistance and service life of the product.

The above three points are the prerequisites for surface processing after CNC precision parts processing, and several surface treatment methods will be introduced below.

01. What is electroplating?

Electroplating refers to the surface engineering technology of obtaining a solid metal film on the surface of the substrate by electrolysis in a salt solution containing the metallized group, with the metallized group as the cathode and the metallized group or other inert conductor as the anode under the action of direct current.

02. Why electroplate?

The purpose of electroplating is to improve the appearance of the material, while giving the surface of the material a variety of physical and chemical properties, such as corrosion resistance, decorative, wear resistance, brazing and electrical, magnetic, optical properties.

03. What are the types and applications of electroplating?

1, galvanized

The galvanized layer is of high purity and is an anodic coating. The zinc layer plays a mechanical and electrochemical protective role on the steel matrix.

Therefore, galvanized layer is widely used in machinery, hardware, electronics, instruments, light industry and other aspects, is one of the most widely used plating species.

2. Copper plating

The copper coating is a cathode polar coating, which can only play a mechanical protection role on the base metal. The copper plating layer is usually not used as a protective decorative coating alone, but as the bottom or middle layer of the coating to improve the adhesion between the surface coating and the base metal.

In the field of electronics, such as through hole copper plating on printed circuit boards, as well as hardware technology, crafts, furniture decoration and other fields.

3. Nickel plating

Nickel plating layer is a negative polarity protective layer, which only has a mechanical protection effect on the base metal. In addition to the direct use of some medical devices and battery shells, the nickel-plated layer is often used as the bottom or middle interval layer, which is widely used in daily hardware, light industry, home appliances, machinery and other industries.

4. Chrome plating

The chromium-plated layer is a negative polarity coating, which only plays a mechanical protection role. Decorative chrome plating, the bottom layer is generally polished or electrodeposited bright coating.

Widely used in instruments, meters, daily hardware, household appliances, aircraft, automobiles, motorcycles, bicycles and other exposed parts. Functional chrome plating includes hard chrome plating, porous chrome, black chrome, opal chrome and so on.

Hard chrome layer is mainly used for various measuring calipers, gauges, cutting tools and various types of shaft, loose hole chrome layer is mainly used for cylinder cavity piston failure; The black chrome layer is used for parts that need a dull surface and wear resistance, such as aviation instruments, optical instruments, photographic equipment, etc. Opalescent chromium is mainly used in various measuring tools.

5. Tin plating

Compared to the steel substrate, tin is a negative polar coating, while compared to the copper substrate, it is an anode coating. The tinning layer is mainly used as the protective layer of thin plate in the can industry, and most of the malleable iron skin is made of iron plate tinning. Another major use of tin coatings is in the electronics and power industries.

6, alloy plating

In a solution, two or more metal ions are co-precipitated on the cathode to form a uniform fine coating process called alloy plating.

Alloy electroplating is superior to single metal electroplating in crystal density, porosity, color, hardness, corrosion resistance, wear resistance, magnetic conductivity, wear resistance and high temperature resistance.

There are more than 240 kinds of electroplating alloys, but less than 40 kinds are actually used in production. It is generally divided into three categories: protective alloy coating, decorative alloy coating and functional alloy coating.

Widely used in aviation, aerospace, navigation, automobile, mining, military, instruments, meters, visual hardware, tableware, Musical Instruments and other industries.

In addition to the above, there are other chemical plating, composite plating, non-metal plating, gold plating, silver plating and so on.

The surface of the items processed by CNC machining or 3D printing is sometimes rough, and the surface requirements of the products are high, so they need to be polished.

Polishing refers to the use of mechanical, chemical or electrochemical action to reduce the surface roughness of the workpiece in order to obtain a bright, flat surface processing method.

Polishing can not improve the dimensional accuracy or geometric accuracy of the workpiece, but for the purpose of obtaining a smooth surface or mirror gloss, and sometimes to eliminate gloss (extinction).

Several common polishing methods are described below:

01. Mechanical polishing

Mechanical polishing is by cutting, plastic deformation of the surface of the material to remove the polished convex and smooth surface polishing method, the general use of whetstone strip, wool wheel, sandpaper, etc., mainly manual operation, surface quality requirements can be used to super-fine polishing method.

Super finishing polishing is the use of special grinding tools, in the polishing liquid containing abrasive, tightly pressed on the workpiece to be machined surface, for high-speed rotation. This method is often used in optical lens molds.

02. Chemical polishing

Chemical polishing is to dissolve the microscopic protruding part of the surface of the material in the chemical medium preferentially than the concave part, so as to obtain a smooth surface.

The main advantage of this method is that it does not require complex equipment, can polish the workpiece with complex shape, and can polish many workpieces at the same time, with high efficiency.

The core problem of chemical polishing is the preparation of polishing liquid.

03. Electrolytic polishing

The basic principle of electrolytic polishing is the same as that of chemical polishing, that is, the surface is smooth by selectively dissolving small protruding parts on the surface of the material.

Compared with chemical polishing, the effect of cathode reaction can be eliminated and the effect is better.

04. Ultrasonic polishing

The workpiece is put into the abrasive suspension and placed together in the ultrasonic field, and the abrasive is ground and polished on the workpiece surface by relying on the oscillation of the ultrasonic wave.

Ultrasonic processing macroscopic force is small, will not cause workpiece deformation, but tooling production and installation is more difficult.

05. Fluid polishing

Fluid polishing relies on high-speed flowing liquid and the abrasive particles it carries to wash the surface of the workpiece to achieve the purpose of polishing.

Common methods are: abrasive jet processing, liquid jet processing, hydrodynamic grinding and so on. Hydrodynamic grinding is driven by hydraulic pressure to make the liquid medium carrying abrasive particles flow through the surface of the workpiece at high speed.

The medium is mainly made of special compounds with good flow under low pressure and mixed with abrasives, which can be silicon carbide powder.

06. Magnetic grinding polishing

Magnetic grinding and polishing is the use of magnetic abrasive under the action of magnetic field to form an abrasive brush, grinding the workpiece.

This method has the advantages of high processing efficiency, good quality, easy control of processing conditions and good working conditions.

The above are 6 common polishing processe.

HONSCN Precision has been a professional CNC machining manufacturer for 20 years. Cooperation with more than 1,000 enterprises, deep technology accumulation, senior technician team, welcome to consult customized processing!Customer service

Strategic Plan You should consider whether or not you are looking for a long term relationship. You need to locate a good cultural and strategic fit. Do your due diligence and take your time in uncovering a manufacturers professional reputation in that industry. During your research, don't just look at the positive reviews to determine how good they are, look for the red flags and see how bad things can get.

The Process Type Different manufacturers use different manufacturing processes that include extrusion, co-extrusion, tri-extrusion as well as crosshead extrusion coatings.

The Plastic Materials The plastic extrusion materials are used in different applications and each of them has their unique properties. One of the most important aspects of hiring a manufacturer is considering the extrusion materials they use for the custom parts. You have to be sure that the parts will be manufactured successfully and will perform as properly as is expected. In case you are not sure about the kind of plastic extrusion materials that would be best for your parts, an engineer can assist you in that area. There are also numerous grade types for the extrudable materials so you should choose a company that can produce the grade you need.

Capabilities If you have a significant production volume requirement, it is essential to know the production capabilities of the manufacturer. The manufacturer should also be able to provide you with extensive capabilities in terms of the design, tooling and fabrication. With these plastic extrusion capabilities, a manufacturer is able to produce high quality custom parts that meet the requirements of their customers. The finishes should be considered as well as they could be matt, glossy or textured. That means your custom plastic parts manufacturer should know about the latest finishes in the market.

Tooling Custom plastic extrusion needs tooling, which is a lot cheaper compared to injection molding. A quality extrusion manufactures ought to offer you state of the art tooling capabilities. They should have an experienced team that designs, engineers and tests all tooling. This will improve productivity, efficiency, safety and reduce costs.

Customer Service When working with any manufacturer, the process will become easier if they have working customer services that communicate effectively. A great manufacturing company is determined by the quality of customer services they offer. If for instance you have any last minute requests or want to change your order, you need to know that someone will be there to attend to you and support you. This will be more important if you are looking for a long term relationship. For it to be successful custom plastic parts manufacturer there needs to be helpful and pleasant customer service.

Conclusion You must consider these things when you are looking for the right manufacturer. As long as you evaluate their previous work and ensure they can provide you with all your requirements at a reasonable price, you will find a good company to work with.

In 2023, industrial metals experienced a dismal bear market, with a manufacturing recession triggered by high interest rates spreading around the world and major metal prices falling, with the S&P GSCI Industrial Metals Index down 6% for the year. Since 2024, copper prices have begun a wave of spectacular market, and the current LME copper price once rose to $9,800 / ton, hitting a new high since June 2022; The corresponding Shanghai copper once exceeded the 80,000 yuan/ton mark. Many people believe that copper prices are the "current indicator" of economic prosperity, and that copper prices rise and fall in sync with the macro economy, but this year such a positive correlation seems to have broken down. Since 2024, the copper price trend mainly revolves around two points:

1, the expected change of the Fed's interest rate reduction policy and the performance of the European and American economies;

2, this year's copper supply disturbance is very much, domestic and foreign smelting capacity added a lot, which makes the copper mine is very tight. Overall, we believe that the copper price in 2024 is caused by optimistic expectations on the macro policy side and tightening on the supply side, and the continuous rise of copper prices has also made the market start to anticipate the long-term logic of tight supply and demand expectations in 2025-2026 in advance.

First of all, non-ferrous metals in our broad sense are affected by the following factors.

1, Economic growth and non-ferrous metal demand

Macroeconomic growth is an important driving force for the increase in demand for non-ferrous metals. With the continuous growth of the global economy, especially the rapid development of emerging markets, the demand for non-ferrous metals is rising. For example, copper is widely used in power, construction, transportation and other fields, and its demand is closely related to the speed of economic growth. Non-ferrous metals such as aluminum, zinc and nickel also play an important role in their respective application fields, and their demand is also affected by economic growth.

2, Monetary policy and non-ferrous metal prices

Monetary policy is another important factor affecting the price of non-ferrous metals. Loose monetary policy usually leads to increased liquidity, which in turn pushes up asset prices, including non-ferrous metals. Tighter monetary policy, by contrast, will restrain price rises. In addition, monetary policy will indirectly affect the price of non-ferrous metals by affecting the exchange rate. For example, a weaker dollar usually raises the price of non-ferrous metals denominated in dollars.

3, Trade policy and non-ferrous metals market

Trade policy also has an important impact on the non-ferrous metals market. Tariffs, quotas and other trade restrictions will directly affect the import and export of non-ferrous metals, and then affect the market price. In addition, political events such as the trade war will also indirectly affect the price of non-ferrous metals by affecting market expectations.

For copper, as an important industrial metal, its demand is influenced by a number of factors, including global economic growth, technological advances, and the development of specific industries.

1, Copper deep processing

With the improvement of copper purity, copper and copper alloys are made into various copper materials, such as copper pipes, copper rods, copper rods, copper wires, copper foils, etc., which are widely used in traditional civil and industrial uses, as well as high-tech fields, such as electronic information and high-end equipment manufacturing.

2, Terminal consumption field

The end-consumption areas of copper are very wide, including traditional industries such as electronics and electrical, household appliances, construction engineering, transportation, and emerging industries such as electronic information, new energy, and high-end equipment. The development of the global economy and technological progress have promoted the application of copper in new industries, especially the rapid growth of demand in new energy vehicles, renewable energy and other fields.

3, Global economic growth

Global economic growth is one of the key factors driving higher copper demand. Urbanization and industrialization in emerging markets and developing countries have accelerated the demand for copper. Copper's electrical conductivity makes it an indispensable material in electrification projects, including power transmission, electric vehicles and their charging facilities, and a variety of electronics.

4, Green energy and sustainable development

Surging demand for green energy and sustainable development solutions, especially the widespread use of copper in renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, is driving the copper industry. Copper is used to transmit electricity in these systems and is the material of choice for building these energy systems because of its excellent electrical conductivity.

5, Conversion of old and new kinetic energy

The development of new energy fields, such as photovoltaic, wind power, new energy vehicles, etc., has greatly enhanced the demand for copper. These areas are expected to drive global copper demand growth in the medium and long term, with copper demand for photovoltaics, wind power and new energy vehicles expected to grow significantly.

In 2024, the global supply and demand of copper raw materials also maintained a tight state, in the past decade, the world's new copper ore discovery is very few, most of the copper ore has been acquired by the world's major copper mining enterprises. And the environmental, political and timescales of new copper deposits make profitability uncertain. So for the big copper mining companies, when the current copper price is at a high level, the acquisition of high-quality copper can quickly bring profits. Such a business model also leads to a very slow copper production and weak supply in the future 2025-2026. According to statistics, Peru's copper production in 2024 is expected to be 3 million tons (+ 280,000 tons). Chile's copper mine production in 2024 was 5.64 million tonnes, an increase of 5.7% (+ 270,000 tonnes). Copper mine production in the DRC in January 2024 was 230,000 tonnes, up 10.2% (+ 21,000 tonnes) from a year earlier. From January to December 2023, China's copper concentrate production was 1,697 thousand tons, down 13.4% (or 262,000 tons); China's copper concentrate production in January-February 2024 was 260,000 tons, down 8% year-on-year. From January to December 2023, China imported 27,588 thousand physical tons of copper concentrate, an increase of 8.9% (or an increase of 567,000 metal tons). From January to March 2024, China's copper concentrate imports were 6,988 thousand physical tons, an increase of 5%. The supply of copper raw materials will continue to decline in the next few years.

From the perspective of macroeconomic mapping to the market, the global manufacturing PMI returns to the near line of growth and contraction indicating the continuous recovery of the global economy. Especially since the fourth quarter of last year, investors' expectations of a recession in Europe and the United States have slowly turned into expectations of a soft landing. After the first quarter of this year, with the release of economic data in the eurozone, the probability of recession in the eurozone has also fallen sharply, and China has also launched policies to promote economic recovery, including lifting real estate and equipment innovation, after the first quarter of this year. Global investors' expectations for major economies have shifted significantly, further boosting expectations for copper prices. From the demand side, according to statistics, "from January to March 2024, the country's major power generation enterprises completed investment in power projects of 136.5 billion yuan, an increase of 7.7%." From January to March 2024, 76.6 billion yuan was invested in power grid projects, up 14.7% year on year. From January to March 2024, the cumulative installed capacity of wind power was 15.5 million kilowatts, an increase of 5.1 million kilowatts or 49.04%. From January to March 2024, the cumulative installed capacity of photovoltaic was 45.74 million kilowatts, an increase of 12.08 million kilowatts by 35.89%. "Wind power and photovoltaic new installed capacity maintained rapid growth, photovoltaic new installed capacity slowed down significantly, but the overall first quarter grid investment exceeded expectations, which played a supporting role for copper prices." From a global point of view, developed countries are also facing the problem of aging power grids and the need to replace distribution networks. The European Commission plans to invest a total of 584 billion euros in 2020-2030 to modernize the grid infrastructure. The further return of manufacturing in the United States will also drive the construction of power infrastructure, so from the perspective of global demand, at least in recent years, the demand for copper prices is still at a high level, with the global power grid investment up and green energy continues to replace, copper prices are expected to remain at a high level.

1. The price increase is not caused by supply or demand. The market consumption after the Spring Festival is not ideal. Many industries, especially those involving price increases, such as the home appliance industry, are entering the traditional off-season. At this time node, the product adopts the strategy of price increase, and the price increase is larger. Consumers are not easy to accept. And will continue to wait and see for further information on prices.

2. Increased purchasing costs for retailers. The prices of many commodities were very volatile last year. From the source of the supply chain to the distributors, as well as retailers, almost all are minimized inventory. That means no inventory. After the Spring Festival this year, whether it is sold or not, it is necessary to have the inventory of the most basic goods, so that in the case of price increases, it will increase the procurement cost.

The rise in raw materials, as long as it is not caused by the rise in supply and demand, almost most industries will be affected. The most direct impact is on manufacturing. Especially the industrial manufacturing industry involved in this case. But continue to increase the next stage, the entire industrial chain of processing enterprises, will be affected, the final reflection of the retailer level, prices rise, consumers will not immediately accept the price increase. Instead, wait and see. As long as the market does not start, the entire industrial chain will be affected.

The market environment is multi-level and constantly changing, and if enterprises want to remain invincible in the market, they must strive to improve their resilience and anti-risk ability. In order to better cope with the difficulties and challenges brought by the soaring copper price, the following three points need to be done: (1) constantly improve the process and reduce production costs; (2) Develop new markets and tap potential customers; (3) Increase product research and development efforts, with strong technology to drive production, sales and other aspects of the comprehensive upgrade, with hard power to win the market.

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