VP Finish’s Hardcoat (Type III) Anodizing is an engineering coating that provides vastly improved hardness (typically 60-70 HRc) and wear resistance due to its inherent natural hardness and lubricity (as compared to standard anodizing 48-55 HRc). It is an electrochemical process done at refrigerated temperatures to grow a uniformly hard, thick layer of aluminum oxide (which is equivalent in hardness to sapphire) on aluminum substrates. Our Hardcoat Anodizing can also increase both electrical resistance and thermal insulation of machined aluminum parts.
Hardcoat Anodize
Types
- Standard
- Dyed (Colored)
- Sealed
- Teflon Impregnated
Our standard Hardcoat Anodizing is an unsealed, undyed coating that exhibits outstanding hardness, wear ability, and durability. Our standard Hardcoat Anodizing color is greatly dependent on a variety of factors such as the alloy of the aluminum substrate, thickness of the coating, bath chemistry, and temperature of the process. The darkness of our hardcoat can vary from light to deep (when considering thickness, temperature, alloy and chemistry) and the tone of the hardcoat varies from grey to yellow brown (when the alloy is considered).
NOTE: Different manufacturer’s coatings will provide different natural hardcoat color, and color is no indication of performance. The typical assumption that “the darker the Hardcoat, the harder it is” is completely invalid, color has no correlation to hardness or wear ability. Testing shows that for any given thickness, our medium colored hardcoat greatly exceeds all standard wear resistance standards.
By adding our Teflon Impregnating seal to our Hardcoat Anodizing, superior lubricity is achieved for metal on metal applications.
By adding our Nickel based seal to our standard Hardcoat Anodizing, the ability to resist staining and resist corrosion can be further increased, but these improved characteristics are at the expense of lubricity and wear ability.
In addition to the natural color of our standard Hardcoat Anodizing, our finish can be dyed various basic colors: black, blue, red, gold, grey and green. All of our colored Hardcoat Anodizing is sealed to improve light fastness and color wear ability.
NOTE: Our dyed Hardcoat Anodizing is not a true color as the underlying color of the standard hardcoat is not hidden or covered by the dye color but rather augmented. Colors other than black tend to exhibit variations from standard color charts.
Substrates
The following are just some of the machined part substrates we can successfully deposit Hardcoat Anodizing on:
- Aluminum
- Aluminum Alloys
Grades
- Commercial Grade
- Commercial Grade with Certification (RoHS)
NOTE: Our Hardcoat Anodizing is a Food Grade and RoHS compliant coating.
Specifications
The following are only some of the more commonly requested Hardcoat Anodizing specifications we can certify to:
- Commercial Grade Only
NOTE: This list may not be all-inclusive and all approvals we hold may not be listed. Therefore, if you do not see your required specification or approval, feel free to contact us, as we may still be able to accommodate your needs.