Tape Die Cuts for Anodizing
A small job shop that does aluminum CNC milling contacted Viadon to see about a custom die cut "kit" that could mask portions of a part they were making before it went to their anodizer. We worked with this job shop to design some very small, intricate die cut shapes - some as narrow as 0.062" in width. But before they committed the money to buy a tool, the job shop wanted to test the die cuts first.
Our response: "No problem!"
Viadon routinely provides custom die cut tape samples to metal finishers (and even custom aluminum machining job shops!). This allows the customer to test custom parts for fit and performance first.
Check out the die cut shapes and note how small they are compared to the standard-sized paper clip above them.
We showed them how to use a small hobby-type knife blade to peel the parts off the clear liner/backing to minimize finger-oil contamination, then place the tape die cut on to the metal itself. And for successful anodizing masking, the tape must be pushed down hard to let the adhesive flow for full stop-off over the next 24 hours. We made sure they were aware of that important aspect of anodizing masking. Otherwise, the anodizing may "creep" under the edge of the tape, and cause an uneven look to the masked area.
And how did it go with this set of die cuts? - Superbly.