Masking plug for anodizing
A customer required an aluminum part to be masked on both the inside, and on the very top of the part. Recognizing that this was not well-suited for a tape die cut or a standard off-the-shelf molded part, Viadon designed a custom molded part to improve masking speed, efficiency and masking of the part. The anodizing process required complete masking of the upper third or so of the internal surface, and the very top of the threaded portion of the metal part.
Viadon designed this part with several important components:
- A flat-sided plug wall, but a radiused section on the front part of the plug to ease insertion.
- A hollow section in the plug portion of the molded piece; this reduced friction when inserting the plug, and lowered the cost by using less silicone material.
- A flanged surface at the top to mask the top section of the aluminum part.
- A large handle to make the part easily identifiable, and faster for operators to insert and remove the plug.