Chemical Film vs. Anodize

It’s been a while since we’ve posted, so we figured we would give you a post relative to what we have seen recently in manufacturing. For some reason, we have been seeing a lot of engineers who are calling out the incorrect finish for their parts, and we want to help set the issue straight! Simply put, chemical film (also known as chromate conversion, yellow iridite, or alodine) and anodize are NOT the same thing. Most people assume that they may have similarities, that they can be used interchangeably, but this is not the case for most instances. So let’s take a close look at what each finish is and when you should use them. But first, I’d like to point out and say that although we are a metal fabricator, we actually have an in-house metal finishing shop as well as a sister metal finishing company, and have knowledge on when and when not to use each of these finishes. Continue reading

Metal Finishing

The metal fabrication industry has become more diverse with more manufacturers taking on more services to increase their capabilities and add more opportunities to their workflow. For instance many years ago, metal fabricators would either only do sheet metal fabrication, only machining, only welding, or only metal finishing. Now that the industry is more competitive, companies are taking on all different capabilities in order to remain competitive in the industry. Vista Industrial Products, Inc. has taken part in this metal fabrication trend. As the company has grown and partnered with multiple companies in different industries, we have diversified our services in order to create a one-top-shop for metal fabrication. As a result, we provide metal fabrication and metal finishing under one roof!

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