New anodised-look custom paint for metal enclosures

METCASE aluminium electronic enclosures are now offered with an elegant new anodised-style powder coating that supplies a cost-effective alternative to the conventional electrochemical anodised finish.

The smart new custom paint finish provides the enclosure front/rear panels an anodised look at a cost-effective price for low-volume custom orders (where the panels are to be punched and printed to customer specifications, too). For larger volumes, conventional anodising remains the best cost option.

The new powder coating dries in a deep matt finish (<5GU), providing the panels with a luxurious satin feel. It is resistant to chemicals and weathering and has no toxic ingredients.

This thermosetting resin is based on an acrylic/carboxylated polyester copolymer system. It is applied in a thickness of 60-100 microns and cured at 200C for 10 minutes to provide a perfect matt finish.

Before the powder coating is applied, the aluminium has to be pretreated with a chrome-free GSB- or Qualicoat-approved chemical treatment.

The new anodised-look powder coating is the latest paint finish to be added to the company's now 42-strong range of ‘always in stock’ custom colours. It recently added eight new colours: violet blue (RAL 5000), cobalt blue (RAL 5013), pigeon blue (RAL 5014), yellow (Pantone 1235C), medium dark orange (Pantone 159C), salmon orange (Pantone 2027C), teal (Pantone 2238C) and anthracite (Pantone 432C).

Other customisation services the company provides include bespoke sizes, CNC machining, and photo-quality digital printing of legends, logos, and graphics.