Particle board for furniture

Particle board.

Particle is also widely used as material for furniture. Although not as strong as M.D.F,. particle board is considered sufficient to meet the standard quality for the manufacture of panels in the furniture industry for certain products. The panels for many products such as office furniture cabinet, bookcase, shelving, good case, credenza, table or cupboard for children today are lot of made from particle board. A panel made of particle board overlaid by wood veneer, vinyl films, plastic laminated, etc. can be used to make various kinds of furniture with a relatively cheap price and the appearance of no less attractive than wood products .

Particle board is made from wood particles and wood flakes mixed with a resin binder pressed by using a hot press to form a sheet with various size thickness, length and width. The sizes of the board available on the market are usually available in standard sizes such as other panels. Particle board has more uniform in the properties and is not easily cracked or warped with the changing of moisture content as the wood panels. However, particle board is not a homogeneous sheet like M.D.F., he would not be as strong and flexible like the M.D.F .  Particle board can not be cut or carved to form special shapes such as the M.D.F. to make panels with the special shape ends we need a solid wood as the edge banded.
Particle board is an engineered product, therefore its properties depend completely on the materials used and processes undertaken which can be ordered and controlled at the manufacturing process.

There are some properties that need to be known from particle board:.

•  Density.

The density particle board is varying from 28 to 62 lbs per cubic ft. Density of particle board shows the density of wood particles and resin material therein. The higher density particle board then greater strength it will be. A higher density will also increase the ability to produce smoother and tighter end.   

•    Particles geometry.

The size and shape of individual flakes and particles in the particle board and the ratio between the particles with the resin also determine the strength and properties of particle board. The particle shape and the resin content can be controlled to create a given set of physical properties. The size, type and position will also influence the panel surface’s smoothness.

•  Resin used.

There are 2 types of resins that are commonly used for the manufacture of particle board, urea formaldehyde and phenol formaldehyde. Urea formaldehyde is used more for interior products, while the phenol formaldehyde is used for panel that is subjected to extreme heat or humidity changes for exterior application..

•  Moisture content.

A particle board that will be used as a panel must be controlled its moisture content to be in a balance with the moisture content with its overlay layer. A particle board is out of the manufacturer usually has standard moisture content about 7%, unless special ordered. Particle board should be kept in a special storage room that can keep its moisture content remain in a standard condition until it used.
 
The particle board products out from manufacturer, however, must pass a series of tests that guarantee to always meet the quality standards prior to shipping. The properties such as density, modulus of elasticity, modulus of rupture, internal bond, and screw holding and linear expansion are subject to a test and can be seen in the product specifications. It make a particle board has a standard quality that can be immediately known and secured when it purchased and used. This is one of the advantages of particle board than a wooden board which is a natural product that may have varies properties depending on when he lived
Finishing for particle board. 

A particle board is almost never used without an overlaid layer on its top. A particle board can be overlaid by wood veneer to produce an appearance like wood that to replace the wood panels. This panel, of course, requires an appropriate finishing to produce more attractive product. Particle board can also be layered with other overlay material like vinyl film, plastic laminate or decorative paper to create interesting looked product. In this case then a no more finishing is needed. An overlay with decorative model in accordance with the desired appearance is an option which is easier and cheaper. 
 

Modern Particle Board and Dry Process Fiberboard Manufacturing

M.D.F. for Furniture

M.D.F. (medium density fiberboard) is wood product that most used to make panel in the woodworking industry. It is made from wood chips, shavings, sawdust that is cooked in a steam digester. Then, with a high pressure the furnish refiners is entered a two disc machine, passed between them where the wood fibers shear into its spin. The fiber then dried, coated with a resin and was flowed to form a thick sheet of mat. Sheets are then pressed with high pressure and high temperature makes the resin dry and cured. The dry mats are then cooled to form a flat as a board with the length and thickness that can be set according to the need.
The M.D.F. are much used as panels for furniture industry to replace the solid wood panel. The wide and long panels such as top panel, top table, side panels, or a board majority has been made of M.D.F. The veneer technology has been widely used to replace the solid wood for paneling. The major indoor furniture products are made of veneer for the panels and big surfaces and less uses of solid wood components. The solid wood is used mostly to form the  small parts such as legs, or framework, where the veneer cannot be used.  Most of the veneers are attached on a M.D.F, making it becomes increasingly more important in the furniture industry.

The M.D.F. is available in various sizes of thickness, length and width. According with the commercial board standard the thickness of M.D.F. is usually available in sizes ranging from ¾ in up to 4 in, with a width of 4 ft and 24 ft long. Other sizes of thickness and length can actually be made but of course must be special ordered.

In the woodworking industry, the M.D F. also can be cut and laminated to make the desired shapes. For the purposes of industrial woodworking the M.D.F. with density about 44-45 lbs is mostly used, although the lower and higher density can also be produced. The resin used to coat the surface of M.D.F. is usually urea formaldehyde that will emit formaldehyde gas.  According with environmental issues, the M.D.F. is also available in different quality levels depending on the emissions of its formaldehyde gas. The highest grade is the grade of the most environmentally friendly with less formaldehyde emissions, while the lowest grade is the most unfriendly environment with the more formaldehyde gas emissions.
It all proof M.D.F. a material that is very important today, the use of M.D.F. already widespread in the woodworking industry replacing wooden boards. Compared with the wood boards the sheet of M.D.F. has several advantages that make it preferable in the woodworking industries. M.D.F. is a homogeneous sheet with a flat and smooth surface. The waving or uneven surfaces, due to the non-uniform contraction of the wood and the problem caused by the wood grain and pores will not be found on M.D.F. Therefore, the M.D.F is easier uses to produce a level surface. M.D.F. is also relatively easy to be cut in a desired shape; a board with certain profiles can be made easily with M.D.F.as the solid wood. It also can be overlaid with wood veneer, vinyl films, and decorative plastic or special paper to produce the panel in accordance with needs.

Finishing for M.D.F.

The M.D.F. with wood veneer can be treated like a solid wood during the process of finishing. The properties of the attached veneer; the veneer wood color, pores, grain, fibers and texture are the properties need to be considered when selecting an appropriate finishing.
M.D..F is also often finished without a layer of veneer. M.D.F. has a smooth flat surface and can provide some advantages in the finishing process but of course could not replace the wood appearances as veneer or solid wood. It doesn’t have has particularly a wood grain and pores and sometimes has vary base color make the solid color is the only option for him. A flat and clean solid colors or solid colors with various finishing effects model can be applied on the MD F. The flat surface without any pores or grains make it can produce a flat surface finish without the need filler like in the wood or wood veneer. The good resin layer on the surface will be able to produce a smooth surface make an application of base coat on the surface can make the flat surface faster. But sometimes a layer of resin on the surface of M.D.F. is also not too good so the surface will absorb relatively lot of finishing materials. For finishing with the NC, a M.D.F surface can consumed lot of clear coating. A layer of catalyzed coating materials such as PU or Acid Curing should be used as the first layer to produce a flat and smooth surface more quickly.
Whereas an open surface of the M.D.F. as the end cut will absorb much more finishing material since it has a very high absorption. It also has lot of fiber that will make rough surface. The open M.D. F. will need lot more clear coating material to make an even and smooth surface. Some manufacturers of finishing material have even created a special material with a very high solid material that is designed to cover the surface of this end cut M.D.F.

Plywood for furniture

Plywood is thin sheets of wood veneers that are laminated together to make a thick wood panel. The plywood is than used to make panel in the woodworking industry. Plywood can be manufactured in various thicknesses with the variation on the number and thickness of the layer is used, the standard size is 1/8 in. to 1/4 in. with the 4 ft wide and 8 ft long. The outer sheet of plywood is usually made from veneers with better quality. There are two outer of the plywood the front and the back. The front is also called the plywood face can be layered with the best veneer, while the back can use the same veneer but with lower quality. The quality of the face sheet and back of plywood are described at the specifications of this plywood as the quality of the plywood.  For example an A grade teak plywood both side means that the plywood use teak veneer with A grade quality at the face and back.  
Rear sheets of plywood veneer can be made from the same or different depending on the quality wise. Although the back of the plywood can be made with a veneer with different types but the veneer the back must be carefully selected. The back veneer should in balance with the veneer at the front to prevent the bowing caused by the differences of the wood movement due to the changes of the temperature and air humidity. The back veneer must use materials that are relatively balanced with the front in terms of movement resulted by the changes in heat and water absorption. 

A thin layer of wood (veneer) is obtained from a log which slashed with variety way of slicing or peeling by rotating it against knife. The wood slicing is slow, expensive but gives highly figured grain pattern and matched for furniture and cabinets and specialty panels. The rotary slicing is the less expensive; the all grade panel plywood mostly are use the rotary cut veneer. To see more about the veneer slicing, you can view our previous article: wood veneer for furniture.
Veneer sheets from the log slicing then are cut to fit the width of the desired size and separated according with the quality. Sap wood parts are separated by heartwood and are collected in accordance with the grade. Then the veneer is taken to the kiln dry or even where it is dried. Out of the drier the veneer usually has moisture content ranging between 5%-7%. The dry veneer is then graded and stored to be used and be jointed in plywood manufacturer.
At this time the plywood is also used to call the construction panel that uses sheet of wood (veneer) at the front and the back with a core in the middle. A particle board, hardboard, M.D.F. or laminated wood that is overlaid with wood veneer at the outside layer sometimes is also  called as plywood. The veneer sheets that are going to be used as the face can be prearrange to make some special pattern. The wood veneer pieces are cut and then be jointed to form the desired patterns using tape or glue edge. After the veneer spliced and attached in accordance with the desired pattern, then a glue need to be evenly coated on its surface. While a sheet core to make the panel is also need to be prepared with the same glue coated. Veneer sheet is then attached to the panel and pressed until the glue dry to produce a panel with a wood veneer on its surface. The pressure used usually ranges between 150 -300 psi. The hot metal plat can be  heated to heat the glue at the time of pressing. This method is known as a hot press which can make the gluing process can be done very quickly. With the 250 F temperature and special glue the drying process can take time about 2-5 minutes.  

 plywood

The advantages of plywood
 

Plywood change the timber that has varies properties becomes more uniform, strong and versatile. Wood has a higher strength along the direction of grain compared with the across the grain direction, a laminated veneer with the opposite direction will produce a stronger panel. Cross lamination play in the plywood panel will reduce the risk of splitting and puncture to produce panel with more rigid and impact resistant. Plywood can produce panels with the strength more than 2 times of a solid wood panels from the same log with the same thickness. Wood dimensional changes resulting from changes of the wood moisture content with radial direction (across the grain) can be much larger than the tangential direction (along grain). A cross laminated plywood can neutralize this problem to produce a panel that is more flat and stable. 
As intermediate products, plywood wood has an advantage because having the wood looked. The panels of MDF, particle board or barecore may need a wood veneer at the face to produce the wood looked. But the plywood is already has the wood veneer at its surfaces. The quality of the wood veneer is already specified at the specification. It can be cut and shaped to make the woodworking product and be finished as the wood panel.

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Metal for furniture (aluminum)

 Aluminum round table

Aluminum for furniture.

Aluminum metal that is much used to make various goods to the human needs. We can easily find many aluminum products in our houses such as: pans, pots, stove, and even door and fences. The uses of aluminum for furniture are also commonly found along with the development of models and design of the furniture. Compared with other metals, aluminum has several advantages such as: light, easily formed and relatively more resistant to the corrosion and chemicals. Aluminum is also relatively inexpensive and can easily be obtained since it widely available in everywhere. Compared with galvanized iron, aluminum is more resistant to corrosion and chemicals, but it has less resistant to the alkali and salt water.  Aluminum is soft and less strong compared with iron.

In furniture manufacturer, aluminum is widely used together with other materials such as wood or rattan or even veneer. Aluminum combination with wood or rattan is often found in big furniture product. Aluminum combined with teak wood  to make chair or bench is quite popular in the garden furniture. Meanwhile the aluminum full products are more available for small things such as handicrafts or home accent. When the first time aluminum used for furniture, the furniture made from aluminum mostly a product with a minimalist style with simple and model and form. But now there are also many product with ornamental shape can be made with aluminum can be found in the market. With the development of the production technique many model and shape furniture products can be made.

Finishing for aluminum.

Like other metals, aluminum also requires a good pretreatment before it can be finished with a good result. The chemically and mechanical pretreatment is needed in aluminum manufacturer. In a big aluminum manufacturer, a pretreatment and finishing usually is done in a continuous process in a processing line to produce product in large amount continuously. The chromate conversion coating solution is usually used for aluminum.

The diagram of aluminum chromate conversion coating

Products made of aluminum actually can be used without a finishing. This material is relatively resistant to rust because it is more durable than iron to be left without finishing in its surface.  Aluminum products also can be made in the texture form to make more interesting  in appearance. The finishing on aluminum is done to create a more durable product and also to make more nice and interesting product. The proper finishing can cover and hide the aluminum looked that is considered as a cheap material.

Aluminum can be finished with a wide range of colors and appearance according with the design of the product. The finishing process for aluminum is very similar with the other metals products. The aluminum products can be finished with automated finishing equipment such as powder coating or electroplating to produce solid finish in many colors. This finish process will create a thin layer of finishing which is very strong, durable and very efficient for mass production. Meanwhile for indoor products, aluminum can also be finished to get more decorative appearance. The finishing with special finishing techniques of stain and glaze application can produce a variety of finishing effects to make nice and interesting products. A prime coat is need to the first layer on the aluminum surface, then the base coot and glaze can be applied on to form the desired color and effect.
Aluminum is also possible to be textured in many sizes and models. The texture on aluminum is the other variation to  the product looked interesting. The texture can also combined with a stain and glaze application to make antique looked. 

 



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The electrostatic spraying equipment

 Disc electrostatic spraying equipment

How to use the electrostatic spray gun.

Electrostatic spraying equipment is a development of the conventional spraying equipment that is still considered as very useful tool for application of finishing materials. With proper uses it can give the best results in the finishing material application. The atomization is as the spray gun, but with higher efficiency (up to 60%). The electrostatic spray gun is equipment that is expected to improve the problem efficiency of transfer material in the conventional spray gun. The principle of this spray gun is to give an electric charge on the finishing materials and grounded the sprayed object so when there an attraction force between the work piece and the finishing material. When it works the finishing material will be attracted to attach to and wraps the object's surface. Thus, the finishing material wasted will be much reduced. This tool will provide maximum benefits for the spraying process to the objects that have small size when the uses of conventional spray gun will spread a lot of finishing materials into the air. The cabinets or tables which have large surface are not proper product for this equipment since it won’t give significant benefit. For the large surfaces products, the material efficiency can be optimized with right spraying technique. The H.V.L.P. and airless spray gun or even air spray gun with right technique is able to do the spray application with high efficiency.

Electrostatic spray gun is relatively complicated and quite difficult in its application. The Farady force which causes the attraction between electrically charged objects is not working well for wooden objects, since wood is not a good electrically conductive. In practice the effect of the Farady force will be reduce when the objects is already coated with some finishing layer. The attraction force of the work piece objects and the finishing material will further weaken to the second or third clear coat application.

The electrostatic spraying equipment is mostly be used for application the quite thick material such as clear coating, base coat, primer or enamel coating. This equipment is not effective for the application of glaze or stain. Stain which is relatively thin material and requires flexibility in its application is more suitable applied with conventional spray gun. Meanwhile the glaze application can be applied by spray without "too perfect" coating such as clear coating applications. The glaze application always need brushing and wiping process.
The types and brands of the electrostatic spray gun that are available now could confusing since they may have different specifications and need different way to use. When we use the electrostatic equipment then the specification of the equipment must be read carefully to obtain the optimal results. The electrical resistance of the finishing materials is an important specification that needs to be known. A coating material must have a high electrical resistance so that when it is electrically charged he could produce an enough electric force for the Farady effect. The electrical resistance of the finishing material should follow the specifications required by the electrostatic equipment so it can work optimally. An additive usually added to the coating or paint material to adjust its electrical resistance. The tool used to measure the electrical resistance is called ohmmeter.


Here are some tips in the uses of electrostatic spraying equipment. 

• Read and follow the manual guide and specification of the equipment.

Find the specification of material which is work with the equipment, especially the electrical resistance and the viscosity. The viscosity and the electrical resistance of the material should be adjusted according the specification of the equipment. Also find the air pressure and the electrically charge that is needed by the equipment, how to install and how to grounding it.   

• The uses of the electrostatic equipment should be done carefully.

The electrostatic equipment uses the electric power which is quite risky in the finishing room. A mistake can lead to the emergence of an electrical spark which could cause a fire.  Since that the electrostatic spray gun tools must be care and uses carefully. The instruction of how to use it, cleaning and maintenance should be followed.
This equipment is also considered as expensive equipment. Therefore a proper maintenance and caring should be done to prevent the big damage and problem with the equipment. The deep discussion with the supplier is highly recommended to understand how to take care the equipment properly. 

 
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The maintenance of finishing equipment

The cleaning of spray gun

Maintenance of spray equipment.
 

Maintenance to the equipments is a very important to keep them always perform well in the production. The good condition equipment is needed to ensure the equipment always work well to support the production process. The proper maintenance also will save more money since it prevent big damage to the equipment. Failure to the maintenance will result in huge losses because of the big damage to the equipment and even greater if we calculate the production process is hampered caused by imperfect equipment. Like other equipment, the spraying equipment  also need a good maintenance to keep it in good condition and ready to use any time we need. The maintenance to the spraying equipment is need to be carefully done since they are a small and precise device. Improper handling and carrying could damage the equipment and make they cannot be used anymore.

Spraying equipment such as: spray gun in any types, pressure tank, pump, agitator and other equipment in the finishing process need to be cleaned every time after it have been used. For the finishing materials that is dry from its thinner evaporation  (without any chemical reaction), the cleaning still can be done when the finishing material is already dry. The material that is dry without any reaction such varnish, shellac, nitrocellulose will resolve quite easy by its thinner. But for the thermosetting material such as: water based, PU, acid curing, precatalyed, or other materials that dry by reaction, the cleaning must be done when the finishing material is still wet. Since when the materials is dry, it could not be resolved with the thinner anymore and causes clogging to the equipment. The dry paint in the equipment such spray gun, hose, pump is very difficult to be cleaned off. Some time it means that the equipment can not be cleaned and unusable anymore.

The cleaning of spray equipment should be done as follow: 

1. The cup gun is easily cleaned by removing the finishing material and replace with thinner then spray the thinner until the spray gun and cup are clean. The cup could be uninstalled and cleaned with a brush or rag and soak in the thinner. The spray gun cap is also could be easy took off and cleaned with brush and blown by compress air. The whole spray gun parts also can be disassembled to be cleaned its every parts if necessary but it must be done carefully. Avoid too many disassembling the spray gun since it risk to more rapid deterioration.  
2. If there are any clogs in the hole of air cap or nozzle, a non metal needle such as tooth pick can be used to open the hole. Don’t use the metal stick to stab and open the clogging hole since it could spoil the hole and make the device is not precise anymore. 
3. Never immerse the spray gun in a thinner for a long time. Some spray gun parts are made of rubber that will be dissolved and damaged when exposed to a thinner in a long time.
4. The pump equipment is easy be cleaned by remove the take out hose from the finishing material and immersed in the paint thinner and flowing the thinner until it clean and replace the paint material in the pump circulation. While the spray gun  can be clean off like what we can do for the cup gun.

Here are the tips to do the maintenance to the spraying equipments

• Always do the cleaning of the spraying equipments after it used, not when you want to use.

Usually when we finish a daily work, it is already dark and we already tired so it easy for us to leave the equipment until the next day. But however the cleaning is much more effective and easier be done when the material finishing is still wet. The cleaning when the finishing material is already dry is more difficult and high risk to get failure.  So always spare time to clean the equipment every time we do finishing job.

•  Do periodically check for the big equipment such as pump, pressure tank, and agitator.

For the big devices which is quite expensive, a routine check should be done to prevent the bigger damages. If we find that the equipment is not work properly, it need should to be fixed, the parts already damaged it should be replaced immediately to prevent the bigger problem. 

•   Discuss with the equipment supplier to do the maintenance.

A big devices and complex equipment such as pump may need special treatment in the maintenance.  Discussing and consultation with the equipment supplier is the best way to find the proper way to do the maintenance. Read and view he guide that is written in the manual book to find the proper way to caring the equipment.  At the time we decide to buy equipment always ask to the technical support and back up service if possible. 

Mountain 6112 12 Piece Master Spray Gun Cleaning Kit

Furniture finishing e-book

Free finishing e-book

Dear all.

We really thanks for You who already visit and give supports to our web-blog. Your supports encourage us to keep writing, sharing and posting in this blog.

As our big thank and appreciation to You, we want to share our free furniture finishing e-book titled:  A Basic guide for furniture finishing.

This e-book contains the basic knowledge, information and explanations about the furniture finishing and all its aspects that are necessary to be known in understanding the process to  finish the furniture.

The contents of the book are:

 

1. Preliminary

What is furniture finishing?

Why we need to finish the furniture?

The aspects that need to be considered when we do the furniture finishing job.

2. The finishing materials

The finishing material according its function such as: clear coating, stain, glaze, filler, putty, etc.

The types of finishing materials that are mostly used in furniture finishing, the characters, advantages and disadvantages of each.

3. The finishing equipment

The equipments for apply material in the furniture finishing, such as: spray gun in may types, how to use the spray gun, the characters of each equipment. The advantages and disadvantages of each types of spray gun and how to use them properly.
 

4. The finishing room and its facilities.

The room and facilities that is needed to do the finishing job.  How is the finishing room should be,  the compressor, spray booth, piping  and the facilities that are needed to do the finishing process.

5. The finishing process.

The simple guide to choose the right  system to do the finishing proses. The step panel, the finishing material finishing selection, the finishing process and  the consideration aspects when we do finishing process.

We hope this e-book will give help for everybody to understand and simplify the furniture finishing. For the newbie the information in there will help to understand the furniture finishing, while for the expert, this book can be used as an addition information and enlarging knowledge about furniture finishing. 

This e-book is available in 2 languages; the English version and the Indonesian version that booth can be downloaded freely. You can choose either one according to your language.

If You want to get this e-book,  just go ahead to click this link:

•  Basic guide for furniture finishing, the English version

•  Dasar-dasar finishing mebel, the Indonesian version 

If You have problem about download the book, you can try by visiting this link : wisno e-book

Thanks

wisno

Fire in a spray booth.

The maintenance of the spray booth is absolutely something that must be done. Care and cleaning spray booth may have become a routine activity in a furniture finishing company, but it always must be done carefully. In a spray booth there is lot of dust and dirt from finishing material that is very inflammable. A mistake and careless action could generate to a big danger situation. Here is a story about the fire in the spray booth when it was cleaned.
 

There was a furniture factory in Semarang, he was quite big and good shape company. He usually shipped about 25 containers furniture products every month to many countries. The plant was pretty neat and well organized. Production room was always maintained to be clean and tidy. Two times everyday the floor was swept and cleaned. The machines were well arranged  and organized, every process in his production could be viewed clearly. The products were flowing from the beginning process to the end with a good continuous process.This plant also had a good system to prevent the emergency situation. Fire extinguishers were placed in strategic places which easily accessible with a flashy sign. He also formed a team of firefighters to cope the fire danger. The alertness exercise was carried out every month for all employees and rescue team to cope the emergencies situation.
Maintenance to the tools and equipments was also conducted regularly, including maintenance to the spray booth. Since the plant used dry booth the cleaning of the spray booth always was being done together with the filter replacement. The filter replacement in the sealer, top coat and the stain booth was done every week, while the filter in the glaze spray booth was replaced two times a week.
One day when the finishing peoples were cleaning the top coat spray booth, an incident was happened. When the finishing peoples removed the filter from its wall, accidentally it was fallen to the floor. The iron mesh that was used to attach the filter hit the dusty floor. The impact of the iron with the coat dust in the floor suddenly caused a sparked that resulted fires in that place.
Fortunately, the plant had a good alert system. The alert exercises they did regularly prevented the peoples there from panic so that they could handle this danger situation properly. The fire fighter started to took the fire extinguisher to stopped the fire, while the other employee were go out to for evacuation. The firefighting could quickly reacted properly to stop the fire that arisen so the bigger danger can be avoided.

From this story I want to remind to you all who work in a finishing room that the carefulness is always required when doing activities in the finishing room. Carelessness and a small mistake could be lead to big danger situation. Objects that fall is just a small mistake, but if it happened in a place where a lot of coat dust, it can cause big danger.
This story is also an example that the vigilance and adequate safety equipment is very importance in a finishing room. Provision of firefighting and safety equipments may seem like a waste, but it will be very useful in the emergency situation and can prevent a much bigger losses.
Similarly, the exercise alertness is also very important. Without proper action the equipments are nothing. The proper action to the emergency situation only can be obtained with enough exercised to every peoples in the factory.  A proper exercise  make the peoples in there can react in proper way to face the danger situation.

  

First Alert FE3A40GR Heavy Duty Plus Fire Extinguisher Red

The maintenance of the spray booth.

cleaning the spray booth

To keep them always to be in good condition, the spray both also require a proper maintenance. A spray booth that has been used for certain time will become dirty and need cleaning. The air filter at the dry booth will be dirty and clogged with particles from dust spray. The clogged filter will reduce the suction power of the spray booth. While in the wet spray booth the dirt and dust spray will be gathered in a pool of water.  After a certain time the water becomes dirty and filled with slurry of finishing materials. The water is easily replaced by flow it out and replace with fresh water. The slurry in the pond and the wall of spray booth need to be removed and cleaned since it will reduce the performance of the spray booth.
The maintenance of spray booth should be scheduled periodically to ensure that the spray booth is always in good condition when it is used. How often a spray booth needs to be cleaned depends on the volume of work and type of finishing material applied in the spray booth.
A spray booth that used for spraying stain usually requires relatively more rare cleaning because the stain particles are relatively small and less compared with the sealer, top coat or glaze. The spray booth for spraying glaze is the fastest dirty and clogged so it needs most often cleaning. Glaze particles are relatively big and more volume make the filter is clogged or pond water becomes dirty quicker. Glaze is also a highly flammable material, so the maintenance in this booth is very important.

Maintenance to the dry spray booth.

This dry spray booth requires replacement of filters more often compared with the wet spray booth. Air filters used should be replaced once he had clogged and filled with finishing material dust. The floor in front of the spray booth will also collected a lot of dust of finishing material that fallen during the spraying process. The dust should be cleaned every day because they could contaminate the room air and make dirt to the coating. The finishing layer can become rough and dirty when dust stuck to the wet coat surface. The finishing dust is highly flammable material, cleaning to the floor is also need to be done to reduce the risk of fire hazard. Sweeping and vacuumed the floor need to be done every day to keep the finishing room clean.

The filter replacement filters may not need to be done everyday but it should be scheduled and done with discipline. The checking to the blower fan should be done in the time when the filter is replaced. Blower fan that has been filled by the finishing material dust can be easily cleaned by blowing with an air gun. When the fan is clean then it can be easily checked and viewed. If there is any problem then the repairing action should immediately be done to prevent the risks to greater danger.
Wall on the spray booth also need to be cleaned. Dirty walls will make the spraying room getting dark and make difficulties in viewing the finishing result.

Maintenance for wet spray booth.

The wet spray booth is using water to filter the dust spray; the dust in this booth is relatively less. Most of the finishing dust is caught by the water and collected on the bottom of the water pond to form slurry. When the pool already much filled with slurry then he needs to be cleaned. The slurry finishing material will also will be attached to the waterfall wall. The thick slurry will reduce the performance of the spray booth since it interfere the waterfall. At this time the spray booth needs to be cleaned, the mud of material in the pond need to be carried out and the spray booth walls need to be brushed and cleaned.
As well as dry spray booth, checking to the blower fan should also be done at the time of the spray booth cleaning. Blower fan need to be checked and investigated,  if there is anything wrong it should be fixed right away.

The things that must be considered in the maintenance of spray booth:

• The maintenance of the spray booth must be done periodically.

Maintenance of equipment is going to reduce the time for production. The production must be stopped for the maintenance activity. But it will save lot of money compare with the risk caused with the damaged equipment. Spray booth is big equipment; the repair for this equipment will spent big money. The lost calculation will bigger when we consider the loosing production time when the spray booth is not work.  

• Keep the spray booth clean.

The wall in the spray booth is very easy to become dirty by the finishing materials. The dirty wall will make the room is dark, sometime the finishing material attached in the lamp and block its light. Clean the wall with a knife of brush from the finishing material attached on. While the lamp can be wiped with dampened cloth with thinner.

•  Do the cleaning spray booth carefully.

Spray this booth is located in the finishing room where lot finishing materials is placed. The dust and even the slurry in the spray booth is inflammable material. A little mistake or carelessness could create big trouble by ignited a big fire in the finishing room. 

 

Finishing line in the furniture manufacturer

Pallet conveyor

Finishing line.

Big furniture factories need to perform its finishing work on the goods in large quantities with the same result for every product he make. In this finishing industry, a good system should be made to control the finishing work. For a finishing job in small amounts we still can relay the finishing results for the operator skill, since the job may be able to be done by the some operators. But for big volume job, when hundred or even thousand operator do job we need to create a system that can control the work in every process to get the consistent result. A good finishing system must be made to be used as a standard by the operators in doing his job.
In this condition, a step panel is very important tool for controlling the finishing work. Each step of the process in the finishing work must always be viewed and compared with the step in the standard in the panel to ensure the uniform and color and appearance is obtained. To help the system then a finishing process should be done in a series that allows the finishing process runs continuously from beginning to the end. Each step of the process of finishing is done in its stage respectively, while the goods are flowed from the beginning of the process until the end of the process to follow every step that must be lived. By this way the control for the process can easily done, since in the same area there are placed the same goods with the same process. To control the process so in every stage is put a standard of product that needs to be followed. 

The finishing line is the way for the furniture product to do its process.  In the finishing line is placed the facilities and equipment to do the finishing process. Spray booths, ovens, spraying equipments, finishing materials, sanding machines, brushes and other tools are placed in every stages according with the process that has to do. The operators stay in each stage to do the finishing process while the finishing line operates.

Finishing line was created with the main objective to assist the finishing can be done and controlled easily. A finishing room with the trolley to put the products and some spray booths is simple finishing line that can make the finishing process run continuously. A modern finishing line for finishing on with very large quantity products is made using transportation that run automatically. The products are entranced in the entry to follow a series of finishing processes and come out at the exit after completely finished.

Manually conveyor finishing line.

It is a finishing line where the products movement from one stage to the next stage is done manually. The products are placed on trolleys or racks to pass through every stage where the goods will go through step by step hail finishing. The uses of trolley or chart the transportation is easier done. To do the process for big items such as cabinets, table or cupboards then a roller conveyor can be used. While for small item with lot of amount the racks is better choice.
The manual finishing line is more simple and flexible. Changes and modifications can be done easily to adapt to the condition and product if necessary. But a better control is needed to ensure that each of the finishing process is done and meet the standards. This equipment is also rather difficult to control the production time since the product running is still done manually. 

Automated conveyor line.

This tool is the development from the manual finishing line, the transportation of products is run automatically. Furniture products placed on the trains that will run automatically to bring these products to move from one stage to the next stage with a certain speed.  The distance between every stages are set ad calculated based on the required processing time.

There are a variety of conveyors that can be made in accordance with needs. There are various transportation tools that can be used in accordance with type and size of items being worked. For big products such as: cabinets or table, the continuous pallets good choice, while for small goods a hanging conveyor is more suitable.
The consideration in the designed of the finishing line.
Finishing line is one of facility that will greatly assist the process of finishing if it can be used optimally. But a finishing line is also need a facility that must be met in order to work. Spray booth, spray equipment, and operators should be sufficiently available in each stage so the finishing line can be run. Since that when we decided to build finishing line then a consideration should be done to get optimal results. Here are the things that must be considered when designing the finishing line.

•  The process of finishing.

A line of finishing made and determined by the finishing process will be done. The length of the line, the number of stages, the distance between the stage and the facilities provided including spray booths, spraying equipments, the ovens and all equipment are placed in accordance with the finishing process will be taken. If there any changes in the finishing system that change the processing time and facilities needed could make the finishing line to be incompatible with process and can no longer be used optimally. So when we design a finishing line, every possibility in the future should be considered.

• Shapes, models and sizes of the goods.

The transportation tool prepared for the finishing line is designed based on the type and size of items to be placed thereon.  A pallet with big size is more suitable for big item, while hanging conveyor is more suitable for small items, if the production line is to make special products, a special pallet may need to be used. The transportation tool should be designed to be able to load the products in the production.

• Volume of job.

Finishing line is more optimal to do large volume job, with more uniform system. But automatic finishing line needs electricity as its power generate. It also needs a complete facility and peoples to run well. So it always needs enough feed to work optimally. For small volume job or production with a lot variation more flexible finishing line should be select to accommodate the production line. 

Powder coating for furniture.

Powder coating



Powder coating is a modern finishing material that is popular and much used at this time. The powder coating can layer metal surface a very high efficiency. Its application can provide a very thin layer but very strong coating. However the paint application requires a special machine that is quite expensive. A high-temperature oven, electrostatic spray equipment and fluidized equipment are needed to apply the powder coating material. The paint also can only be used to coat goods made of metal. The use of electrostatic spray equipment is more efficient for the metal. With the recycling process, the powder coating has very high efficiency material application.
A coating in the powder form is put into a hopper for fluidized and poured into a spray gun or other spray equipment. In the spray gun, the material is electrically charged and then sprayed into the work pieces that need to be coated. While the work pieces are connected to the ground and then the electrostatic power will attract the finishing material to attach to and cover the entire surface of the work pieces. The powder that is not attached to the work piece can be collected again to be reused. It means almost there no waste material is produced. After the work pieces have been coated with the paints they are brought into an oven to be heated. In this oven the layer of powder paint is heated, melted to coat the surface beneath and forming a thin, smooth and uniform layer of coating. The temperature in the oven is very high about 160C - 200 C. For enamel paints the temperature is even higher up to 700 C
Powder coating has a very high material efficiency transfer and very strong coating layer. The paint material used is a kind of baking paint that must be heated to get dry and cured, but soon it dry it would stick to the surface and coat the surface with a very strong bonding. Powder coating is very effective to coat a metal material when the electrostatic force can work maximally to make a high efficiency of material usage.

 
Powder coating for furniture.
 
Now there are many furniture industries that use powder coating to coat their furniture products. Powder coating is widely used in metal furniture industry. The furniture made from metal with simple models are very suitable with the powder coating system. Furniture made of metal that has been cleaned and treated well is then sent directly to the booth for powder coating application. The paint application is mostly done when the furniture is still in the parts instead or big complete furniture products.

There are several types of powder coating such as: enamels powder, polyurethane, polyester, epoxy and epoxy polyester. Each type of powder has each advantages and disadvantages, while the most widely powder coating used for furniture is the polyester type. This material can produce a thin layer of finish, strong and quite stable against chalking that could also be used for outdoor.
Powder coating is much use on metal furniture that requires strong film layers with simple models. Goods such as: deposit box, refrigerator, or cabinets, and even tables or chairs from the metal are be able to be finished using powder coating. Powder coating is also suitable to be used for outdoor furniture. The metals parts in combination with wood, rattan or other natural product in the outdoor furniture such as; legs, frames, or other accent can be coated with powder coating.
This powder coating although can produce a very strong film and protection but the resulting color and appearance is very limited. This material can not produce a finish with special effects such a finish with a stain and glaze application in a lacquer finish. The resulting appearance is the solid color in many colors. There are many colors is available but of course the color choice is rather limited. The automotive coating which are also used for the metal for outdoor furniture has a lot more color  variation and choice. The powder coating is more used to the products that require the higher protection instead of the beauty appearance. To generate furniture with more beautiful appearance some finisher are doing the finishing process on the powder coating layer. The finishing process with stain and glaze with many effects can be applied to produce more attractive and nice finishing looked.
 

The metal for furniture

Iron combined with teak wood on a chair

Iron for furniture.

Iron is a metal which is widely used as raw material for furniture. There many furniture are made from iron, although the use of iron or other metals as furniture raw materials is still not as popular as wood or wood products. The price is relatively expensive and it heavy mass make not many people use metal for furniture. Metal as furniture raw material needs a different treatment with wood or natural products. The advantages of metal is relatively stable and easily to be formed. The iron is also a materials obtained from mining, the uses of this material is not considered as the potential to destroy the forests, such as the uses of wood.
The uses of iron for the manufacture of furniture more done in combination with other materials such as glass, wood, veneer, or other natural product. Although iron is currently available in various shapes and sizes and can be formed in accordance with the needs, but of course it very difficult to create a width and long surface such as top panels or side panels. For the big surface such as top panel or side panel, the wood or glass are normally used. A table with iron ornament base and a glass or wood panel on top would be an interesting table. The iron can also be used as a small ornament for eye catching on a furniture product making the furniture has more attractive appearance. Iron also lot of uses to make furniture with simple model with a nice and clean finish in contemporary models. 

The finishing for iron furniture.  

An exposed iron will immediately react with water and oxygen in the air to form rust, therefore it always need a finishing layer thereon. Finishing in the iron surfaces  instead of top protect and prevent the occurrence of corrosion, is also expected to make the decorative value to the products. Before do the finishing process, a metal surface needs to be treated to clean the surface from the dirt and impurities that will interfere the adhesion and the quality of the finishing layer thereon. The pretreatment is very important since the dirt and impurities on the surface will result in the blistering in the finishing layer and destroy the finishing layer thereon. After that the rust that arisen will soon spread and damage the whole finish..
There are two kinds of ways to do the clean the iron surface: chemically and mechanically pretreatment. The mechanical pretreatment are brushing, buffing, scrubbing, sanding and sandblasting. Mechanical treatments tend to require much time, energy and sometimes lead to uneven and rough surfaces. For big volume job the chemical pretreatment is more effective and widely used. On big volume manufacturer production, a pretreatment line is used  for the chemical treatment. The iron product are dipped and or sprayed and rinsed with some chemical solution to dissolve the dirt and impurities. There are several stages that must be passed by this iron until the surface is clean and ready for the finishing. A metal surface that is already clean should be immediately coated with a layer of the finishing in order block from the outside air. A layer of primer coating to protect the clean metal surfaces is usually needed before it is brought to the finishing process to get the desired final color and appearance finish.
There are many model and finishing looked can be selected according to the type and model of furniture. Finishing with an attractive decorative appearance can be produced using the lacquer finish system. An attractive appearance of furniture product can be produced with the stain and glaze application on an iron furniture. This finishing process on the iron is like finishing for the solid color in which the results and performance is largely determined by the application of the stain and glaze. Some special effect such as crackle finish or texture finish are mostly used for the iron. Finishing with a lacquer finish will be able to produce an attractive appearance and finishing are mostly used to the indoor furniture.
For outdoor furniture, we need a stronger finishing layer to withstand the outside weather. Outdoor polyurethane or other outdoor finishing materials such as the paint for car refinishes are more appropriate. Finishing with powder coating or electroplating with the right materials will also produce a stronger finish layer with more efficient process, faster and cheaper. But of course the color and appearance generated is more limited. This finish will only produced solid colors without any special effects such as the lacquer finish.

 Teen Trends Primary 4-Drawer Dresser