Page 18 - CFCM May-June 2021_Neat

CASF NEWS

CASF NEWS

CASF welcomes you to springtime in Canada!

We have been very busy since our last meeting in this venerable magazine and have welcomed three new members to our growing list
of those who find value in what we offer. We are pleased to introduce Blount Canada in Guelph, MAR-TEC Holdings in Stoney Creek, and
Krew Industrial in Kitchener, all in Ontario.

We know all of our members are looking forward to the upcoming rebranding of CASF in the next several months. Technology
ommittee members, led by Mike Kuntz, have been hard at work in collaboration with Adam Wieckowski, Partner and Creative Director
at VZiON Designs, and the team at RDC, to come up with a modern, vibrant new logo along with a significantly updated website that
promises to be a vast improvement over the one it will replace. More on this in our next column!
We have been in talks with Adam Tobin, Director of Golf at Whistle Bear Golf Club, on the possibility of staging last year’s postponed
tournament on September 21 this year. There are concerns, not the least of which is the potential for another provincial shutdown due
to COVID, but we are being positive and going ahead as if it’s happening. Please contact one of our Golf Committee members to get your
name on the list and watch our website at www.casf.ca for updates. Committee members include me, (Bob Smith), Stewart Tymchuk,
Mike Kuntz, Richard Thibodeau, or any Board member. We all plan to be a part of this special day.
Paola Battiston and Danielle Miousse are also continuing to plan for our online “Introduction to Electroplating” course later in the
year along with a continuation of our outreach program with Canadian universities and colleges. And, of course, we continue to grow
our membership. If you want to stay current with everything “Surface Finishing” in Canada, there’s no better place to be than within our
group. Go to our website to sign up.

Printed Circuit Boards: Printed circuit boards normally have Polishing is used in many applications, including automotive,
copper, tin, or gold electroplating finishes on their surface. If these architectural, process pipework, handrails, and others.
metals are left unprotected, with the exception of gold, they will
oxidize, deteriorate, and lose some conductivity. Surface finishing is Powder Coating: Powder coatings are available in different
required to eliminate or decrease the possibility of the surface chemistries and systems to provide protective and decorative
oxidizing. The surface finish forms a protective interface between finishes for various end uses, especially for metal objects, glass, and
the component and the PCB. The finish has two essential functions: plastics. They work electrostatically so that the microscopic paint
to protect the exposed copper circuitry and to provide a solderable particles are electrically attracted to the surface to be painted. They
surface when assembling (soldering) the components to the printed do not contain solvents, have little impact on the environment –
circuit board. There are several forms of surface finishing that can they emit a negligible amount of volatile organic compounds
be undertaken. These include hot air solder levelling (HASL), (VOCs), produce thicker coatings without risk of sagging or
immersion tin, organic solderability preservatives (OSP), and dripping, and provide excellent paint finishes.
electroless nickel immersion. Powder-coated products are used in many applications, including
All have their advantages and disadvantages. The desired specific architectural, automotive, construction, appliance, and many other
performance properties as well as the cost will drive industrial applications.
that decision.
Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD): Physical vapor
Polishing: Polishing is a finishing process for smoothing a deposition (PVD), sometimes (especially in single-crystal growth
workpiece’s surface using an abrasive. Polishing is normally used to contexts), called physical vapor transport (PVT), describes a variety
improve the appearance of the item or to remove surface contami- of vacuum deposition methods which can be used to produce thin
nants. It can also be used to remove oxidation from the metal films and coatings. PVD is characterized by a process in which the
surface. By creating a smooth surface, the polishing process material goes from a condensed phase to a vapor phase and then
eliminates areas where contaminants can attach themselves to the back to a thin film condensed phase. The most common PVD
metal surface and initiate the corrosion process. processes are sputtering and evaporation where compound

18 CANADIAN FINISHING & COATINGS MANUFACTURING MAY/JUNE 2021