Paint & Surface Preparation

Apex Machine Group provides top-quality abrasive grinding, brush sanding machines, and supplies for processing a wide range of metal, wood, and plastic/composite products. We offer a full line of machines that combine abrasive belts, rotating brushes, and oscillating discs in a wide variety of machine configurations.  Machine widths are from 25” up to 100” and can be produced in top-only or top/bottom configurations.  These machines enable users to grind, eliminate slag or burr, round edges, and prepare parts for painting, powder coating, or anodizing in a single pass.

Apex Machine Group is based in Minneapolis, MN, and serves customers across the US, Canada, and Mexico.  Although we officially launched in 2010, our founders combined their more than six decades of experience to address the finishing needs of the metal, wood, and plastics/composites industries.  Today, Apex provides stellar-quality machinery, abrasive brushes, and abrasive products for a variety of finishing applications.  This helps you, the customer, to achieve the best sanding results.

What is Paint & Surface Preparation?

Your metal paint job will only be as good as the surface that it’s applied to, which is why surface preparation is critical.  Surface preparation involves preparing the surface of the parts prior to finishing process, whether that is painting, powder coating, anodizing, or any coating process.

The surface must be clean of residue and have the perfect scratch for mechanical bond for paint adhesion.  Apex has decades of experience in the surface preparation process and has extensive experience in saltwater spray testing and cross hatch adhesion testing.

If primer-coat scuffing is required, there are specific machine and abrasive modifications necessary to accomplish this specific application.  Apex can help walk you through this application.

Surface preparation removes pre-existing coatings, residue, oxidation, organic matter, and other contaminants, ensuring the surface is ready for painting.  Removal of an oxide laser-deposited to the parts often needs to be removed or greatly reduced prior to the finish process of parts.

The Importance of Paint & Surface Preparation

There are many factors that will greatly increase the surface quality of a part for maximum success with paint adhesion and the quality of the finish.

Additional benefits of paint and surface preparation include:

• Mechanical bond for paint adhesion to improve part durability.
• Increase part edge radius for increase mil build of paint for superior parts.
• Removal of laser oxide for better paint adhesion.
• Greatly reduces the chances of paint failure or paint flaking.
• Ensures a smooth, beautiful finish, improving aesthetics.
• Create an automated system to eliminate or greatly reduce manual labor.
• Lowers maintenance costs, as surface preparation protects the surface against external factors and lowers the need for regular repairs and replacement.

Metal Finishing Solutions at Apex

Apex Machine Group offers the best abrasive finishing solutions customized to your specific material and application needs. Our solutions include:

• Metal Deburring: Eliminates edges or burrs on the surfaces of metal parts to ensure consistency and quality.
• Metal Graining: Creates a smooth, uniform finish by removing surface defects from parts.
• Slag Grinding: Eliminates heavy slag and any excess metal from processed parts.
• Edge Rounding: Removes sharpness of the edges on metal parts to achieve a uniform and safe finish.
• Precision Grinding: Uses abrasive belts to smooth the flat surface of metallic materials to deliver a refined look and achieve tight tolerances.
• Polishing and finishing: Improves the metal parts’ surface to optimize their aesthetic and strength.

Get started with Apex

If you are in the market for metal finishing solutions, we have got you covered.  At Apex, we provide superior abrasive-finishing solutions to meet your unique needs.  Our friendly and experienced sales team is always ready to guide you to find a solution that works for your specific material and application needs.  Contact us today to request a quote.

* Profilometer testing for Ra reading to match customer required finish requirements.

* Sample part testing available in any of the machines in the Apex finishing lab.