Paint & Surface Preparation

Apex Machine Group provides top-quality abrasive 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. These machines enable users to grind, eliminate slag or burr, round edges, and polish products in a single pass.

Apex Machine Group is based in Minneapolis, MN, and serves customers across the US and Canada. Though we officially launched in 2010, our founders combined their over four decades of experience to address the finishing needs of the wood and metal markets. Today, Apex provides stellar-quality abrasive brushes for sanding discs. 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 treating the surface of the material before painting or coat application, using adhesives, and other processes. Preparation can be completed either mechanically or chemically, including abrasive blasting materials, solvents, acids, heat, and jets of water. Of all these methods, abrasive blasting is the most versatile and efficient surface preparation method.

Surface preparation removes pre-existing coatings, residue, oxidation, organic matter, and other contaminants, ensuring the surface is ready for painting. Different methods are used to prepare substrate materials like plastic, steel, concrete, aluminum, and wood. However, most of these techniques follow a set of stages that look like this:

1. Assessment of surface condition
2. Removal of old coatings
3. Removal of surface contaminants, acids, chlorides, and oils
4. Removal of loose parts of the surface
5. Surface profiling
6. Surface drying

The Importance of Paint & Surface Preparation

Surface preparation ensures that the paint lays evenly over the intended surface and adheres completely. At its core, surface preparation eliminates corrosion or prevents it from happening. Additional benefits of paint and surface preparation include:

• Improves durability and prolongs the lifespan of metal surfaces. Preparation makes the surface weatherproof and waterproof.
• Ensures a smooth, beautiful finish, improving aesthetics.
• Extends the service life of metal surfaces and prevents premature degradation/failure, saving you money.
• Reduces drag in marine applications as the coatings prevent the growth of barnacles, algae, corals, etc., at the bottom of the vessel. This marine life can add weight, increase maintenance needs and reduce the vessel’s fuel efficiency.
• Lowers maintenance costs, as surface preparation protects the surface against external factors and lowers the need for regular repairs and replacement.
• Protects the environment as they prevent passive solar heat gain, minimizing AC needs and prolonging material’s life.

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 customer support 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.