Improving surface finish of polypropylene
Improving surface finish of polypropylene
(OP)
Hi everyone, I am trying to improve surface finish on polyproylene. We need a surface roughness of 0.8 microns (Ra) or better. The part is going to fully machined on a CNC router and there are lots of veins and gulleys. It has a 2.5m diameter. Any suggestions for improving surface finish of plastic? Are there any chemicals that might work on PP?
Thanks
Kat
Thanks
Kat






RE: Improving surface finish of polypropylene
... and not likely to be reduced much, except by leaving the workpiece in the CNC router, putting polishing tools in the router head, and letting the machine do the work.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: Improving surface finish of polypropylene
Chris DeArmitt PhD FRSC CChem
RE: Improving surface finish of polypropylene
RE: Improving surface finish of polypropylene
Does anybody know of a chemical that I could use on polypropylene?
Demon3 and ornrynorsk, we carry out flame polishing already on other jobs so there are people with experience here and it will not work on this particular part because of all the intricate parts that must be kept within tolerance. Thanks for the suggestion though.
Kat
RE: Improving surface finish of polypropylene
RE: Improving surface finish of polypropylene
RE: Improving surface finish of polypropylene
RE: Improving surface finish of polypropylene
You could use atmospheric plasma to deposit an extremely thin, well-adhering topcoat to give shine.
Chris DeArmitt PhD FRSC CChem
RE: Improving surface finish of polypropylene
Thanks btrueblood, I'm guessing you're right.
No we can't mold for many reasons, mainly because we will only be making small amounts and the parts will vary in sizes.
RE: Improving surface finish of polypropylene
RE: Improving surface finish of polypropylene
The rubber molding industry has also been doing this for years to make tumble flash removal a viable process.
I have my skepticism that it would work well on PP, the distortion from the thermal changes might be too much for your tolerance.
Just a notion, thought I'd throw it out there.