Plastic materials can be used to manufacture a wide range of products. In fact, the chance is very high that a plastic item is currently sitting in your eyesight. These objects made out of plastic can be developed in a number of ways. For example, it is possible to use a CNC service in order to produce a plastic part. On the other hand, 3D printing services can be of help too. Plastic is namely one of the materials that can be used in combination with a 3D printer. After manufacturing a plastic product, you could decide to treat its surface. There are multiple processes you could use, below a few will be introduced.
Polishing
Polishing a plastic part is definitely possible. There are multiple processes you could use, these will employ chemical, electrochemical or mechanical effects. This is done to reduce the surface roughness of the product. This way it will get a smooth and bright surface. Usually plastic items will be polished with rolled-up sandpaper.
Spraying
Another option to treat a plastic item is by spraying it. This will mainly give the product a layer of plastic paint. Subsequently you need to dry the plastic item for a while, generally this will take about 10 minutes. Spray paint could play a role in anti-aging plastic parts since it will cut off the air.
Vacuum coating
You could also decide to use a surface treatment process called vacuum coating, which makes use of a vacuum chamber. Here the atoms of the material will be separated from a heating source. These atoms will then hit the surface of the plastic product, so it essentially gets coated. It can have a dazzling and nice effect for sure.
Frosting
Normally frosted plastic refers to plastic sheets or film. When you extrude the sheet or film, there will be a frost pattern on the surface of the forming roller. This way, the frost pattern is formed naturally at the same time as the plastic will cool down. Frosting is a simple and fast process.
Laser engrave
It is also possible to use the energy of a laser to process the plastic item’s surface into a so-called trace. This essentially means exposing a layer of material below the surface. Furthermore, the laser could engrave a pattern, a letter or a word into the product.
