How To Speed Up Your Masking Process

Magnetic masking speeds up the powder coating process by eliminating the need for adhesives, tapes, or other traditional masking methods. Magnets quickly and securely attach to ferrous surfaces, automatically aligning themselves and reducing setup time. This simplifies the masking process, especially for complex or repetitive tasks.

Additionally, magnetic masks are durable, reusable, and heat-resistant, making them a cost-effective and efficient option. They can be easily removed and reapplied, further streamlining the workflow and saving time during production.

If your paint line is going through a high-production run of a part, we can't stress enough the benefits of switching to custom-molded masking. Typically, using custom silicone masks can shorten your masking process from minutes to seconds, as most are designed to be placed on the part and ready to go. Custom molded masks are designed to conform precisely to the shape of the part so that they can be quickly placed and removed, ensuring consistent and accurate coverage without extensive setup.

A great example is shown here with a brake caliper. If you've never seen someone try to mask a brake caliper with just masking tape, it's quite the task. A ton of time and effort has to be put into a part like this. Fortunately, with a custom-molded mask, brake caliper coaters can reduce their masking operations times to a fraction of what it was.

Racking/hanging can actually be a hidden gem when it comes to speeding up your masking process. Whether it's developing a mask that the part will hang by or integrating the mask onto your racking system, there are countless ways to be creative with this method.

As shown in the image here, we were able to develop a mask that is actually installed on the metal rack and used to mask the injection-molded back body panel that goes on top of it during the finishing process.

Die cuts are pre-cut pieces of masking tape made to the exact size and shape of the surface areas to be masked. You no longer need to use a tool like an X-Acto knife to cut tapes to fit.

Die-cuts are produced to your specific needs (size, shape, thickness, material), providing a more precise mask for your finishing process.

Let's say you're masking a batch of brake calipers using die-cuts. There are several sections that must remain uncoated. You're masking line workers will need to ensure they get this done as fast as possible, without missing any portion.

For situations like this, we highly suggest going with a die-cut kit that has all the die-cut pieces on one sheet. This ensures no piece is missed and that your line workers don't miss any section.

Masking caps and plugs are available in multiple color variations for sizing identification purposes. Using multiple colors helps speed up the masking process as you’re now able to quickly associate which cap/plug goes to its designated spot rather than wasting time sorting through a variety of different caps or plugs. A few of our customers even use tie-dye plugs to avoid mixing with solid color plugs.

One of the worst experiences powder coaters can experience is seeing that their tape has baked onto the part they're powder coating. There are two primary reasons to remove the tape shortly after your part has gone through the curing oven:

1. The adhesive will be heated, making it much easier to remove. This also means you won't have to worry about the adhesive baking onto the surface, resulting in additional secondary ops
2. You'll be able to achieve a much cleaner line, lowering your chances of post-cure fixes

This is a must when it comes to most custom molded masking plugs. Adding a pull handle gives your line operators to easily grab & remove the mask without worrying about potentially scratching the surface.

The only main drawback that some powder coaters worry about is that, depeding on the size of the pull handle, there is a chance of shadowing from the handle blocking the powder.

Pull tabs are pieces of plastic added to the die-cut backing for easier removal. These tabs make taking die cuts off your finished product much easier and faster while reducing the risk of causing damage from removing the tape with your fingernails or a sharp blade.

Masking tape removal can be as time-consuming as the initial application, so more metal finishers are switching to pull-tab discs. Pulls tabs can also be added to other masking tape solutions.