As a polishing company that produces around 30,000 tonnes per year it is always exciting when we get a project that is a little different. We Dull and Silicon Finish tonnes and tonnes each day through our sheet lines and the material is often laser cut into decorative profiles after polishing.
On some occasions we are asked to polish the profiles after they have been laser cut. This isn’t as easy as it looks as if it is a very intricate pattern there is not much stainless steel left on the sheets to polish! They can also have ‘lifted’ so one area is higher than the next. Obviously this can cause issues going through the polishing machine and the last thing we want to happen is for the sheet to be damaged!
It’s not just a case of feeding the laser cut sheet or profile into the machine but making sure that it can be processed safely and give a uniform finish across the project as a whole. Where the abrasive belts are polishing a lot of ‘gaps’ this takes time and expertise to ensure radiusing is kept to a minimum and sharp lines that are transferred from the profile to the abrasive belts don’t then transfer back into the final finish.
Applying a 2K Finish, or a 240 silicon adds a fabulous lustre to the project and also ensures the profiles are able to be installed both externally and internally. The polished finish itself helps combat contamination having a measured surface finish of less than 0.5µm.