Silver City Aluminum works with many different industries, but being located in Southeastern Massachusetts has given us a clear advantage when it comes to the marine industry. We help our clients take advantage of the benefits of aluminum products and use our knowledge of custom profile engineering to help prevent corrosion through design. When it is exposed to air, fresh water or even oxygenated seawater, aluminum develops a very strong and transparent oxidized film that makes it resistant to corrosion. However, over time, this coating creates a very dusty and dingy-looking finish. While this is okay for fishing or military applications, for many recreational and commercial boat owners, this simply is not acceptable.
Marine Grade Aluminum Alloys
There are many advantages to using marine grade aluminum alloys that fall in the 5000 and 6000 series. Silver City Aluminum uses 6063, 6005 and 6463 exclusively, due to the durability, strength and other beneficial attributes of these alloys. The 6000 series is naturally resistant to corrosion, providing long-lasting protection for marine applications. However, when it comes to aesthetics, many of our customers choose to add custom aluminum coating solutions that add color and texture, along with additional protection from the sea.
Located in Taunton, Massachusetts, you would be right in assuming that we have done many projects for local fishermen, boating manufacturers and other related marine industry clients. While many were done with the New England market in-mind, our experience and knowledge of aluminum industry solutions for marine applications translates to help us engineer products for clients all around the globe. Freshwater or seawater, the benefits of aluminum products can be appreciated and taken advantage of by all.
Anodizing Aluminum Products
One of the more popular finishing options is anodizing. Anodized aluminum can even be substituted for more costly stainless steel parts and hardware in some marine applications. This can help our clients save money on production, while still providing high quality, long-lasting, durable parts, frames and other products to the marine industry. Silver City Aluminum offers many different options with regard to aluminum anodizing, including clear coatings, color coatings, close tolerance coating and custom anodizing for unique finishes done to your specifications.
All of our finishing services are done in-house, meaning that they don’t have to get sent off to another vendor for custom aluminum coating solutions. This allows us to provide consistent quality control over your aluminum industry solutions from the initial engineering all the way through finishing and shipping to maximize the benefits of aluminum products. Our engineers can help you prevent corrosion through design and our anodizing technicians can help you to protect your products, parts and pieces, while providing you with the color and texture that you desire. Anodizing is a great solution for sail pulleys, porthole frames, stairway trim, railings and even boat pontoons.
Powder Coating Aluminum Products
Another popular method of custom aluminum coating solutions is powder coating. Silver City Aluminum works with several different powder coaters and anodizers so we can provide our clients with the best-looking, top-performing finish to meet their specific needs. We do all of our powder coating and anodizing in-house at our one stop shop facility, which helps to increase quality control and lead time. Choose from an unlimited array of colors to get the finish you need for your extruded aluminum order.
Painting Aluminum Products
We take pride in the work that we do on our paint line. Our goal is to strive for absolute perfection in all of our painting services and we work hard to achieve a consistent color application. We use top of the line products and techniques to provide premium adhesion solutions for every single industry that we serve. We can paint materials up to twenty feet in length, and every single item that we paint goes through our four-stage pre-wash system to ensure proper adhesion and long-lasting results. The first step is etching, followed by a clean wash, a neutralizing wash, and then an industry standard pre-wash.
Our team applies the paint at approximately 2ml’s wet in thickness. As the process is underway, the passing parts are monitored constantly and then checked by our staff to ensure the best possible results, quality and consistency. Once the painting process is complete, the aluminum materials are then cured through a baking process right here in our custom ovens. After curing, the parts are taken off the line by hand and inspected one at a time by our technicians. Once the inspection is complete, the parts are taken to our shipping department. They are inspected again before they are packed up and sent out for delivery.
Call Silver City Aluminum for Custom Services
If you are interested in learning more about the benefits of aluminum products or would like to speak with an engineer about how to prevent corrosion through design for marine industry products, give us a call at 508-824-8631. Our team can help you with custom aluminum coating solutions for your standard or custom aluminum extrusions. Call today to get a FREE estimate on your next project.