Surface Finishing

Surface finishing is a broad range of industrial processes that alter the surface of a manufactured item to achieve a certain property. Finishing processes may be employed to: improve appearance, adhesion or wettability, solderability, corrosion resistance, tarnish resistance, chemical resistance, wear resistance, hardness, modify electrical conductivity, remove burrs and other surface flaws, and control the surface friction. In limited cases some of these techniques can be used to restore original dimensions to salvage or repair an item. An unfinished surface is often called mill finish.

Surface finishing processes can be categorized by how they affect the workpiece:

  • Removing or reshaping finishing
  • Adding or altering finishing

Mechanical processes may also be categorized together because of similarities the final surface finish.

Read more about Surface Finishing:  Adding and Altering, Removing and Reshaping, Mechanical Finishing

Famous quotes containing the words surface and/or finishing:

    We say justly that the weak person is flat, for, like all flat substances, he does not stand in the direction of his strength, that is, on his edge, but affords a convenient surface to put upon. He slides all the way through life.... But the brave man is a perfect sphere, which cannot fall on its flat side and is equally strong every way.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    Minerva House ... was “a finishing establishment for young ladies,” where some twenty girls of the ages from thirteen to nineteen inclusive, acquired a smattering of everything and a knowledge of nothing.
    Charles Dickens (1812–1870)