News & Events

Q – We use silicone masking caps and plugs in our powder coating line. After a few uses the paint builds up and begins to flake off during the subsequent wash cycles, contaminating the finish. How can we clean these to get the most use out of them?

A – This is a common question we receive. The answer is not as straightforward as it may seem. Just because you can clean them, should you? Let’s explore this a bit.

First, we never recommend chemically stripping masking materials. Depending on the cleaning agent used, it could damage or alter the mask – potentially changing its fit and, ultimately, effectiveness. Additionally, we have seen that if those cleaning agents are not...

With the explosive growth in Medical Wearables, clean room die cutting services are highly sought after. There are a some very large converters who handle the vast majority of the extreme volume products (like bandaids, anti-snore strips, etc). Few medical tape converters handle smaller volume runs. Long known as a converter with the capability to handle the toughest tape converting issues with short lead times , the addition of a clean room at CFS seemed like a natural extension of our capabilities. CFS received ISO 14644-1:2015 Class 7 Cleanroom certification of our 800+ sq. ft clean room in July 2020. 

In December 2017, a Delta ModTech...

Long known for our ability to convert non-metallic materials, producing the materials for the shields is not out of the ordinary. On any given day you can find foam being cut on our flash machines or plastic sheeting being punched or die-cut. However, this project holds special significance. As the PPE shortage became apparent, CFS decided to step up and help.

"We felt an intense desire to give back," commented Henry Asik, VP of CFS. He describes how producing masks and donating them to our local hospitals was the most immediate way he felt CFS could help our community.

In a matter of a few days, the design was created and approved. Raw materials including the shielding plastic, foam, and elastic were procured and delivered...

Chromic acid anodization (CAA) is the one of the oldest and most widely used processes in the aerospace and metal finishing industries. Type I Chromic Acid Anodizing is an electrochemical process that creates a thin aluminum oxide film by rapidly controlling the oxidation of an aluminum surface. The resulting aluminum oxide film is electrically non-conductive. CAA produces a thinner film than Type II and Type III Anodizing (hard coat) and produces enhanced drawing and forming characteristics and is often is used for flight-critical aluminum components that are subjected to high stresses.

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Masking caps and plugs need to fit properly in order to work as anticipated. Part III dives into what happens if those aren't quite right.

A new vehicle cab rolls down an e-coat line with 65 threaded holes which needed to be masked. A call is placed by a purchasing agent to a supplier that sells masking plugs. The size of the holes is relayed to the supplier who sends a variety of masking solutions for the holes in each part. Sounds simple right?

Not so fast… CFS was invited to evaluate why the current supplier’s plugs had failed - causing extensive tapping of all threaded holes after being coated. We quickly determined that the masking did not fit properly. Some were too small, others too big. The original supplier did not...

In Part I we discussed how masking can fail as the part surpasses it's life cycle. In Part II we will discuss what happens when the mask is not the correct one for the process being used. 

Often when our team members are on-site with large customers, we are presented with opportunities in new departments or on different production lines. We hear “it’s what we had on hand and it worked…kinda”. Sometimes having masking experts take a look can be a game changer.

For a recent customer, we saw a very cumbersome, mechanical masking solution being utilized. It required a bit of finessing to insert, the use of an impact wrench to apply and a tremendous amount of torque for it to expand and fill the void. Unfortunately, this pr...

A Guide to the Cost of Failed Masking in Finishing Processes

A rack of discards sits in the middle of the room. Shelves of streaked parts, awaiting their disposal. “What happened”, we ask? “Oh, the plugs must have leaked as they were coated”, was the reply. We discuss whether rework is an option, but in the end, it is cheaper to just scrap them rather than strip and start over. “That is why we called you”, they sighed.

Masking can fail for several reasons:

1. The mask is not correct for the process being used
2. The mask is not sized properly
3. The mask has reached its end of life

For this article we will focus on the third mode of fai...

3M only selects a handful of companies to be Preferred Converters. This designation recognizes elite converting companies that consistently exceeded others in quality, capabilities, experience and customer service. CFS is proud to be in this unique group.

Custom Fabricating & Supplies is excited to announce the release of our new product catalog. Featuring an easier to read layout, it has expanded content and additional products from previous catalogs. Interested in receiving a copy?

Custom Fabricating & Supplies, headquartered in Franklin, WI, has announced the recent expansion of their California operations. “Explosive manufacturing growth in California gave us the perfect opportunity to increase our footprint on the West Coast, providing more services to our customers,” commented Henry Asik, VP of CFS.

Completing a move which tripled the size of the CFS California facilities, they added a new Territory Account Manager in Armen Nersessian. A lifelong California resident, Armen joins the team with an extensive background in managing custom solutions and relationships with OEMs and their suppliers. Armen will be reaching out to customers in the coming weeks to introduce himself and offer assistance with you...