JUNE 2008 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 5

THE BASIC FUNDAMENTALS OF MASS FINISHING

CONTENTS (PART I)

By: A.F. Kenton, parts can be used or still a question about

MASS 1 President of Nova exchange hands to its what a ‘finish’ is. That
FINISHING Finishing Systems end use or user, they is, how a part looks or

INDUSTRY
EVENTS
2 A ll man made items
or objects can be con-
must be made to fit,
form, and function
safely. The word safely
is finished depends to a
large extent as to how
it is to be used. That
sidered parts and are is open to interpreta- means that the word
mostly made from met- tion; however, it pri- finishing can take on
NEWS & 3 als, castings, or molded marily means that it other meanings than
NOTES should not hurt, cut, or just safety. The word
parts. Raw materials for
these parts can be fer- damage surrounding can also refer to the
rous or non-ferrous objects or people. coating applied to the
FROM THE 6
metals, plastics (which part or its surface
FORUM The word ‘safely’, or
can include epoxies), modifications for aes-
that end product con-
and any inorganic or thetic or treatment pur-
dition of the item or
FINISHING 12 organic, capable of be- poses to prolong or
part in question, is nor-
SPOTLIGHT ing formed. Basically, protect its life.
mally achieved by a
that means that almost finishing process or Most parts or objects
everything and any- just the term exposed to out of doors
THE LAST 15
thing that man uses “FINISHING”. Now, environments are usu-
WORD
can be worked via ma- even though we are ally finished with a
chine or hand. Before talking about an end heavy, thick coating
such items or industrial item or part, there is which is desirable for
Inside This Issue:

From the Forum: Finishing Spotlight: Review: EPA’s 2008 Report

Carolina on the Environment
Who wants to talk Classic Golf (Page 15)
Tournament
Electropolishing?
(Page 12)

(page 6)
Page 2
FINISHING TALK

INDUSTRY EVENTS 2008

June 16-18: July 17-18 September 10-11:

SUR/FIN 2008 Lean & Green Summit Powder Coating Forum
Indianapolis, IN Boulder, CO Cleveland, OH
www.sur-fin.net www.leanandgreensummit.com www.pcimag.com/pcforum

June 21-24 August 5-6: September 14-16:

CCAI Annual Meeting Powder Coating School Southern Metal Finishing
Clearwater Beach, FL Mystic, CT Charleston, SC
www.ccaiweb.com surfacefinishingacademy.com surfacefinishingacademy.com

July 8-11 August 15: September 15-16:

PDA Applicator Spray Course Bel-Air Finishing Workshop Powder Coating School
Houston, TX North Kingston, RI Charleston, SC
www.pda-online.org www.belairfinishing.com surfacefinishingacademy.com

July 14-18 September 8-13:

Have an upcoming event? Tell
MST Conferences IMTS '08
us about it at:
Orono, ME Chicago, IL
www.finishingtalk.com!
www.mstconf.org www.imts.com
 Page 3
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 5

NEWS & NOTES

Indianapolis, IN Indianapolis have been ratified. The new con- Air’s new facility in N. Kingstown,
Branch of AESF is hosting a re- tract reportedly contains large RI. The seminar will include an
ception on Monday, June 16, pay cuts and other concessions, afternoon hands-on session in Bel
2008 to welcome everyone to In- and includes the closure of a Air’s lab, utilizing actual equip-
dianapolis during SUR/FIN®. The forge plant in Detroit, MI, and a ment. For more information, visit
event will be at Jillian’s on South factory in Tonawanda, NY. Ap- www.belairfinishing.com.
Meridian Street and will include proximately 3,650 UAW members Emory, TX Dile Kent McCnair
food, drinks and the latest in elec- had been on strike since February pled guilty Thursday, in a Tyler
tronic video games. "We felt it 26 over wage and benefit issues. courtroom, to the felony offense
was important to provide an op- The company expects to have its of storage of hazardous waste
portunity for people to meet in an plants running production this without a permit in connection
informal atmosphere and talk to week. The agreements should with his former business, Extreme
other people in the industry. This allow AAM’s largest customer, Metal Finishing, Inc. in Point, TX.
venue offers a setting of good General Motors Corp., to open 20 The office of the U.S. Attorney for
food, great fun and close prox- plants that have shut or partially the Eastern District of Texas re-
imity to the convention center.” closed because of parts short- ported that McNair admitted to
said Jerry Phillips, President of ages. For more information, visit storing spent cyanide plating bath
the Indianapolis Branch. For www.aam.com. solutions and plating bath resi-
ticket information please contact
N. Kingston, RI Bel Air Finish- dues from the bottom of plating
Jerry Phillips at (317) 842-8120 or
ing Supply will stage a one-day baths, from electroplating opera-
Amy Burns at aburns@finshing-
seminar/workshop on all phases tions at the Point facility without a
concepts.com
of mass finishing on Friday, Aug. permit. McNair is facing up to 5
Boulder, CO Organizers of the 15, 2008. The event, covering years imprisonment and a fine of
2008 Lean & Green Summit an- topics such as all types of finish- up to $50,000.00 for each day of
nounced today the addition of ing media, compounds, process violation at sentencing. A sen-
Harley-Davidson’s Tim Hunter, technologies, plus wastewater tencing date has not been set.
Chief Engineer of Fabrication and processing, will be held at Bel
Assembly. Hunter will be address-
ing the benefits of lean manufac-
turing principles on issues of the
environment and sustainability.
He will be the closing keynote
presenter, with Nike’s Senior Ad-
visor, Darcy Winslow, opening the
conference. The Summit will de-
but July 17-18, 2008 at St. Julien
hotel and Spa in Boulder, CO. For
more information please contact
Dwayne Butcher, 317.813.5455 or
Dwayne@leanaccountingsummit.
com. Or visit them online at:
www.leanandgreensummit.com.
Detroit, MI Tentative agree-
ments with the International UAW
reached on May 16, 2008, cover-
ing approximately 3,650 American
Axle & Manufacturing Holdings,
Inc. (AAM) associates at five fa-
cilities in Michigan and New York,
Page 4
BASIC FUNDAMENTALS OF MASS FINISHING, CONT FROM PG 1...
protection, but a lot of poor
workmanship can be covered up
with thick coatings of paint, plas-
tics, or epoxy. Another finish,
normally used on metal parts, is
a treatment or thin coating that
is considered plating or surface
treatment. Because this finish is
relatively thin, this end process
will not - or will only slightly -
change the current surface fea-
tures of the item in question. Ba-
sically, that means that what you
see before you treat the part is
what you will get after you finish
the part.
To accomplish surface modifica-
tion of a permanent uniform na-
ture requires the mechanical
working of the part or object in
question, either by hand or ma-
chine. That means material re-
moval and/or the blending of
previously worked areas, gener-
ally with abrasives in a mechani-
cal type operation. This finishing
task is usually best accomplished
using mass finishing systems,
because it requires the least
amount of time and care by an
operator and produces a uniform
finished product. Even though
this is a finishing process and the
end product may be the final ap-
pearance of the part, it still may
require some kind of protective
coating or alternative finish. Blast
finishing is an option in some
cases; however, blasting with
inorganic materials can leave a
surface finish extremely rough,
which is good for the adhesion of
heavy coatings but not for tight
tolerances, smoothness, or ap-
pearance sake.
Mass finishing systems have
FINISHING TALK
evolved over the years into three
types of energy systems that
generate mechanical forces,
which create work action or ap-
ply pressure to a mix of both
abrasives and parts within this
equipment. The first system, de-
veloped from ancient times, is
considered a barrel system from
which we derive the terminology
‘tumbling’. This equipment is the
slowest method because it exerts
only 1 g (or gravity force) to the
mass of parts and abrasives
within the barrel and primarily
moves the mass in one direction.
The next system developed is
considered vibratory. This equip-
ment uses an open work cham-
ber that is energized by an ec-
centric or out of balance spinning
weight. This equipment can gen-
erate up to 8 g’s on the parts

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 5
and mass within the work cham-
ber, in an equal x and y and
some z directional method of op-
eration. The newest equipment is
considered high energy systems
of both barrel, and what are
called disc finishing systems.
These systems can generate up
to 30 g’s (gravity forces) to the
parts within them in the x, y, and
primarily z work action.
The energy forces of the me-
chanical motion of the type of
equipment [1] described above is
only part of the work action tak-
ing place within the equipment.
The energy transfer from the
equipment to the part is best ac-
complished with a solid abrasive
medium, which is called media,
and which can be controlled or is
predictable in how it operates or
performs a designed function of
deburring, burnishing, or polish-
ing. Most systems use a form of
abrasive media, with liquid sys-
tems for deburring, and hard
non-abrasive shapes and materi-
als for burnishing. Polishing is
best accomplished in mass finish-
ing equipment using a dry or-
ganic process.
Mass finishing media supplies
come in many sizes, shapes, and
compositions. They all deburr or
modify surface features of metals
and plastics to some extent.
Choosing the right media makes
a world of difference in time and
costs. How efficient the media is
in achieving the end results you
are looking for is also critical to
this selection process. To begin
with, all media products can be
considered abrasives, even bur-
nishing media. That is, they all
have the capability to remove
some material off the item or
part in question, be it surface dirt
or heavy metal. All media will
work or do something to a part
in a mass finishing system. It is a
relative thing, a kind of guilty by
association. In mass, the strong-
est beat up on the weakest, or at
least have some major influence
in the behavior or final appear-
ance of the parts.
Because we are talking mostly
about machined parts or man
made objects, the design con-
figuration of these parts are
made in such a way that they are
not too compatible with nature.
What I mean by that is that
naturally occurring media or ran-
dom abrasive supplies are nor-
mally not good enough to work
most parts because of their ir-
regular shapes. In short, because
of the irregularities of random
sizes and shapes of abrasive ma-
terials and their mass behavior,
the media usually gets stuck
within the configuration of the
part, thereby neutralizing the
Your Total Finishing Resource.
1715 E. Conover Blvd. Conover, NC 28613
Page 5
surface modification process,
which can result in a non-uniform
finish. If the part is relatively
simple and can be worked with
this random media, it is normally
the least expensive media and
way to process parts. There are
now some extremely hard, man
made abrasive products made in
this random form, which are very
effective for both deburring and
burnishing; therefore, this media
should be considered when and
where possible.
In addition to random, abrasive
products classified into specific
size ranges are man made abra-
sive shapes of uniform specific
size. Generally speaking, all mass
finishing media, like parts, are
man made into preformed
shapes from 1 of 4 basic compo-
sition materials or bonding
agents. The most abrasive mate-
rials are made with ceramic and
plastic materials. These bonding
Continued on page 9...
T: (800) 438-6880
T: (828) 464-1376
F: (828) 464-7094
www.jacksonlea.com
 Page 6
FROM THE FORUM: WHO WANTS TO TALK ELECTROPOLISHING?
Posted on March 14, 2008
This month we discuss some of the challenges of
electropolishing, particularly with aluminum. Our
members also touch upon various ways of masking
surfaces to isolate the finish. Forum members
DustinGebhardt, Carolina Process Control,
and Metfinoh, share their wisdom to help john-
thepolisher come up with solutions to his electro-
plating dilemmas. Feel free to add your thoughts to
their ongoing discussion by visiting the forums at
www.finishingtalk.com/community/topic180-wants-
talk-Electropolishing.html (or search for it in the
“Other” forum under “Who wants to talk Electro-
polishing?”). For more ‘From the Forum’ discus-
sions, check out our monthly internet television
show, Finishing Talk Live, where hosts Paul Fisher
and Paul Skelton bring the boards to life!
www.finishingtalklive.com
johnthepolisher
I have been polishing & buffing metal "the old
fashion way" since 1988. After reading about elec-
tropolishing, I decided to buy a small, 5 gallon
electropolishing kit to see if I could reduce the
amount of time buffing stainless steel and alumi-
num. I fired up the new "system" for the first time
today. The instructions told me to "break in the
tank" before processing my first piece. This was
done by polishing a piece of scrap aluminum for 8
hours at .8 amps per square inch at 10 volts. The
result was a totally dull finish except for some
black burn marks where the wire was touching the
part. I hope that is what it was supposed to look
like. I have a nagging feeling that I will be visiting
this forum quite often...
Metfinoh
Are you sure you have a solution that is suitable
for Al? Most EP solutions are for SS only. Breaking
in the solution is the same as "seeding" the solu-
tion, which is really all about the metal content in
the bath and can be measured in Specific Grav-
ity. There is tons of info online about EP. You
should check out the website for the Metal Coating
Process Corporation (www.electropolish.com) for
FINISHING TALK
starters. Good luck.
johnthepolisher
According to the manufacturer, the solution is sup-
posed to work for both aluminum & stainless. I
have only tried a couple of pieces of aluminum,
with less than satisfactory results. The tank tem-
peratures are not getting hot enough with the
heaters that were sent with the kit - which could
be part of the problem. Thanks for the link; I have
been "googling" like a mad man, trying to find info
on EP!
How important are tank temperatures for process-
ing different metals? I don't plan on deviating from
the instructions, but I do wonder how temperature
affects electropolishing, and why it affects electro-
polishing. This question is purely out of curiosity...
CAROLINA PROCESS CONTROL
John, always remember there are three things that
can effect any process bath....
-Time
-Temperature
-Concentration
DustinGebhardt
Temperatures in an e-polish bath can drastically
affect the work being produced. Depending upon
the bath and base metal, high/low temps could
cause uneven polishing, preferential dissolving of
corner (rounding of sharp edges), pitting
(especially true of alloys and aluminum), or a re-
duction in polishing rate among, other things. The
manufacturing process for the part also plays a
role, as forgings act differently than castings,
which are different from stampings.
In many manufacturing processes, the edges of
the piece are under more internal stress than else-
where on the part. This makes them more suscep-
tible to attack by the e-polish. Normally, the e-
polish chemical is designed to take that into ac-
count, and it tries not to attack those areas by us-
ing inhibitors and other things. However, when
you change the temp, you change the way the dif-
ferent parts of the bath work together and their
 Page 7
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 5

respective rates of reaction. Now, corners may get

attacked faster, which would round them off.
Machined castings and alloys are also notorious for
having a microscopic, non-homogenous struc-
ture. Under a mid to high power microscope, the
structure of the alloy becomes apparent as you can
differentiate one metal from the other. In cast-
ings, often the surface of the part is slightly differ-
ent than the internal areas, and you expose the
internal areas when you machine the cast-
ing. Again, changing the temps can cause the e-
polish chemical to preferentially go after one part
of the alloy, which could cause pitting and other
defects.
Stay within the vendors range and you should be
okay. And make sure you know what material you
are dealing with. One person's aluminum may be
night and day different from the next guy’s. I've
seen a few e-polish job shops that struggle with
this on a daily basis.

johnthepolisher
Is it possible to "mask" an area that you don't want
Continued on next page...
Page 8
FINISHING TALK

WHO WANTS TO TALK ELECTROPOLISHING? - CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7

to e-polish? For instance, if a customer requests
that a certain surface should remain unpolished, is
it possible to protect that area from the polishing
solution? We have done this on chrome plated
parts with aluminum tape, or in certain situations
by applying a thin coat of paint.
DustinGebhardt
Yes. You can use special tapes or paints to mask
the area you don't want polished. Just be aware
that the e-polish process removes some of the sur-
face material, and you may be left with a noticea-
bly raised, unpolished surface.
johnthepolisher
Typically, the areas that I have to mask have serial
numbers stamped into the parts - so the raised &
unfinished surface is exactly what I am looking for.
You wouldn't happen to know of a good supplier of
masking materials, would you?
DustinGebhardt
I've always used the products of Tolber. They have
a whole slew of distributors in the US, my favorite
being my former employers out in TX, A Brite.
meter, I can only generate around 5 amps - even
with the welder cranked up to the highest setting.
According to the ohm meter, I have the correct
voltage. Now I'm wondering if the amp meter is
junk, or if I hooked up the power source incor-
rectly. I have to admit that I am getting quite frus-
trated - the whole process seems fairly basic and
easy to understand, but I can't get "Frankenstein"
off the operating table.
If I can get this sucker to work, I will be more than
happy to invest in a real rectifier to replace the
welder. But I don't want to throw another couple
thousand dollars into this process without seeing
some results. Any insight would be greatly appreci-
ated...
Do you have some insight for John? Log on
to the Finishing Talk forums today to join in
on this discussion – or start a discussion of
your own!
www.finishingtalk.com/community

johnthepolisher
Thanks for the info, Dustin. Sorry for the delayed
response, but I had to manually polish a bunch of
parts to keep my cash flow positive (you can check
out a couple of recent pieces in the polishing fo-
rum).

johnthepolisher
Since my last post, I purchased a small heater
which heats the tanks to the recommended tem-
peratures, but I am still not able to polish anything
- which I believe is due to my power source. As per
the instructions which came with the set up, I
bought a Lincoln Electric AC/DC 225/125 stick
welder. I reduced the voltage by wiring the welder
to 110v with a dimmer switch on one line (to fur-
ther reduce the voltage to 10 - 15 volts). I installed
an amp meter shunt between the bus bar and the
positive power supply. But, according to the amp

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 5
agents are used to bind uniform
small grains of abrasives to-
gether into a shape. Burnishing
media is made from non-abrasive
porcelain ceramic and either
molded or cut steel, stainless
steel, aluminum, brass or other
metals. Lastly, there is a cate-
gory of organic materials that are
used dry without water systems,
and are used primarily to polish;
but when blended with inorganic
materials they can be used as
effectively as an abrasive media.
Now, the most important thing
you want to remember about
mass finishing media is that the
heavier and larger the media
used, the faster it will process
the parts that have to be worked.
That means that the more media
you can get into a machine sys-
tem, the faster it will work on the
parts because of the weight fac-
tor. Where this is not true is in
the old barrel tumbling systems.
The older barrel systems need an
air gap. Proper fill of media in a
barrel should be between 2/3rds
to 3/4ths full, so that the parts
and media can slide, causing the
work action and processing. The
weight rule works well for any
part, media, process, or equip-
ment.
The weight of a preformed shape
is also affected by the minerals it
is composed of. The most com-
mon material used in abrasive
preformed media is aluminum
oxide. Given the same physical
size and shape of the more com-
mon compositions, silica or sand
is about the lightest mineral pre-
form shape; then aluminum ox-
ides, silicon carbide, and zirconia.
Now, given that information
about mineral weights, the actual
materials that make up the bond
can also affect the overall weight
Page 9
of the preform. If the supplier of
the media does not know or un-
derstand the significance of the
bond, go by the weight rule for
the aggressiveness of the media.
A good back up for the weight
rule is the speed or rate of break
down of the bond. That rule be-
ing ‘the faster the media wears
or breaks down, the more ag-
gressive the media’, because
new, fresh abrasive is exposed to
do the cutting. However, besides
weight and speed, surface finish
is also an important factor to be
considered before a media is se-
lected. A heavy coarse media is
not normally suitable for plating
or surface treatments. Then
again, that type of media may be
required in a 2 or 3 step opera-
tion prior to a plated surface
treatment.
Going by the rules above, to
Continued on next page….
Page 10
BASIC FUNDAMENTALS OF MASS FINISHING, CONT...
achieve the greatest amount of
material removal or the fastest
deburring media, you normally
want to use the largest pre-
formed ceramic shape, available
with the coarsest zirconia[2]
abrasive grain size possible -
which is probably .060 in size
and often goes by the name ‘fast
cut’. This selection is often unre-
alistic, because you need a shape
small enough to get into all the
holes, angles, and slots without
getting stuck, while also working
all of the areas that need to be
worked. The media size and
shape does not necessarily have
to be smaller than the hole or
work area, but it should be able
to poke a small portion of the
shape into that same work area.
Normally, inside dimension
should not be worked because of
tight tolerances. On the other
hand, if a media shape is too
large it will not work corners or
recesses, leaving a slight shadow
appearance or texture in these
areas on the finished parts, even
after a secondary treatment.
When a media shape wears
down to about half its original
size, it basically becomes ineffec-
tive for the part, or parts, it was
selected for deburring. This is
what I call its ‘half life’. It can
still be used on smaller parts, but
because of its size and/or mass,
it loses its effectiveness or effi-
ciency. On tight tolerance parts
where lodging is a problem, this
media shape may have to be re-
placed a lot sooner than its half
life. Media may also have to be
replaced sooner than half life if
the deburring process is not
properly maintained. That is, wet
FINISHING TALK
systems are designed to flow or
function, thereby removing oils
and debris. If the media be-
comes glazed, it is basically inef-
fective as an abrasive media and
may have to be replaced way
before it reaches half life. Glaz-
ing occurs when oils, metals, or
other debris get imbedded into
the surface of the media, due
mostly to poor liquid flow or
chemical additives in the proc-
ess. Basically, glazing is a coat-
ing on the media that creates a
barrier so the media cannot
break down.
Besides the abrasive grain size,
the next controlling factor for
selecting a media is the bond or
glue that holds the matrix to-
gether like cement. In fact, the
manufacturing process of pre-
formed shapes is almost exactly
like making cement, except the

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 5
finished shaped must be cured
in an oven and baked to create
the proper hardness. Each
manufacturer of preformed
abrasive shapes makes at least
5 to 7 standard grades, compo-
sitions, or formulations of the
same size or shape. Another
rule to consider here is that the
smoothness of the part’s sur-
face finish can only be the
same as the size variation of
the largest particle grain size
that makes up the media. That
is the reason for these different
formulations. They are neces-
sary for regulating the cut and
the surface finish of the final
part. Parts made out of differ-
ent materials with different
hardness factors may have dif-
ferent finishing requirements.
Therefore, not only do you
have to deburr the part, it is
also necessary that you create
the right surface smoothness.
Now, I have told you what the
fastest deburring media is, but
there are a lot of exceptions to
this rule. First of all, ceramic
media is almost always used on
ferrous metals because its
hardness and rigid form makes
it very aggressive. Plastic
bonded media is almost always
used on non-ferrous metals be-
cause it is more flexible and
gives on metals, making it a
more gentle media. For de-
burring plastics, ceramics are
generally recommended, except
when appearance is a concern.
In some cases, ceramics can be
used on non-ferrous materials;
however, the media will nor-
mally leave the metal rougher
than what its surface finish was
prior to processing. A better
and faster choice for non-
ferrous metals would be a fine-
cut ceramic, or a hybrid, light
weight ceramic media, which is
supposed to be an all purpose
Page 11
media for both ferrous and
non-ferrous materials. Light
weight ceramic is about the
same weight as plastic and
works well in some applications,
but it still takes longer than
normal on ferrous parts, and
leaves non-ferrous parts some-
what rougher than plastic me-
dia. Some plastics can be used
on ferrous materials, but the
longer time cycles are not nor-
mally cost effective - except
when used in high energy
equipment systems.
Please see the July issue of
Finishing Talk for Part II of
“The Basic Fundamentals of
Mass Finishing”
You can reach the author at :
Nova Finishing
PO Box 185
Hatboro, PA 19040
215-942-4474 * 800-444-4159
Fax: 215-953-1342
novafinish@earthlink.net
 Page 12
FINISHING TALK

FINISHING SPOTLIGHT: CAROLINA CLASSIC HELD IN WESTERN NC

T he 9th Annual Carolina Classic golf tournament

was recently held at the beautiful Cleghhorn Planta-
tion Golf Course in Rutherfordton, NC, on Friday,
May 16th, 2008. Both the Palmetto & Carolina
Metrolina branches of the AESF came together in
one accord under the leadership of Paul Skelton, the
newly elected President of the Palmetto Branch. Un-
der his leadership, and with the help of many mem-
bers and sponsors, he organized another successful
outing with over 60 in attendance.
This year’s winning team, with a score of 58 in-
cluded: Kevin Helton of Crossair, Keith Helton
(Kevin’s brother), and Bill Zimmerman of Bommer Bruce Fisher and Paul Skelton
Industries, who also took home the Closest-to-Pin
and Straightest Drive awards. Longest Drive (Thanks to all the Sponsors):
Hole#18: Bruce Fisher (BCF Industrial Supplies)
Straightest Drive Contest (Thanks to all the
Sponsors):
Hole#13: Kevin Helton (Crossair)
9-Hole Mystery Scramble Winners:
Kevin Helton, Keith Helton and Bill Zimmerman.

Bill Zimmerman, Keith Helton, and Kevin Helton

KCH Service’s ‘Team II’, made up of J.R. Grogan,
Richard McBrayer, Tommy Toney, and Brody Han-
kinson, took the runner-up spot with a 64. And com-
ing in Last Place, a score of 75 was proudly accepted
by Paul Skelton, team Carolina Process Control
(CPC).
Other Hole-Contests were awarded, such as:
Closest-to-Pin (Sponsored by Martron):
Hole#3: Charles Williams (Oxford Instruments
guest)
Hole#7: Paul Skelton (CPC)
Hole#12: Charles Williams (Oxford Instruments
guest)
Hole#16: Bill Zimmerman (Bommer Industries)
 Page 13
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 5

This year’s Anniversary sponsors included:

American Plating Power, Palm International, Oxford
Instruments, Crossair, Metal Chem, Surface Finish-
ing Academy, A Brite Co., PAVCO, The Turner
Agency, and Finishing.TV.
9th Hole Sponsors included: OMG Fidelity, Zurv,
CPC and A Brite Co. And an Honorary Branch Spon-
sor and proud son of Frank Hawkins (member,
Capsco, Inc.), Lieutenant Derrick Hawkins, US
Army.
In addition, the NASF and both Palmetto and Char-
lotte Metrolina branches raffled two NASF mem-
berships to two non-members, Bryan Bollick and
Rickey Phillips. In addition to the 56 golfers in at-
tendance, members David French (French & David French and Steve Gilbert cooking up a storm
Assoc.) and Steve Gilbert (Luster-On Products) community and then clicking the “metal finishing
both honored us by cooking everyone dinner on the associations” category.
mega-grille. The menu consisted of brauts, cheese-
burgers, and all the fixin’s. Branch News: Elected in April, new officers for
the 2008/2009 session were announced for the
This tournament was full of fellowship and fun, Palmetto Branch: Elected President, Paul
ending the season of events for both branches. “I Skelton, CPC; First Vice President, Kevin
have been a part of the Carolina Classic for five Helton, Crossair; Secretary & Treasure,
years running, the weather was beautiful, the scen- Jim Kistler, CAPSCO, Inc.
ery out here is phenomenal - the Classic always
brings about good times. Thanks to all the golfers Both branches will announce a joint officers meet-
that participated, the sponsors that support the ing in August to start off the new session in Sep-
event, the branches, and obviously the golf course. tember. ~FT~
This wouldn’t be a success without everyone.” Send us pictures and info from your industry
commented Carolina Classic Golf Coordinator, Paul related event, and they may end up in a fu-
Skelton. You can find more pictures from this event ture column of Finishing Talk’s “Finishing
by visiting our website at www.finishingtalk.com/ Spotlight”.

FINISHING TALK ANNOUNCES ARTICLE CONTEST!

Starting on June 1st 2008 and ending July 31st, Finishing Talk will be holding an article contest. Articles
must be industry-related (powder coating, painting, electroplating, anodizing, etc…), and no longer than 2,000
words. The winning articles will be published in upcoming issues of Finishing Talk. Articles will be judged on
relevance to the industry, professionalism, accuracy, organization of ideas, originality and overall flow. Accom-
panying images may be submitted along with the article or editorial. We are open to a variety of styles - from
the purely technical to pure opinion - so go ahead and submit what you’ve got! Articles may have been pub-
lished previously, but the author may only submit a pre-published article if they hold the rights to it and have
the authority to do so. The 1st place prize will be 6 months of free banner ads for your company on the
Finishing Talk website. 2nd place receives 3 months of banner ads, and 3rd place will receive a banner
ad for 1 month. You may submit your article digitally either through the Finishing Talk forums at
www.finishingtalk.com/community and click on ‘article submissions’, or by e-mail to Anna Levitsky,
anna@finishingtalk.com. You may also mail a hard copy to PO Box 349, Rutherfordton, NC 28139. Good luck!
Page 14
FINISHING TALK

5-6

THE LAST WORD
REVIEW: EPA’S 2008 REPORT ON THE ENVIRONMENT
O th
n May 20 , 2008, the Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency
released its 2008 Report on the
Environment (EPA 2008 ROE), a
science-based report that an-
swers questions about recent
trends in human health and the
environment. The report uses
scientifically sound measures,
called indicators, to address fun-
damental questions relevant to
the EPA’s mission to protect the
environment and human health.
These indicators were reviewed
in a public forum prior to the
creation of the report to deter-
mine if citizens (not just scien-
tists) believed that the proposed
indicators provided useful and
technically sound data. One of
the goals of the report is to
eventually lead to the develop-
ment of new indicators, moni-
toring strategies, and programs
and policies in the areas that
the EPA determines to be highly
important based on measured
environmental trends.
Since this kind of thing is right
up my alley (and since my co-
workers are always calling me a
tree hugger) I decided to check
out the hot-off-the-press ROE. I
was impressed with the immen-
sity of the report, as well as the
clear and systematic layout of
the chapters. The report is di-
vided into five main sections
(excluding the Introduction and
Afterward), and are then subdi-
vided into more detailed catego-
ries:
1. Air (subdivided into Outdoor,
Greenhouse Gases, and Indoor)
2. Water (subdivided into Wa-
ter & Watersheds, Ground Wa-
ter, Wetlands, Coastal Water,
Drinking Water, Recreational
Water, & Consumable Fish and
Shellfish)
3. Land (subdivided into Land
Cover & Land Use)
4. Human Exposure &
Health (subdivided into Expo-
sure to Environmental Contami-
nants, Health Status, and Dis-
ease & Conditions)
5. Ecological Condition
(subdivided into Extend & Distri-
bution, Diversity & Biological
Balance, Ecological Processes,
Physical & Chemical Attributes,
Ecological Exposure & Contami-
nants)
Within these chapters and sub-
sections, the EPA presents 78
environmental indicators on a
national scale. For example, the
Air Chapter indicates several
trends that show a considerable
decrease in Ambient Concentra-
tions of Carbon Monoxide in the
United States. Armed with
graphs, concise explanations of
each indicator & its limitations,
and easy to understand summa-
ries of the presented data, the
EPA delivers otherwise scientific
and complex information in a
way that is fairly easy for the
average American to grasp.
In addition, the report includes
region-specific data (apparently,
I live in region 4). One of the
more vague regional indicators
shows an increase in Regional
Haze between 1992 and 2004,
comparing the views from Na-
tional Parks on both the East
and West coast. Interestingly,
on the clearest of days (least
haze) the view on the East
Coast is only as good as the
Page 15
BY ANNA LEVITSKY
least clear of days (most haze)
on the West Coast.
Another useful and interesting
aspect of the report is the inclu-
sion of detailed ‘before and af-
ter’ diagrams showing the differ-
ence in (to name just one) Sul-
fur Deposition throughout the
US. The indicator presents two
maps of the United States, each
color-coded to identify sulfur
deposits directly before and sev-
eral years after sulfur and nitro-
gen oxide emission controls be-
came mandated by the 1990
Clean Air Act Amendment. The
difference is quite striking.
Perhaps one of the most fasci-
nating (and frightening) indica-
tors included in the 2008 ROE is
one of the population indicators.
With data going all the way
back to 1790, the graph fea-
tures a clear, upward trend
slope, beginning with a meager
4 million people and skyrocket-
ing up to the year 2000 - to a
population of 300 million.
Overall, I found the ROE to be
full of information that average
individuals would find easy to
grasp, as well as fundamentally
important to know and under-
stand in today’s industrialized
world. Keeping abreast with the
quality of the air you breathe,
the level of toxicity in the water
you drink and the food you con-
sume, and the correlation be-
tween the impact of human ac-
tivity on overall human health is
something every person should
make an effort to do.
So, take the initiative! EPA’s
2008 Report on the Environment
http://www.epa.gov/roe
 PRST/STD
US Postage Paid
Rutherfordton, NC
Permit # 154
PO Box 349
Rutherfordton, NC 28139

June 2008 Please deliver this informative newsletter to the

following valued Finishing Talk reader:
Anna Levitsky, Editor
Phone: 704-995-2263
anna@finishingtalk.com

www.FinishingTalk.com
See what the industry is talking about!