Metal Finishing Services: Helping You Balance Performance, Cost, and Turnaround
At Area Tool & Manufacturing, CNC machining is our core service, but many successful projects depend just as much on what happens after that machining. Through both our in-house metal finishing services and our vendor network, we can help you select and execute the right finishing approach. We’re ready to help your parts meet performance requirements without adding avoidable lead time or cost.
Here are a few practical considerations we walk through with customers before we begin a project.
We Can Help You Determine the Right Finish
We regularly work with customers who come to us with targets for performance attributes, timeline, and budget in their finishing. In those cases, we explore their range of options and how they balance different priorities. Sometimes the “ideal” finish for performance is possible but adds time, while an alternate coating meets basic performance standards with faster turnaround.
We can support a range of finishing needs through a combination of in-house capabilities and managed secondary processes. Some of our most common customer finishing requests include:
In-house Cerakote coating services
Anodizing for aluminum
Titanium nitride coatings
Passivation for stainless steel
Black oxide for tool steel
How We Minimize Finishing Cost and Lead Time
A common assumption is that finishing automatically means a high extra cost and project time. But in practice, it doesn’t have to.
Our Cerakote certification allows us to combine finishing and machining in-house, acting as a one-stop shop for many of our customers. When a project doesn’t leave our facility, the timeline improves and risk decreases.
For processes outside our facility, we’ve built long-term relationships with our proven finishing partners. Many of them are local to us, which minimizes transit time and keeps schedules predictable. Our deep history with them and consistent collaboration enable better communication, faster lead times, and, in many cases, minimized lot charges.
We vet finishing partners carefully because their work reflects directly on ours. We treat them as an extension of our operations, with the same expectations for quality.
When the Benefits of Finishing Offset Costs
Of course, finishing typically adds some cost and time to a project. But often, the downstream benefits more than offset the cost.
For instance, consider our in-house Cerakote services. Many of our tooling customers leverage Cerakote, as it improves wear performance and extends the life of their tooling. That extended life allows them to buy fewer replacement tools and reduce the total cost of ownership. And it leads to better quality on their production side, as well.
That cost-benefit calculation is something we emphasize in all of our customer recommendations, such as solution annealing for 300 series stainless steel.
In-House Metal Finishing Services Can Reduce Risk
Shipping parts out for secondary processes can sometimes introduce risk, whether it’s damage in transit or delays.
One of our oil and gas customers previously used a Teflon-based coating that required parts to be shipped to a second location in addition to our machine shop. Because the parts had to move between multiple locations, they often arrived with damage incurred outside of our control.
We recommended Cerakote as an alternative approach that would keep finishing in-house at Area Tool, and they agreed to try it. Cerakote delivered similar benefits while reducing handling and shortening the overall timeline. They’ve now seen fewer damaged parts and lower scrap risk, all while reporting improved performance in the field.
Get the Right Finish with Area Tool
If you’re evaluating metal finishing services for a new project, we’re here to help. Talk to us about your requirements, and we’ll help you get a finish that meets your performance needs while keeping costs under control.
Contact us today about your next project!
