ruffrecords said:
I received the Zintec parts the other day. I must say I am rather disappointed. A rather dull uneven grey surface with a lot of marks on it. Not up to the usual standard of this supplier. I think I need to get plain mild steel and send it out for finishing.
Cheers
Ian
Zintec is the **cheapest** usable (sort of) metal finish.
Dull gray and surface coat is easy to scratch, will *definitely* show folding machine jaws, etc.
Chep because metalworker buys the precoated full sheet , think 600mm x 2000 mm, 1000mm x 2000mm in Europe (or here in Argentina), 3 ft by 4 or 6 or 10 ft in US/Canada, etc.
They just cut/punch/bend it and send part to be used as is, no further tretment.
Rust protection is "reasonable", just don´t let in the rain, in a condensing humidity place or even less let Coke or beer spill on it.
All machined edges (cut/ounched, etc.) are exposed and will rust eventually.
As said above, betting equipment will be junked before that.
Typical of Marshall amplifier chassis (think cheap Valvestate, not expensive MKII/Plexi reissues which deserve proper zinc plating after machining), lots of Laney stuff, generic computer SMPS or even internal chassis elements, etc.
NOT meant to be "outside" where it can be seen and no protective transparent or blue peelable vinyl sheet which are used only to protect *polished/shiny/smooth blasted* Aluminum or Stainles Steel surfaces.
Acrylic or "high impact" plastic sheets also come with a protective film.
So if you want a good durable finish machine your sheet metal and then plate or paint it.
Cold rolled steel can be passivated, it´s called Phosphatization.
Surface n
becomes relatively stable, but dull and pearl gray in colour.
In general it´s not meant to be used on its own but to passivate steel , dissolve preexisting oxide spots and provide an *excellent* base for painting.
When I am out of speakers, a new batch takes about 1 Month from raw steel to packaged speaker, so to satisfy anxious customers I pull a dozen frames, phosphatize and spray paint them , then assemble and deliver.
The others get the usual bluish Zinc plating.
Customers are happy.