Force 8 have always prided themselves on perfecting their manufacturing processes, and they believe that their new paint facility has now reached that stage. Over the last 12 months Force 8 have been testing and developing new techniques with the help of their new paint shop manager, who’s background was within the car paint industry.
One of the issues Force 8 found when outsourcing their doors for painting was any imperfections on the door were highlighted with the finished paint, which were initially missed due to the mono chrome aspect of the door slabs, and too late to amend after the full painting process. This meant rectifying the problem and sending it away for painting again, this was not only costly, but time consuming within an industry where tight deadlines are the norm.
The company took the decision to move everything in-house for better quality control, and now have a fully functional paint facility with spray booth, full industry standard extraction and filter system and dust free drying area. After many trials Force 8 believe they have now created the correct process for the perfect paint finish. “This was a big investment not only financially, but in time as well, it’s taken a while to perfect the techniques and process”, comments Lisa Mottershead operations director.
All the doors are first given a dust coat, a technique used in the car industry, its then allowed to dry and then given a close inspection. Because of the way the dust coat is applied, it shows any imperfections, blemishes, or scratches on the door. These can be rectified before any more coats of paint are added, this helps to give an unblemished finish, and is also a major time saver. With the help of their new paint shop manager and many trials, Force 8 have worked out which is the best under coat for a particular colour, having a red undercoat for a red topcoat does not always give the best finish. Each door has up to four coats of 4K paint including a top lacquer coat to protect the finish.
Frames can be sprayed at the same time as the doors and allowed to dry at the same rate giving a perfect match. Temperature and drying time can also have an affect on the finished products, which is why its important to paint related products together under the same conditions. When using separate companies, even using the same colour and brand of paint, cannot guarantee a perfect match for reasons outlined above.
Lisa continues, “The paint we use is the best on the market and Force 8 can formulate any standard colour along with any custom colours. Probably the best demonstration of the new painting facility is the Irish Oak door finish, which combines several techniques developed by Force 8 to produce a finish we believe is probably the best on the market”.
If you want to see for yourself, visit the ODL stand at the FIT Show F31, all the doors on display have been provided by Force 8 including the popular arched and stable doors, all painted in the new facility.