Stronghold Coatings, LTD.

Larry F Grimenstein, president of Nation Coating Systems, Inc. is announcing the opening of a new business, Stronghold Coatings, Ltd.  The new veteran owned company will work in the field of composite polymer/plastic and thermal spray coatings.  Stronghold Coatings has an R&D spray facility at NCS and soon will be opening a new Metallurgical Lab for development and testing of new products.  Focus will be on working in the commercial, aviation and military markets.  Projects that are presently being worked on are special composite coating for sever corrosion pump applications.  Also a major project is development of low cost high quality HVOF coatings for all industries.

Two new products that have been developed are Dichtol and Liquid Mask.  Dichtol is a sealing material for porosity in thermal sprayed coatings.  It has exceptional high capillary action so it impregnates and seals the coating.  Dichtol is resistant to both acids and caustic materials.  Its high temperature capability is 250 degrees C continuous and there is even a version that will take 500 degrees C continuous.

The second new product,  Liquid Mask, is now ready to package, sell and send out samples.  It is a polymeric material that can be brushed or dipped to provide protective masking for thermal sprayed parts.  It has been tested on both arc wire and plasma coatings and works very well.  After thermal spray coating the masking is easily removed and gives an excellent protection.  It even works on some HVOF coatings but would have to be tested for each application.  Some HVOF coats parts see too much heat and too long of exposure and the coating does not hold up.  Equipment such as turntables have also been protected from over spray using this masking material.

NCS Bonds with Stronghold

The joint research and development projects between Nation Coating Systems (NCS) and Stronghold Coatings has started to grow into several large projects. The completion of the Met lab at NCS has given Stronghold the ability to review coatings and make modifications for various applications. The actual projects have grown from nano-particle applications to new improved sealers for thermal sprayed coatings.

One major project is with Reactive Nano Technologies (RNT), which was the subject of an article in the American Welding Society Journal (Apply Localized Heat for Brazing and Soldering, pg 44, SEP 2006 Welding Journal), will enable soldering and brazing without a torch. NCS is making the development parts for RNT with for trials of their material on various parent materials for all types of applications.  Stronghold has been doing trials and the development of which coating process will give the highest bond strength with the lowest cost.

Another major application project is the utilization of Dichtol as a sealer for testing with the navy Research lab. This sealant has passed several tests and is now being looked at by several major organizations. The sealant is being looked at for many types of applications and some information is not open for publication. Stronghold along with NCS has made several improvements in the application such as removal of a former HAPS (Hazard Air Pollutants) material (xylene) which is now no longer used. The newest work done with Dicthol is removal of just about all of the VOCs in the solvent system. This is still under trial and no samples are ready for testing until Stronghold has finished its homework.

The new material, Liquid Mask, which is being used by several thermal spray shops, is almost ready for a major change. Stronghold is now testing a new version of Liquid Mask which has no solvents. Many shops liked the new masking material when it firs came out, but the solvent content made it not a material they wanted to use. The new version will soon be ready for testing by customers and a notice will be sent out for possible shops that are interested. NCS is the current test site with a few modifications it will meet their application requirements.

The above are some of the joint projects performed by the two companies. Applications vary from commercial to military. If everything goes right development will start for a major aircraft engine manufacturer. Doing development for actual applications and not for just test or a paper has paid off for both companies.

A Veteran Owned Company