Wire insulation and coating
Sandvik offers several types of insulation and coating including PTFE coating and adhesive bondcoats, all available in multiple colors.
For insulation and bondable coatings Sandvik uses a continuous 'flood coating' process; in other words, the coating is applied to the wire before being formed into, for example, a medical device. This guarantees a complete coating over the wire surface, which is both consistent and extremely tenacious, and gives the wire quality and performance benefits over 'electrostatic spray coating' techniques applied to the outside surface of an end-product.
Insulation coatings
Sandvik provides insulation coatings for temperatures up to 240°C (464°F). In addition to standard NEMA or JIS builds, Sandvik is capable of applying 'thin' and 'ultra-thin' builds of insulations. These builds are thinner than NEMA Type 1, and still meet the dielectric property and other requirements of NEMA Type 1.
List of insulation coatings
PTFE-coated wire
PTFE coating can be applied to any medical grade in size range 0.025–0.762 mm (0.001–0.030 in.). Sandvik provides PTFE-coated wire with coating thickness from 0.00127 to 0.0127 mm (0.00005 to 0.0005 in.). Typical coloring of the PTFE coating is green, although clear finishes and other colors can be offered on request.
Bondable coatings
Bondable coatings can be applied to bare wire or as a second coat over the top of any of the insulations that are offered. The amount of coating applied can be standard NEMA or JIS build or thinner amounts as required.
If a special coating or insulation is required Sandvik will, together with the customer, develop a process for its use. Sandvik has, for example, developed low out-gassing, high-temperature, self-bondable coatings specifically designed for the hard disk drive industry to reduce contamination and deliver good resonance performance.
List of bondable coatings
Metallic coatings
Sandvik provides several types of metallic coatings such as anodizing, electroplating and electropolishing. As a standard, Sandvik offers gold-plated wire, nickel-plated wire and silver-plated wire, but also other types of electroplating can be manufactured on request. Additionally, Sandvik works with cladding and cladded alloys.