About Knotwood - The market leader in aluminum wood look finishes
Knotwood are proud to be the market leaders, utilising the most advanced wood grain finishing machine in the world!
By using Knotwood wood look aluminum finishing you can have the beauty and warmth of wood without the time consuming maintenance and expense. The process is called sublimation and has been tested for durability throughout the world.
Knotwood have designed unique hidden fixing systems for aluminum fencing, decking, privacy screens, shutters and balustrades. Knotwood does not need welding this means you can do it yourself or contact us and we will put you in touch with your local installer. All our products come in all our unique Knotwood wood grain aluminum finishes or any powder coat colour.
Making Knotwood
Extruding Knotwood Profiles.
The process begins by heating the stock billet material. It is then loaded into the container in the press. A dummy block is placed behind it where the ram then presses on the material to push it out of the die. Afterward the extrusion is stretched in order to straighten it.
Pre Treatment of Aluminum.
In this process, the mill finish aluminum profiles are treated with a strong acidic cleaner to ensure the removal of the specified oxide layer thickness equating to more than 1 g/m². After the acid wash the aluminum is immersed in a controlled chromic acid bath with special additives, a chemical conversion reaction occurs at the metal’s surface. This reaction produces a thin oxide film with entrapped chromates and dichromates. This process ensures the aluminum is resilient to corrosion.
Powder Coating
The next stage in Knotwood’s™ process involves powder coating. Electrostatic guns will be used to make 80-120µ (microns) powder paint layer. Polymerization will be performed afterwards by heating the profiles to 220 degree Celsius for 30 minutes. The base coat that is applied is very durable and scratch resistant. This coat also serves as protection of the aluminum from external factors such as abrasion, corrosion, weather, humidity and UV damage.
Sublimation.
The final stage is all about decorating the powder coated aluminum. The Knotwoodâ„¢ wood grain film needs to cover the entire aluminium profile, the profile is then set on the conveyor system. We then use a vacuum suction system to remove the air from the film bags. The conveyor will insert the aluminum profile into an oven to make changes to the ink pigments, which will be converted from solid to gas then back to solid again resulting in a perfect thermo print. Knotwood ships with the film intact for better transport.