CNC Machining Surface Finishing Service

Anpllocnc’s Surface Finish Service delivers exceptional quality and precision, specializing in enhancing material aesthetics and durability.with 15+ surface finishing options. Get your cnc machining parts bead blasted, anodized, or powder coated.

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Name	Applicable to	Machining marks	Cosmetic availability	Color	Tolerances
As machined	Metals, Plastics	Visible, light surface scratches	No	N/A	Tolerances are not affected
Smooth machining	Metals, Plastics	Visible, light surface scratches	No	N/A	Tolerances are not affected
Fine machining	Metals	Slightly visible	No	N/A	Tolerances are not affected
Polishing	Metals	Removed on primary surfaces	Always cosmetic	N/A	Met after polishing
Bead blasting	Metals	Removed for non-cosmetic, removed on primary surfaces for cosmetic	On request	N/A	Not affected except for specific features*
Brushing	Metals	Reduced for non-cosmetic, removed on primary surfaces for cosmetic	On request	N/A	Met after brushing
Anodizing Type II	Aluminum	Reduced for non-cosmetic, removed on primary surfaces for cosmetic	On request	Black, Clear, Red, Blue, Gold, Orange	Met after anodizing
Anodizing Type III	Aluminum	Visible under anodizing	No	Black, Natural	Met after anodizing
Black oxide	Copper, Stainless steel, Alloy steel, Tool steel, Mild steel	Visible	No	Black	Met after coating
Chromate conversion coating	Aluminum	Visible	No	Clear	Met after coating
Electroless nickel plating	Mild steel, Aluminum, Stainless steel	Reduced but visible	No	Metallic (semi-bright)	Met after electroless nickel plating
Powder coating	Metals	Removed	No	Black, White, RAL/Pantone	Met before powder coating
Brushed + electropolishing	Stainless steel	Removed on Primary surfaces	Always cosmetic	N/A	Met after electropolishing

Name	Applicable Materials	Colors	Can be applied with
Alodine	Aluminum	Clear, gold	Media Blasting, Tumbling, Type II Anodizing* Type III Anodizing, Type III Anodizing with PTFE
Anodizing	Aluminum	Clear, black, grey, red, blue, gold	Media Blasting, Tumbling, Alodine*


Electropolishing	Steel, Stainless Steel	—	—
Hand Polishing	Acrylic	—	Enhanced cosmetic appearance
Media Blasting	Aluminum, Steel, Stainless Steel, Brass, Bronze, Copper	—	All post processes except Electropolish and Powdercoat
Nickel Plating	Aluminum, Steel, Stainless Steel	—	Media Blasting, Tumbling
Passivation	Steel, Stainless Steel	—	Black Oxide, Electroless Nickel Plating, Zinc Plating, Tumbling, Media Blasting

Tumbling	Aluminum, Steel, Stainless Steel, Brass, Bronze, Copper	—	All post processes except Electropolish and Powdercoat
Vapor Polishing	CNC Polycarbonate (Clear, Black)	—	Enhanced cosmetic appearance, near optically clear applications
Zinc Plating	Steel, Stainless Steel	Clear: light blue coating, black: glossy black coating	Media Blasting, Tumbling, Passi

Cosmetic finishes

Surface finishes can serve either a functional or aesthetic purpose. Surface finishes that serve both purposes are deemed cosmetic finishes, and are used for cosmetic parts. Producing cosmetic parts requires additional measures to minimize defects such as hang marks and scratches from tools.

Non-cosmetic

Primary machining marks will still be visible

As machined
Smooth machining
Fine machining
Chromate Conversion Coating
Electroless Nickel Plating
Anodized type III (Hardcoat)
Powder coating
Black oxide

Cosmetic on request

Finishes can be either cosmetic or non-cosmetic as per request

Cosmetic by default

These finishes will always serve a cosmetic function

Defining an A and a B side

Surface finishing often leaves aesthetic defects on your parts, such as hang marks for anodizing. Defining an A- and a B-side in your design will ensure that the most important areas of your part remain free of defects.

In this image you can see how you can define an A-side and a B-side in your technical drawing:
A side: Indicates the most aesthetically important surface, typically the visible side of your product.
B side: Indicates the side that is not aesthetically important, typically the side hidden from visibility after assembly.

For the primary surface (A-side) of your part, we guarantee defect-free production. In contrast, secondary surfaces (B-side) may be machined with hanging marks and other minor defects. B-side surfaces, like the rest of your part, will be free of scratches, stains and blemishes.

Will my part have	Primary surface (A-side)	Secondary surface (B-side)
Scratches, stains, blemishes	No	No
Hanging marks	No	Minor hanging marks
Other minor defects	No	Up to 2 minor defects

Cosmetic Acceptability Criteria

All cosmetic parts produced by Anpllocnc follow our Cosmetic Acceptability Criteria:

Consistency requirements

Each part must be visually consistent across the same batch, meaning:

Manual brushing marks will be as unidirectional as possible. Please note that for rounded geometries, brushing marks may not be entirely unidirectional.

Visual inspection conditions

The surface quality of every part must meet the following conditions:

What do you need to know about cosmetic finishes?

Cosmetic finishes will follow our Cosmetic Acceptability Criteria
Parts will have guaranteed consistency across the batch
Batch will be inspected as per AQL level II
There will be around a +10% price increase

Partner with Anpllocnc today to get your parts into production