Birchwood Casey

Press Releases

New MICROLOK® AO From Birchwood Casey Provides Robust
Corrosion Protection For Iron And Steel Components –
Ideal Low Cost, Non-Polluting Replacement For Cold Blackeners

MICROLOK® AO

Eden Prairie, Minnesota: Now, manufacturers can finish iron and steel components with a low temperature, environmentally friendly process that serves as a low-cost replacement for polluting cold blackening.

Nothing like it -- the MICROLOK® AO Process from Birchwood Casey forms a non-toxic, aluminum oxide conversion coating that is 0.000060 inches (1.5 microns) thick, silver/black in color and tightly adherent to the metal surface. When sealed with a rust preventive, the finish provides robust corrosion protection that is better than cold blackening, at half the cost, without undesirable pollution hazards.

Ideal for users of cold blackeners who want a replacement that is safe to apply and avoids the use of EPA regulated (copper & selenium) chemicals. The patented MICROLOK AO solution contains no regulated chemicals - process rinse waters are generally sewerable as non-hazardous discharge. Applying the finish requires only five steps and 15 minutes:

CLEAN the metal surface: SAFE SCRUB; 120-140° F; 5 minutes.
RINSE in clean water.
APPLY MICROLOK AO finish: 120-140° F; 8 minutes.
RINSE in clean water.
SEAL in DRI TOUCH® AMBER Rust Preventive: 1 minute.

Additional benefits include: anti-galling protection to aid in assembly and startup; temperature stability up to 1400°F; safe 120-140° F operation with no boiling or splattering; no scale or sludge buildup in tanks, bath maintenance is much simpler requiring only pH monitoring.

Applications include: tooling and machine components, automotive parts including tie-rods, ball joints, clutch and brake components and large components such as oilfield drilling equipment. MICROLOCK AO is an ideal choice for any component with its attractive, non-dimensional silver-black finish, corrosion protection and anti-galling properties.

Most cold blackening lines can be easily converted to the MICROLOK AO process; or new tank lines, of any size, are available from Birchwood Casey at modest cost, ranging from small-scale manually operated lines to large volume CNC operated systems.