Tools / Finish spec builder
Finish Specification Builder
Answer eight questions and get a drawing note a machine shop can actually quote from. Nothing is sent anywhere, it all runs in your browser.
Drawing note
Paste it into the finish block of your drawing. The lines about handling and rack points are the ones shops most often leave out, and they are the ones that decide whether a batch arrives usable.
Why each line is there
None of it is boilerplate. Each line closes off a way a batch can come back wrong.
- Alloy, no substitutionShops substitute for availability. Harmless on a bracket, a different product on an anodized panel.
- Preparation and gritThe surface under the anodize decides how the colour reads. Blasted looks darker than polished in the same tank.
- Thickness rangeWithout it you are letting time in the tank float, and thickness changes colour depth.
- Grain directionA directional finish with no arrow means half your parts run the wrong way.
- Cosmetic faces namedTells the shop where a defect matters, so it can price and inspect accordingly.
- Rack pointYou choose where the contact mark goes, or the finisher does.
- Reference sampleThe only thing that closes the gap between words and an appearance.
- Handling and packingMost cosmetic rejects are created after the part was finished.
Questions
Background reading: the finishing section and how to mark cosmetic faces.
Why does a finish need this much text on a drawing?
Because "black anodized" is not a specification. Alloy, surface preparation, thickness, grain direction, rack point and colour reference all change the result, and a shop that has to guess will quote the cheap reading of it. The note exists so every quote prices the same job.
Can I just paste this and send it?
Use it as the starting point, then fill in the reference sample line with a real part and date. The note is only as good as the physical reference behind it, because no written colour description survives contact with an anodizing tank.
What if my shop says some of it is unnecessary?
Ask which line and why. Some are genuinely optional on a given part, for example rack point location on something that hides its own contact marks. A shop that dismisses the whole note is telling you it does not control finishing.
Does specifying all this cost more?
It usually costs less. A shop that cannot tell which faces are seen either prices every face as critical, which is expensive, or prices none of them as critical, which gets you a rejected batch. Specificity is the discount.
Have the note and need the parts?
Send the drawing with it. We match you with up to 3 shops that control their own finishing, and reply within 24 business hours.