The latest in trends in furniture, flooring, and other materials is high gloss. Meeting this trend requires innovative changes to the processes and products used to achieve the desired results. As the market for high gloss surfaces increases, the need for cost effective manufacturing solutions becomes obvious. Traditionally, high gloss surfaces were only used in highly-precise, high priced applications where time-consuming processes were acceptable; for example, a typical process included the application of several layers of lacquer with sanding and polishing in between. Often these were done manually. That makes for very high production costs. Today, with high-gloss finishes becoming a mainstream design element, manufacturers are looking for inexpensive methods to create acceptable gloss surfaces. Since the end users’ ideal for gloss is a mirror or a piece of glass, the bar is set high. Manufacturers are challenged to achieve this level of quality and shine, while remaining cost-effective. One of the newest technologies in achieving a high gloss surface uses hot coating technology. To keep cost down, the coating is added to a melamine panel. Since melamine-faced chipboard is [...]