The fishing boom has created demand for stylish and attractive fishing gear. But for many years, there was no way to add any sense of style to the knob on the handle of the reel, because it is made out of rubber. While it is relatively easy to add decorative flourishes to the metal and plastic parts of the reel, it is much more difficult to apply paint and coatings to soft materials such as rubber and elastomer. But our new enhanced bonding technology now makes it possible to apply metallic coatings to rubber surfaces. Fishing gear comes in for particularly harsh treatment, which can cause peeling. However, in a year-long durability test on a professional-grade reel setup, there was no evidence of peeling whatsoever.
We have since tested the new bonding technology on grips for skis, which are often highly decorative, as well as the rubber-elastomer tips on walking canes. In this way, it is now possible to add a metallic look to soft surfaces that were previously considered unsuitable for painting.
Enhanced bonding technology allows us to add decorative design flourishes to a whole new range of parts and components, including soft moldings. This enables standardization of input materials and therefore smaller lot sizes.