Aluminum

From the beginning, aluminum has been used as a high-end, light-weight, and durable material. Space travel and supercar car manufacturing are impossible without it and it was responsible for some groundbreaking innovations along the way.

Aluminum started its triumphal advance into design as its technological mystique and silvery surface opened up new horizons in the use of metal in interior design. At FSB this started with the designs by Johannes Potentes in the 1950s. The aesthetically pleasing results of anodized aluminum combined with the benefits of increased durability offer numerous design opportunities for architects, builders, designers and specifiers, as well as artists.

Anodized aluminum will not fade, chip or peel, it will not show “wear” under UV and salt-water exposure. Unlike steel or iron products, it will never rust.

Anodizing combines science with nature to create one of the world's best metal finishes. Anodizing is an environmentally safe process that converts the aluminum metal surface into a more durable and weather-resistant finish. "Recycle-neutral", aluminum can be recycled again and again, without any loss and the energy savings associated with recycling are about 95% compared to its initial extraction.

FSB has enhanced its processing of aluminum by adopting a mix of manual and industrial methods that allows each of its many door handle designs to be “worked” out of the material to optimum effect. The anodized colors supplied by FSB take as their point of reference the classic metallic “colors” with which the builders’ hardware sector have specified since the 1950s to emulate typical real hardware metals by means of color-anodized aluminum finishes. What used to be an attractively priced alternative for private builders’ clients unable to afford (or unwilling to buy) door fittings in bronze has, however, since established itself as a design option in its own right for architecture and select interior finishing schemes.

FSB is revitalizing “its” aluminum material with the aid of anodized colors based on refined matte aluminum finishes whose inimitable sheen and pleasant haptic quality lend them an allure of a kind never before seen. A conscious attempt to relate to the actual metal is made – “color” in the sense of “colorful” is out. This is regardless of whether the host surface is highlighted by means of a metallic color/finish or whether it is to play a more downbeat role – notably in the case of anodized or powder-coated window and facade profiles – as part of a scheme of coordinated shades.

In technical and functional terms, blasting an aluminum surface causes it to be compacted much in the same way as occurs during forging, as a result of which blasted anodized aluminum finishes are somewhat more resistant to knocks and scratches than traditionally worked and anodized aluminum.

FSB sees itself primarily as a manufacturer of door and window fittings made of fine metals. FSB offers a limited range of painted fittings. When making your custom color inquiry, please specify the RAL number of the required color. Account must always be taken of the fact that slight variations in color can arise in manufacturing, due the materials and the process involved.

As its basic material for painted fittings, FSB uses the cast and ground aluminum models from its standard range. Before painting, the parts are subject to a special, anodic oxidation. FSB then uses electrostatic powder coating. This is a solvent-free painting process.

The paint is applied in layers of approx. 80 μm. The quality of the finish, the light fastness of the colors, the hardness of the surface, resistance to abrasion etc. approximately correspond to that of anodized aluminum layers.

If properly fitted and used properly, the paint on FSB fittings will withstand daily use. Vigorous contact with hard and sharp-edged objects (e.g. rings, keys, boxes etc.) can scratch the surface. Scratches do not however impair function.

FSB ErgoSystem®

FSB offers you the option, for all parts within the ErgoSytem Bathroom Accessories which are made of aluminum and as standard are painted dark grey, to paint them on request with almost all colors to RAL. ErgoSystem® fittings for large buildings can be colormatched to individual designs or their colors can set an accent. Please specify the required RAL number with every inquiry.