Wheatland Tube is building a new paint line at our Council Avenue facility, which will allow us to improve our SureThread Pipe Products. The answers to some frequently asked questions about what will change and why are listed below.

Will the Paint on SureThread Pipe be changing?

Yes, the new paint line will allow us to move from the solvent based varnish that we have used in the past to a state of the art waterbased acrylic coating.The new coating will give a long lasting, black, low gloss, opaque finish on the pipe.

Why are we making this change?

The paint line is the first phase of a 24 month, $36.5 million rejuvenation of the Council Avenue facility. The new coating will help us to reduce our emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by greater than 80%, while maintaining the same high level of durability and corrosion resistance that our current coating provides.

What are the differences between this new coating and the one that Wheatland has used in the past?

The most obvious difference will be the appearance of the Pipe. The current varnish is a glossy, semi-transparent, black tinted coating and the new coating is a low gloss, opaque, black paint that has been designed to give a superior level of protection to pipes, automotive undercarriages, driveshafts, and other functional industrial and automotive equipment. Additionally, since the new paint is very fast drying we will now be able to apply our stencil after the paint is applied and dried. This will result in a crisper, easier to read stencil. The nature of the coating process will result in a more uniform thickness of paint across the body of the pipe. As in the past, the new coating is completely safe to use and handle when dried, and we are happy to provide any MSDS documentation that you may need to manage this transition.

What Wheatland Tube products will be involved in this change?

All Wheatland Tube SureThread Pipe will be produced using this new coating. Other products will not be affected by this change, but based on the nature of this coating, our customers will notice appearance and performance that is very similar to that of our Fire Protection Pipe products which currently use this type of coating.

Will I be able to weld on this new coating?

Yes, this coating has welding and fabrication characteristic very similar to that of the coating currently used on our Mega-Flow, Mega-Thread, and Schedule 10 and 40 fire protection products. The enhanced precision of the new coating equipment will also allow us to provide a more consistent and uniform coating thickness, which will make threading and roll grooving of the pipe even more convenient.

When will this new paint be available on SureThread Pipe?

The new coating will be commissioned in February of 2015. Our customers will begin receiving pipe with the new paint at the beginning of the second quarter of 2015.