We built our core business from the ground up by specializing in the stain & paint samples for the furniture manufacturers. While servicing the furniture industry, we continued to add to our capabilities and now make samples for anyone that needs to sample their color offerings. 
We will make your color samples:  accurate, affordable and on-time.
Are you a manufacturer of Paints & Coatings, Residential & Commercial Siding, Roofing, Kitchen Cabinets, Flooring, Doors, Moulding & Millwork, Windows, Wood Components, OEM Supplier or a Retailer?  
Are you still waiting for someone to make your samples?   
Do you NEED samples of your colors, using YOUR coatings?

If you answered yes to any of these, please contact Colwell TFS.  We can help.


About Colwell
Technical Finishing Services was founded in 1988. We are a division of a 130+ year old, family-owned company, Colwell Colour.
Colwell is one of the world's largest paint sampling companies. We can work with any of our Colwell divisions and produce any type of sampling program you need.  Sales Kits, color paint chip cards, Point of Sales Displays, Brochures...when you think of color samples, Colwell Colour has made it.

The startup idea for TFS was prompted by an inquiry from one of Colwell's customer stating the hassle of making wood stain samples in their own manufacturing operations. A few calls to others within the office furniture industry concurred this was an issue at their manufacturing facilities as well. It became apparent that our division would became the, "if you build it, we will come" story. A 16,000 square foot building, located in a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota was secured to become our sampling home. Our insistence on making quality samples, fair pricing, great employees (and owner), great customers, on-time delivery and our ability to produce sampling programs have generated our steady growth.



In the Beginning
When TFS started out, our first biggest challenge facing us was proving to the furniture makers that we could reproduce their wood finishes accurately.
And of course, doing that as a cost effective alternative versus them producing their samples in-house. We geared the finishing department to achieve maximum efficiency and color control throughout the process of finishing the samples. Our main objective has always been to produce a quality looking sample that is consistent in the color match and finish appearance. We also pay close attention to the clear coating process to insure it has a consistent sheen and fill level of the wood pores.  Every single stain and paint sample we make is individually inspected before we ship out.
We built custom milling equipment to process the wood products into finished sample pieces. For instance - the edges of the veneered product are typically rounded over with a bullnose shape to soften and then are painted black to hide the core and match the black paint we typically apply to the back.
Color brochures and digital presentations can only achieve a "first look" in representing your product. The samples we will make you bring your product to life. There is no comparison to the human factor - holding a real sample in your potential customers hand showing your unique color selections and quality level. This gives your customers the look, touch, feel and yes, even smell of a real world product you manufacture. This will create demand at the specification and owner level that will drive your sales growth. Real samples are an investment that will improve your sales. 




Our Finishers
Our company's foundation is built around a core of very talented and experienced finishers. Each one of our artist has 25+ years' experience working at TFS. They grew up color matching stain and paint finishes (and is still our specialty), but they have become WELL VERSED in other types of finishing such as:

- gloss / sheen samples
- specialty wall paint
- architectual coating (except coil coatings)
- floor coating
- faux stone, crackle, spatter, hammertone, pearl and metallic
- automotive paint
- marine and air
- residential and commercial siding (fiber cement, aluminum, steel, wood) samples
- powder coat samples
- cabinetry, milllwork, doors and window stain & paint  samples



Sampling
We know that a sample produced by TFS, will be your customer's first impression of you and your company's quality.  We pride ourselves on our workmanship and that quality shows with our attention to detail in every sample produced by TFS.
If you have a unique sampling requirement, we will work directly with your own manufacturing and/or your suppliers to make your sampling, so your end customer can make the color selections they need to order your product.

One last plug on samples:
We also manufacture lots of High Pressure Laminate (HPL), Thermally Fused Laminate (TFL) and Thermofoil (low pressure) sampling.  For HPL samples, we have a local supplier that will order laminates and glue them to 1/8" MDF core and apply a backer to balance out the panel construction. For TFL and Thermofoil, your suppliers can send us panels. We run these panels through our milling equipment (just like the stain samples we manufacture) and provides you with a consistent look within all the sampling. A much nicer, quality presentation than giving your customers the free samples provided by the HPL manufacturers (like you see at the big box outlets when one is buying a countertop).



Processing samples
We take care of everything. They say the "beauty is in the details". We live by this. Our sampling we make for you typically includes items such as painting edges and backs black, printing / applying labels and inserting your samples into poly sleeves to protect the faces and the label on the backs. We can also insert your samples into catalog binder pages and collate / build fan decks, sales kits, selector kits, etc. We package your samples as neatly and tidy as possible so they are field ready when they arrive. We also offer just-in-time distribution services to keep your supply chain stocked and ready.

Final Thoughts

Large or small runs, TFS will create the sampling tools you need, with the quality your customers should expect and on-time delivery. Since 1988, we have made over 20 million individual samples alone for just the furniture mfgs.  Cost is always important and TFS usually produces for the same or less versus producing them in-house. When you add in the labor cost when you're NOT making your product (but making samples) it's usually a no-brainer to outsource your sampling.  We'll leave you with one last thought - every sample made and sourced by TFS has a 100% guarantee.


Want to take a more in-depth look at TFS making stain samples?   Take a
plant tour.
Want to see a few examples of store displays that we made the samples for?   Click here.
Contact Phil by email or call me at the plant between 8:30 - 5:00 (Central Time)

Technical Finishing Services
7541 Commerce Lane NE
Fridley, MN 55432
Phone: (763) 571-3902
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