Topic: my ghetto powdercoating operation

[unkle fester]

got hold of a free oven, then built a cabinet on top...cut a hole in the back and put in a 20 inch box fan, a couple of cheepie furnace filters, scrap piece ol looneyum in the bottom that is also grounded just to help get rid of extra powder...can't get much more ghetto than this......welded together some scrap to use as a rack to bake the parts.......and a couple axle adjusters as they bake.......I getting ready to do my hubs and rims when some more powder gets here.........this #$%* is gonna be addicting........I see all sorts of stuff that I can do.....powders are amazing now too.....pearls, metallics, chromes, flip flop stuff, candies, high temp............I am able to sandblast the stuff at work, which is good.............

[kirkn]

OUTSTANDING!!  That's my kinda setup.  Cheap, yet effective!

What does the electric circuitry look like?  I'm not fully clear on how it works - one part negative, the powder gets a positive, or something?

How durable is the end product?  Where do/did you get the powder and the sprayer?  How much?

Hmm.....   

[unkle fester]

the powder coming from the gun is positively charges and a ground lead is attached to the piece being coated.....that is negatively charged......the powder is attracted to the piece, then the piece is cured in an electric oven (not one you ust to cook in though) at roughly 400 degrees for about 10 miutes......more durable than paint......damn near impossible to sandblast it off.......here's a good source for everything......they have a forum too that is very good...http://caswellplating.com/powder/index.html

[fuzzybutt]

hmmmmmmmm looks like caswell is going to get some business from me by the end of the year. good price on that high volatge gun.

[BlindJoe]

cool...thanks for posting.

[Caaveman82]

Actually I powder coat at work and there is a couple things I could recomend to you....

Number one, steel parts powder them cold. Turn the oven down to 375. Bake it for 15 min.

Number two, aluminum. There is a special acid that opens the pores in aluminum to make it take better and help release the gasses that will come out of cast aluminum. We get ours through Zep, it's called zepalum. Just mix the acid with water 10:1 ratio. Dip it till it clouds then rinse it off. Dry. Preheat in over for 45 minutes. Pull it out, blow it off, powder it, put it back in for 45 minutes. 350 works best for this.

Couple other things about powder. Laquer thinner and bead blasting will tear right through powder coat. Any kind of thinner or even gasoline if left to sit long enough will eat through the powder. Not to mention if you were to lay your bike down I can promise you you'll need to get some things redone. I would not personally powder coat a frame because the little pebbles and rocks and what not will chip it slightly. Once that happens powder coat some times likes to peel, depending on the powder.

Just my experience.

[Artfrombama]

There is a special acid that opens the pores in aluminum to make it take better and help release the gasses that will come out of cast aluminum. We get ours through Zep, it's called zepalum. Just mix the acid with water 10:1 ratio. Dip it till it clouds then rinse it off. Dry. Preheat in over for 45 minutes. Pull it out, blow it off, powder it, put it back in for 45 minutes. 350 works best for this.
Just my experience.

That's my problem with powder coating aluminum (and potmetal). Sometimes it comes out perfect, then sometimes it comes out with pits and bubbles. It helps if I get the parts hot with a propane torch.

What causes the powder to not flow out smooth? I describe it as a "lizard skin" texture.

Good info, thanks Caveman!

[Caaveman82]

Gas and not enough heat is what gives it that orange peel look. I did it on my tank on purpose because I liked the look, but to avoid it for aluminum just make sure you preheat it, you could preheat the thing all day if you wanted to, the longer the better, we do it for about fourty fives minutes, but again we have the acid, so maybe kick it up to like a one hour or even hour and a half preheat time to let all those gases out.