powdercoating ideas and tips from the doit yourselfers! PROS AND BUSINESSES STAY OUT!

[SYKO]

ok so I have a sh*tton of parts I need to get powdercoated everything from suspension/engine parts on my 62 Continental project to multipul little parts on my trikes and what not.

so this is for the doit yourselfers I dont want no pros that have huge custom built ovens and 500 million volt powderguns to start flapping their cake eaters in this thread.


im looking at the cheap harbour freight powdergun to start off hell I say I can loose for $39 bucks plus the %20 off coupon I have

put an add out for some junk but working electric stove (maybe two)

I have an enclosed side to my shop that I could setup in and make a sweet little powdercoating station

I know eastwood sells the guns and I may work up to a nice one after awhile

were is the cheapest place to get powders from?

mostly single stage chrome and solid colors is what ill be using

I dont plan on doing this for anyone but myself so dont bother asking

well maybe for a few freinds...lol

so do it yourselfers... how did you start what are you using and how is everything holding up?


:beer

[honda200xatc]

I just got into powdercoating a few weeks ago. I purchased one of the eastwood powdercoating guns/unit for 69.99 with free shipping off ebay. I have tried the gloss black, white and single stage chrome from eastwood and i have to say that I am impressed on how easy it was and how good my parts came out considering I am just starting out. I looked at the chicago electric guns from harbor freight but it seems like everytime I order the chicago electric brand, it ends up breaking or being junk. I would recommend the eastwood guns and powders for sure.

[Dirtcrasher]

^ I agree. PC is relatively easy also......

[SYKO]

I agree with CP electric stuff being junk but thats electric stuff with motors though.... I have some CP stuff that Ive bought off the snapon guy and those tools have been stronger and longer lasting then my snap on stuff, pluss the Harbor freight by me offers a extended warrenty for like $2.50. Is everyone just using a regular electric oven? how did your chrome come out honda 200? how much has your powder been costing? Reason im asking all this as I have a box full of parts to be powdered and I got a buddy that dads runs a industrial powder place ( big enough to powdercoat a semi car carrier) and he gave me a sweet price but.... even for that price I think I could buy all the stuff to get started and still have some money left over then be able to do it myself from now on ya dig jive turkeys?

[honda200xatc]

Well as of right now I am only doing parts big enough to fit inside a toaster oven. I am probably getting an old electric oven this coming saturday so I can start doing bigger items. The single stage powder went on just like any other eastwood powder but I noticed that the chrome seems to show minor imperfections in the metal so it takes a little more prep work to make it come out perfect. You can tell that it's not REAL chrome but upon quick glance it looks pretty much like chrome. Its way better than the chrome paint they sell in stores. That stuff seems to come out gray looking. I haven't done any 3 wheeler parts in chrome yet but I did a few bolts and clamps and I am happy with it. As far as powder wise, I have only ordered my powder in 1/2 lb containers so I can sample them first and see if I like the color. I have done quite a few parts and it doesn't seem to take much powder at all.

[SYKO]

yea I know how the chrome looks Ive allready had a bunch done I knew it wasnt going to look anything like real chrome but more like a almost polished aluminum wich is fine for me I also have a toaster oven and most likely since it only got used 2 or less times a year its going to get alocated to this use now.

[UndefinedT]

What micron count are you laying down on the Chrome powder? I've never sprayed chrome, but the imperfection could because your area rate isn't correct(aka micron rate)

Different colors use different microns..I've sorta got into spraying powder here and there at my old work..beauty of having a shop key.

[honda200xatc]

I dont really know what micron count my single stage chrome powder is. I know it is from the imperfections in the parts like pits and stuff. If it was a really nice part I would take the time to fill it. I know that the gloss black and white seem to hide the imperfections well so I didnt need to do a lot of prep work beforehand.

[tundrawillie]

Prep is key. I prefer to preheat the bare parts to get rid of body oil (hands and fingers). I use soda, glass bead and heavier media for rusted areas. The bake time starts when the actual part has reached the recommended temperature, not just the temp in the oven. A clear powder coat works great on polished parts to maintain the shine. If you need a frame or frames done, I offer my fellow three wheeled enthusiasts very special pricing. The barter system is alive and well in my book. Machine work, welding, etc. gladly exchanged for powder coating.

I've purchased powder from Caswell Plating and Powderbythepound.com. Caswell products come in cans, while P by the P comes double bagged in a cardboard box. No biggie. The key is to store your powder in something like an old refrigerator(unplugged). No drastic temp changes or humidity exposure. Basicly the same as storing welding rods.

[Vealmonkey]

I've only gotten to do powdercoating with 86trizinger on here and he has the Eastwood powder set up. We only used Eastwood powders as well. We used gloss black but we had also purchased mirror black and another color or 2. Prep is the key. Cleaning parts as best as you can and then bead blasting to make sure your surface is clean of debris and as uniform as possible and also provides good surface adhsesion seems to help really nice. You must have an over that will hold your parts unless you have the Eastwood hot light set up. You can prebake parts, but if you pre cleaned it doesn't seem to be an issue. Your powder will flow into most imperfections. And if you missed any spots or were light on a spot, you can always repowder and rebake. I thought the results were very good. You need lots of wire to hang parts with and lots of area to hang cooling parts so they don't touch each other. Make sure you have your concutor wire is hooked up and working properly or you will have alot of stray powder all over everything. LOL Eastwood has a nice range of colors even though there are outfits around that have super wide arrays of color. I can't tell you how well other makers products work as I only worked with the Eastwood products. I don't know if Eastwood stuff is more for the home powdercoater or not and I don't even know how other makers products work with Eastwood equipment. Your basic only limit seems to be size of parts compared to what you have to bake them in. Best of luck with your new adventure.

[Dirtcrasher]

I blast everything and then wipe it with lacquer thinner.

Craigslist has free ovens everywhere, the larger the better and I put supports near where my broiler was for hanging......

[mellomushroom66]

I'v had good luck with the craftsman powder coating setup, also I use powder from harbor freight so far it holds up well, and matches the faded honda red on my 86 BR nicely.

[dksix]

I'm in between pro and do it yourselfer but I've made all my stuff with little out of pocket cost (booth and oven) so I don't fall into the mega money setups. Chromes (or any metallics) should have a clear or top coat but Columbia Coatings is selling a single stage bonded chrome that looks nice and doesn't need a clear. I used it on my wheels, here's a link to my build thread and you can see the color. http://www.3wheelerworld.com/showthread.php?117440-My-first-trike-1984-200x/page3 When I first started I thought that I could get by with stuff that I couldn't get by with in paint but I was wrong, clean substrate is a must. The Harbor Freight systems are fine for starting out but leave something to be desired when doing multistage finishes. With it you'll likely have to hot flock 2nd+ coats. Not a big deal, just be careful when doing that or you'll get too much powder and it will run off the parts while curing. A house oven is fine but something to move the air around will help allot with hot spots. You can get a metal bladed fan at wal mart for under $10, a small shaft through the side of the oven with the fan blades turning inside worked well for me. It doesn't take allot of CFM's just enough to move the air. Or but a used Jen-Air blower off ebay for $40 or so and use it. I'll post a couple links with some good info on powder types and places I've dealt with.
http://www.powdercoatingonline.com/html/powdercharacteristics.html Description of different types of powders
http://www.powdercoatingonline.com/html/powdercharacteristics.html Really nice people
http://www.columbiacoatings.com/ Where the Bonded Chrome comes from but I don't really like dealing with them
http://www.roseyspowdercoating.com/ Good powder, good prices, limited selection, I really like the candy colors from this place
If you get the HF system, there is some mods that really help the gun spray better. I can find that info for you if you want. It's basically drilling some extra holes (very small) in the air inlet that;s in the cup but it works wonders. Makes a much more ever spray pattern. I started with a borrowed EastWoods system then to HF, then to Caswell's adjustable and then the a Redline. The bid power of the Redline is nice but high voltage causes allot of problems in caged area's. The 50KV CasWell system would be my first choice in a cup gun. I cut the electrode off short and rarely use a diffuser. Most bike/auto stuff is small and has allot of caged areas so the bid fan pattern just waste powder IMO. If you want links to a couple of forums I'm on I can post them. Allot of oven building info. I've seen many converted refrigerators used for ovens. They seem to work well. My bigger oven is 4' wide 2' deep and 6' high on the inside and I build it myself for around $200, my booth is 4' wide 4' deep and 6' high and I have less than $100 in it. I just vent it outside and have very little problems. Blasting is the bigger pain I had when I started. I bought one of the HF 199.99 blasting cabinet and $80 dust collector but my compressor was too small and I had to wait on it alto. I use Black Beauty media in the 20/40 grit for everything, I just adjust pressure when I want a smoother finish on the substrate and up the pressure when I'm working on rougher stuff. The biggest thing it to have a good ground. This can't be said enough, for $20 or less by an 8 or 9 foot ground rod into the ground and run a heavy (8 ga or bigger copper stranded wire to your hanging rack). This will save lots of disappointments. I started out just clipping to the ground of my system but when I went to a dedicated ground rod the transfer rate was 5X better an I saw allot less powder on the floor. Hanging hooks made from heavy fence wire works great and are much cheaper but you can get some good deals on hanging hooks on ebay. Stuff like that is higher from powder suppliers. Masking with anything less than high temp tape will cause you problems, that stuff is costly but worth it. PreTreatments are great but I feel over estimated by the people who use them and the iron phosphate doesn't work on aluminum. I use Liquid Guard PC from CC. It's pretty easy to use but the only time I've ever seen any difference is when I got too much on the parts and it caused problems. The biggest mistake people make when starting out is under curing. Under cured parts will look great but the finish will be weak. Invest in a HF laser non contact thermometer (about $30) but don't trust it all the time. House ovens thermostats can be off 30+ degrees which is enough to put you in danger of under curing. I have a PID controller and analog thermometer and the non contact and I use all 3 every time. Under cured powder can be broken down with lacquer thinner and a rag when rubbed. Test your curing on some practice parts when you start to get a good feel for the curing process. Powder Coating is hard to strip so practice with some throw away parts first. People say PC'ing isn't hard but people say it always has orange peel too, neither is true. If you get proper coating thickness and cure it right it will look better than any paint job you've ever seen. Here's a link to my photo bucket of some of my stuff, if you want to check it out.
http://s706.photobucket.com/home/dksix/allalbums
If there is anyway I can help, feel free to contact me anytime.

[SYKO]

great info! thanx! when doing a 2 stage powder do you do the sub color then cure it then take it out and do the second color then recure?

[Dirtcrasher]

I have the chrome you have to immediately hit with another powder, never tried it........

I'll report back if I do but I'd prefer a single stage PC chrome.

[dksix]

great info! thanx! when doing a 2 stage powder do you do the sub color then cure it then take it out and do the second color then recure?

It depends on the type of powder I'm using for the base coat and top coat. I use acrylic clear sometimes and urethane clear often. If I'm doing like a TGIC on top of a TGIC I'll do a full cure but if I'm using different types of powder on top of each other I'll usually do a partial cure of the base coat then spray the top coat and give a little extra curing time. Partial curing is letting the base just start to flow and start getting smooth. I don't allow the base to fully cool. This allows a better cross linking of the different powders. Most powders have a great deal of over curing protection built into them but some clears are more sensitive and will start to turn yellow or get dull with very much over curing. And BTW don't ever try to do a coat over an SD powder (super durable) it won't stay on, that stuff is just so hard nothing will bond to it. I've heard some people have had luck with some colors but stay with mirror colors if you want to clear of second coat. If you want to read up on some powder coating tips and tricks, check this site out. http://powder365.com/forum/index.php The members there are great to people who are new to powder coating and you'll find the best of the best custom coaters there and willing to help. I've never had a problem getting help with anything and the people who run the store are great, they always have time to talk to you and not to just try to sale you something. I can't say enough good things about them - 100% good people ate powder365. Most everyone of them started out with HF systems and house ovens. They know where you're coming from and would rather help a new coater than have someone out there doing poor work and giving all powder coating a bad name. One of the main guys (Don) is a GA boy. I can give you my shop email and phone number, if you like. I'd be glad to talk to you one on one if that would be of any help to you. Like I've said before on this site, I'm here cause I like trikes. I'm not looking to do any business here or any mail order work at all. I like to be able to talk to someone face to face and I don't accept any money until a job is complete and the customer is happy, I can't do that through USP. Anything anytime I can help feel free to call or email me. Powder by the Pound used to have a great forum but they went through a change early this year and most of the good guys left, for the most part. But there should still be some great info on that forum too ( I was one of the defectors ).

[200x350xtriz250]

I have been gathering the right tools to do this for a little while now and finally powdered my first part yesterday. Here are pics of the tools I have and the end result of my attempt. The gun and oven I bought off of craigslist for $50. The blaster came from Harbor Freight and was less than $20 and actually works pretty decent. Harbor Freight also has powder available in red, white, yellow, and matte black in 1 pound containers - I used the Harbor Freight red for this part. My part came out with bad runs - did I use to much? Not let it cook long enough? can I put it back in and recook it till it smooths out or do I need to start over?
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q39/raptor350x660r/powder/DCFC0046.jpg
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q39/raptor350x660r/powder/DCFC0048.jpg
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q39/raptor350x660r/powder/DCFC0049.jpg
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q39/raptor350x660r/powder/DCFC0052.jpg
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q39/raptor350x660r/powder/DCFC0053.jpg
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q39/raptor350x660r/powder/DCFC0054.jpg

[dksix]

Just a note on the powder that HF sells. I'm pretty sure that those powder are epoxy/hybrid powders and the epoxy/hybrid powder have little to no UV protection and are not the best choice for items that will see much duty outside where the sun beats down on them. The epoxy/hybrids are much better than straight epoxy powders but have a shorter lifespan in outside use than a TGIC or urethane. I'll attach a link that gives a good description of each of the major types of powders. http://www.thomasnet.com/articles/custom-manufacturing-fabricating/types-of-powder-coatings The epoxies are great for things like inside the engine compartment that will see things like brake fluid, gas and such.

[Dirtcrasher]

I'd imagine that HF has some of the worst powders out there. Absolutepowdercoating.com

It's very cheap but you must have used too much powder.......

I called to buy a gallon of stripper and the lady said, "we keep a 5 gallon bucket of lacquer thinner and just leave the part in overnite". I imagine acetone would do it also but not by buying quarts.........

Blasting it off won't be fun.

[dksix]

I'd imagine that HF has some of the worst powders out there. Absolutepowdercoating.com

It's very cheap but you must have used too much powder.......

I called to buy a gallon of stripper and the lady said, "we keep a 5 gallon bucket of lacquer thinner and just leave the part in overnite". I imagine acetone would do it also but not by buying quarts.........

Blasting it off won't be fun.

You have to try to blast off PC to understand how tough this stuff is. I have a dipping tank of B17 sold by Benco chemical company. It's hands down the best stripper for powder coating by far. But it comes at a price, that stuff is DANGEROUS. It's like having a tank full of cobra's. Even the smallest spot hits your skin and you are blistered. Third degree burns in a matter of seconds. If you are the type to short cut on safety, this stuff is not for you. EXTREME caution and a dedicated area for use and storage is a must but it stripes multistage pc finishes in a matter of minutes. Here's a link http://bencosales.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=239 . HASMAT fees apply to the 5 gallon quantity but the 30 and 55 gallons get free shipping. It last as long as you have liquid. It's a good idea to clean out the dissolved powder after you use it and you can top it off with new as needed.

[200x350xtriz250]

Thanx for the info on the HF powders - good to know. I have some powder here from Absolute too - on Steve's advise several months ago - this was just my first try on an old part - just trying to learn. Thanx again for the replies.