Powder coating setups...what you got?

[boosted96cobra]

Post some picts up of your powder coating setups please. I have started playing around a bit with this, right now I am just using the harbour freight setup and a conventional oven. Looking for booth and diy oven ideas.

[AutoXer]

i looked into a diy oven for frames but it ended up being pretty expensive ... any one use the lights?

[honda250sx]

Andy - Busterbrown has a killer setup.

[Dirtcrasher]

If you have access to metal, some insulation and a few oven elements (much of which can be picked up for free), you can build an oven large enough for a frame.

Aside from my frame, I PC'd every part on my 86/87 200X with just a plain ole oven from Craigslist for free. Others can be found at your dump or recycling centers.

^ Honda250SX has a table top type oven that he can fit PLENTY of goodies inside (pretty sure he has a regular homeowner type oven too). I think he picked up the table top range fairly cheap (maybe on sale ) for as little as 30$. Used large ovens are even cheaper....... But his little oven is so nice for 75% of the stuff we need to do...........

All the basic guns work fine, some are better than others. Harbor Freight makes some great useable stuff, but I find that all there threaded connections and other parts are a bit off from whats normal and plenty of there stuff is useless. But, for just a bit more, you can get a lifetime guarantee and if your close to the store it's not such a bad deal!

Preparing the stuff is another story, again, Harbor Freight makes a decent blasting cabinet for 199$ on sale and it re-uses the media time after time. I found there water seperator to be useless along with other changes I made and even though my 6HP Craftsman compressor with a 33 gallon tank can't keep up, it gets most stuff done very well..... I think the grate had about 3/4 inch openings and I kept losing small parts in there; So, I had some perforated .250 thick 6061 lengths (1' wide and 10' long) with .250 sized holes in them and chopped it up to fit the cabinet; Which helped out allot in the loss of parts department :D

For 200$, I think that HF blasting cabinet is a good buy and just needs some tweaking and ingenuity.

I found a free rack behind a restaurant and modified it a bit so I could hang 50 or more parts/pieces prior to coating.

Acetone on a nice white rag preps everything just fine. When I called Absolutepowdercoating.com (something like that) they told me that they have a 5 gallon bucket and any bad parts just get dunked overnight and the process begins again.... They told me NOT to buy the commercially available PC "removing solution".

At some point I tried adding 2 or 3 more coats of PC, but I found the layers to chip off. Maybe if I scuffed them up they would have been fine? I have some more homework to do on 2nd and 3rd coats of powder and the part was STILL hot when I shot it again.... Yet, it still chipped off a bit. I did a few coats on TANKS headpipe and his seems fine? Maybe my headpipe runs a bit hotter?? Again, more reading/research to do on this.................

PC is quick and easy. It is not the end all be all for guys that ride, it does chip. But, in my case, I bet I pay 50% of what it would run me to prime and paint with an enamel or 2 stage paint with a hardner so I'm pretty happy with the results. But, it is not "bullet proof" and don't let anyone allow you to believe otherwise.... It's certainly faster though.....

That website I listed has by far the cheapest set of high heat resistant plugs (might be silicone based??) and things like tape and hooks. ALL the powders seem to work well and hold up about the same. But it's fast an easy for me and the start up investment was very small and easy if you shop around and use Craigslist for a free 230V oven. Your biggest costs may just be wiring it up and buying the cord. ANY air compressor works as you only need like 8PSI to run the gun and even a small tank at 120PSI will take allot of spraying to get down there. Just keep the air seperator at the end of the hose (like at the cabinet) because it seemed to pick up far less moisture when mounted right at the tank. It got tons of moisture when it was 50' away at the cabinet.

All and all, I'm glad I started using my s-blaster and c-list oven and much of that is owed to Jeff (HONDA250SX) for telling me how easy it was. I think he was just tired of seeing parts be rebuilt and then rattle can painted (after all that work) rather than using Auto paint or powder coating.

I think you'll find plenty of guns for under 150$ and they all work fine. This gun (either Eastwood or Columbia Coatings) worked well, but I had a problem getting into the nooks and crannies with the standard tip. They sold another end for the gun for about 15$ or 20$ and it helped me get in close. Thats all I use now......

I still have plenty to learn, but I get by AOK with what I have use thus far. And if the powder is kept indoors and sealed tight and also in a Tupperware container, I doubt the 1 year shelf life matters. I think they just want you to dump the powder and buy more!

Hope that helps :beer Sorry for the book but I wish everyone knew how easy it was, it was something I had no idea could be done so simple............

[200XMichigan]

DC would you say for someone that is mostly riding machines but just wants them to look good would be better of with a good paint set-up since touch-up is so much easier?

I've got access to a couple paint guns and a sand blaster I was going to play around with. But thought of picking up an old oven to try powder coating with.

[boosted96cobra]

This is something i was hoping to build out of my old oven I am using.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tenkely/sets/72157610491602911/

[vintagemotorsports]

here is the oven I just had built , man this thing is the balls, its 4x4x6 and it has a roll in track on the floor , Ihave a rack on wheels i can wheel into the booth apply my powder and roll it right in the oven , the place that built it is called the fab shop in MN , they build some incredible ovens , its a convection oven it has 2 big 12 in fans that circulate the oven to prevent hot spots and is all PID controlled maintains within 2 degrees and can heat up to 700 degrees although you only need 400 , i use this and i have a kool koat powder set up with a fluidizing hopper for the powder gun is incredible you can do multiple costs like candies or 3 stage colors no problem , I dont use mine every day but when i need it man does it save money and time dropping it off at an outside shop and i can control the quality ,

[Buster Brown]

Here's the oven I built several years ago. Do your research and a good rivet gun! This oven took about a year and 2k to build. It's 4.5X4.5X6 on the inside. It uses 4 heating elements and a circulating fan. Surprisingly, I haven't had a single problem with it as of yet. I'm a true do it yourself'er, and love the satisfaction, time and money savings of PCing "in house". I highly suggest checking http://www.caswellplating.com/kits/zinc.htm and clicking on the powder coating tab at the top for further info. I used caswell's forum exclusively when building my oven. They have a vast network of plating, anodizing and PC knowledge. I'm currently building a Cad / Zinc plating set up for fasteners, & brackets with their help! :) Can't wait to get plating. Good luck with your PC endeavors.
Here's a few older pics of my oven and build.
http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp334/k10seibel/edacfeb5.jpg

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp334/k10seibel/ebay12705012.jpg

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp334/k10seibel/ebay12705018.jpg

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp334/k10seibel/ebay12705017.jpg

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp334/k10seibel/ebay12705019.jpg

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp334/k10seibel/ebay12705001.jpg

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp334/k10seibel/0864ced1-1.jpg

Here's my blasting set up.
I grafted two Harbor Freight blast cabinets together to make a longer/bigger one & used the extra metal left over to bump the back out a bit. I use the little grey blast cabinet with walnut media for light cutting duties. The last pics are of a small blast room I framed up in the corner of my shop and later installed a wood shop DELTA dust filtration system. The funny thing is it pulls so much CFM, I can't get the door opened while inside. I had to add another intake vent and install the ON/OFF switch inside the blast room (on the wall). This room works awesome for larger items and is great for easy clean up and reuse of sand.
http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp334/k10seibel/ebay12705494-1.jpg

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp334/k10seibel/ebay12705495-1.jpg

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp334/k10seibel/ebay12705498-1.jpg

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp334/k10seibel/ebay12705493.jpg

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp334/k10seibel/ebay12705506-1.jpg

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp334/k10seibel/9b3d8633-1.jpg

[Dirtcrasher]

I've seen it before, but it always looks AWESOME to me :D

Whats the yellow box next to the oven, about 6 pics down and on the left??

I THINK you are still using the basic simple PC gun from Eastwood or Columbia and your work speaks for itself!!

Great work Andy!!

[Buster Brown]

Yes, DC Your rite!
I've had good enough results with that (yellow box) Harbor Freight piece of $h!+. I'm on my fourth $59 gun from them. Got another new one in the box as a spare (LOL), just in case. I just pay the extra $5 for two years of extra warranty. In about a year they're junk and returned for a spank'n new one. I think I've spent about $180 in total for the five guns I've gotten. The Harbor Freight gun is almost identical to some of the $250 & under guns from Columbia. Some day I'll maybe get a higher end system, but I figure why, when the outcome is the same. I'd like to demo a system like Vintage Mike has to see the big difference?? I guess I'm just not "SOLD" yet. And heck if I drop my cheepo gun....Oh well, no big $$ loss.
Thanks for the kind remarks!

[Dr.Kyosho]

Andy I can't wait to get plating service too!!

[vintagemotorsports]

Hey Andy,
I give you alot of credit I can tell you spent alot of time seting up your shop, definitley saved yourself some cash . Yea i have had just about every powder setup out there from the old hotcoat gun , to the yellow box set up and my last before this new set up was the eastwood pro series gun , witch i still use as a backup, nothing compares to this new setup I bought beleive me i didnt want to dump over 1 grand into a gun but the production level tripled and once you get used to it you will never go back, the biggest thing I love is no more cup gun just a feed hose gun and electrics you can shoot in any direction and never have to shake the gun to get a good cloud stays the same all the time , I also bought the powder keg with pump set up , this is also a must its cool it keeps a steady stream of air fluidizing the jar of powder in the keg make it look like boiling water keeps the powder nice and fluffy and mixed great for candies or mettalics.. If you ever get the chance to try one do it i bet you will fall in love with it , there is a little bit more setup and cleaning time but not all that bad , and the electronics on these guns is super powderfull you can feel your hair stand on end when shooting the powder sticks like glue . . I will post some pics next time i use my setup .

[Buster Brown]

Oh, Ok...cool, Mike. I bet it's like a lot of high priced tools, trailprotrailprotrailprotrailprotrailpro & gripe about the price until you try it out. I always laughed at the local Snap On dealer, until my best friend from high school got a route. I'll be forever in debt with that guy....???...I love Snappy! There is a difference.
Man... I'm still smiling & chuckling, pondering about how much I hate when a big poof of dead heavy powder dumps over a previously perfectly coated part. Always happens just before your about done. And like you said the shaking of the cup system is a bit of a drag. If only I han't spent so much on eBay this weekend! (lol - look'n forward to your parts) I've watched a couple You Tube videos on the hopper/keg style systems, and they are impressive looking. I just did some smaller stuff this evening and was thinking about this subject. Maybe I'll have to give it some more consideration. Thanks for the info and thoughts. I appreciate and very much respect your advice & craftsmanship!