Powdercoating is awesome... even WITHOUT an oven!, with promised pictures. Options

[Lawrence]

The yellow box in the picture? It controls current to the gun and the ground.

How it works is like this:

1. The item to be coated is hooked up to a negative cable (with an alligator clip) and it's charged negatively.
2. Gun sprays out the powder. On the way out the tip of the gun, the particles are given a positive charge.
3. Particles stick to part. They stick pretty damned well, too. I was able to move parts around easily without knocking powder off.
4. Part is then baked, and the paint cooks into the lovely stuff we all like - a cured powder coating!

Simple enough?

-Rusty (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smoke.gif)

[Jeff Bonanno]

Rusty,

got it! thanks - have been wondering about that process. wonder how long before kellzey gets one...

Jeff

[914Timo]

Thanks Rusty about the explanation. That was something complitely new to me. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolling.gif)

[seanery]

I think Rusty is just making all of this up!
I don't he's doing any powdercoating!!
I don't even think there is such a thing as powdercoating!!!
I think he even made up the word!!!!

NOW, prove me wrong and show us some damn pictures!!!!!

[Lawrence]

To review.. this is the before picture.

[Lawrence]

Here's the basic setup. I was going to buy sheet metal as a heat shield/reflector, but Pam suggested using some old shelving sections. Very good call on her part.

The heater (a Mr Heater two element model) was 28000 BTU. I did the entire front suspension on less than one bottle of propane.

[Lawrence]

The heater really wasn't this far away.. but it's just a good pic of the setup.

[Lawrence]

Taped and plugged and coated in "smoke chrome".

[Lawrence]

Close up of the gun itself. It's made of sturdy plastic. It slipped out of my gloved hand once, and didn't chip or crack.

[echocanyons]

Lookin Good Lawrence!

What temp do the pros cook them too?

[Lawrence]

The foot pedal is to activate the negative charge (on the item). It was just as easy to hold the small pedal switch in my hand when working on smaller parts.

The drop cloth is to catch overspray. Overspray wasn't bad at all on the metallic smoke chrome. The clearcoat powder was like spraying powdered sugar. I think part of the struggle was the high humidity.

Good thing: catch your old powder, and you can reuse it if it's not full of dirt (hence the dropsheet). Just keep it separate from the new powder.

[Lawrence]

Some items before the clearcoat.

[Lawrence]

Cleaning up some spots before I use Opsho/Rust Mort/Rust Free/your favorite phosporus based rust treatment.

Yeah, the wire wheel bit my knee. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

[Lawrence]

Recoating the brake shields after scuffing them with 220. This was an adventure, and I learned several things.

1. The thicker powdercoating gets, the harder it is to apply the next layer (of clear or whatever). The electrical charge (negative at the part) is weaker, and attracts less positively charged powder.

2. Very thin metal parts cure MUCH faster than smaller ones. You can over-cook quickly if you're not careful. Watch how the powder flows, rather than the exact temp.

3. I can't imagine ever using an oven. That must be so much harder, because of knocking the powder off, etc. In my setup, I hung them exactly as they'd be heated, powdered them, and transfered them (on the hooks) to the heating area.

[AZ914]

The Packers...? :finger2:

BTW.. the parts look good....!

[Dave Cawdrey]

What goes in that cage?? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif)

[Lawrence]

Spraying an A-Arm.

Please note the "ground strap" hooked to the end.

1. Grounding points don't work well through masking tape.

2. If your hanging hook contacts the metal part directly, you can ground on the hook. That's often much easier.

3. You need to be creative with your hanging methods. I plugged the ends of the A-Arm and then jammed the hooks into the plugs.

4. Wherever you hang an item will leave a small dimple during the curing process, obviously.

[Lawrence]

More spraying, same part. The powder is charged, so most of it will go to the part like a magnet.

[Lawrence]

Cooking clear onto a strut.

Clear requires some practice. The finer the powders, the more difficult it seems to be to spray.

[Lawrence]

Next part in line to have clear cooked on it.

The entire process can be set up to be an assembly line. Some tips:

1. Generally, only metallics require a clear coat.
2. Spray all your base parts. Have a place set up to hang them to cool. DON'T TOUCH them with your bare hands or anything else! Just leave it be.
3. Then, you can cover them directly with clearcoat.

yeah, yeah.. you touched it after the basecoat didn't you, cause it looked all purty?

4. Put some vinyl gloves on. You need to rewash with water soluble degreaser, and then flush with water. Get ALL the water off you can with clean lint-free towels. If you leave ANY water on it at all, the clear will water-spot. Best to pre-heat to 150 or so, as well, then spray clear.