Your Guide to Powder Coating
Powder coating is a great way to restore parts with a real finished look. During the process, a dry coating material of finely ground resin and pigment particles are sprayed onto the surface and cured in an oven. Powder coating costs about as much as using a traditional solvent-based paint coating. Here’s a look at how you can use powder coating for your restoration project.
How powder coating works
The dry powder coating is applied by spraying charged powder particles to a grounded part and holding them in place by electrostatic attraction until they can be melted into a fused coating. Unlike other types of paint, a dry powder coat doesn’t depend on the evaporation of solvents. Evaporation of the solvents often evaporates more quickly than the manufacturer’s estimates, which leads to uneven coats and bubbles. Powder coating can be applied much more heavily than regular paints without runs or bubbles. You'll need to apply at least two coats of powder coating to achieve the properly finished look.
Safety precautions
Like all painting projects, it’s important to take all necessary safety precautions. All powders are flammable when airborne, and they also present an inhalation hazard. Professionals wear a standard dust particulate mask as they apply the coating, and they use a charcoal respirator in the area where they’re curing the powder coating.
Preparing the parts
You need to remove all previous coatings and rust to get the part to a smooth, bare metal finish. Chemical strippers are usually the safest method because sandblasting can be too abrasive. If you do need to sandblast, be sure that any smooth machined surfaces such as your brake cylinder bores are covered up. A company like Powder Craft can help you with tasks like this.
Once the part is prepared, it shouldn't be handled with bare hands. It's also important to rinse it with denatured alcohol to remove any sandblasting dust. The part should then be preheated in the oven before applying the coating. A dedicated oven for powder curing should be used. After the part has been cured, it will no longer be safe for food preparation.
Spraying and curing
The work area should be set up near a ventilation system. Be sure your garage is free from excess clutter. Your rack needs to be well-grounded to the part to be coated. The tip of the spray gun should be approximately eight inches from the surface, and all surfaces should be covered evenly.
The part should be returned to the oven to cure, and the process repeated as many times as necessary.
Powder coating is a great alternative to using solvent-based paint. You can find professionals that deal with this type of coating on TheHomeMag. For other great home improvement ideas, follow TheHomeMag on Facebook and Instagram.
