foolin around with powder coat (finally)

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supermanotorious

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It was either Christmas or a birthday several years ago that my youngest sister bought me the Harbor Freight powder coat machine. I immediately jumped on Craigslist and found a free 220V oven. I made sure the oven worked but I never opened the powder coat until yesterday. I plan to build a legit oven from the components of the CL score. I wanted to test some scraps to see how it lays down and cures. First lesson- use the powder containers that come with the machine! At a glance I thought the new red from Harbor Freight had the same threads, it didn't screw in perfect and it fell off the gun spilling about half all over my garage floor. After cleaning up I was able to get a few pieces of scrap painted. Not perfect paint jobs but I wasn't expecting that on first go. I'll keep practicing. I'll certainly post progress with the new, large oven.
 

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itsid

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uhhh coating powder....
I imagine that to be as nasty as laser toner :eek:

Anyways..
nice, I didn't even knew there's something like a "hobbyist's powder coating kit";
Consider me interested :D

'sid

PS uhhh build thread for the bakery... yes?
 

maxpower49

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Powder coating is pretty fun and rather straight forward, the biggest thing is cleanliness by a mile. I've powder coated dozens of parts on my banshee project and just in general, and now if I can fit it in my oven I will just powder coat it instead of spray painting. The best way to clean parts is sand blasting and then wipe with acetone, heat it with a propane torch to burn off the left over acetone and whatever lint from the cloth then powder it. Also avoid touching it with your hands if possible before spraying it. I have the eastwood dual voltage gun kit and have actually been using a propane oven to powder mine with no issues what so ever!
 

Kartorbust

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Powder coating is pretty fun and rather straight forward, the biggest thing is cleanliness by a mile. I've powder coated dozens of parts on my banshee project and just in general, and now if I can fit it in my oven I will just powder coat it instead of spray painting. The best way to clean parts is sand blasting and then wipe with acetone, heat it with a propane torch to burn off the left over acetone and whatever lint from the cloth then powder it. Also avoid touching it with your hands if possible before spraying it. I have the eastwood dual voltage gun kit and have actually been using a propane oven to powder mine with no issues what so ever!
How long do you bake the coating for and how much propane do you go through? I would probably also go the propane oven route over electric to save on the power bill. If it doesn't need much I would go with a 40lb bottle.
 

supermanotorious

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cure times for powder will vary but I would use 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes as a baseline

also, for my needs, I wired the oven power cord to a welding style plug that works with all my equipment, so I can power the oven from my 6/3 extension cord or from my generator

how silly am I now? I don't like the yellow color of the powdercoat machine so I'm fixing it!
 

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supermanotorious

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after lots of scraping and then digging the old soda blaster out of the shed the cover is pretty stinkin clean, so now the oven is preheating and I'll give it a good wipe down then bake off any residuals, then powder coat then back in the oven!

I was happy to see that both the soda blaster AND the tub of soda were in good shape considering how many years they sat outside of my Phoenix house

and by the way, I am not taking the time to paint the inside of the cover so it will stay yellow
 

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supermanotorious

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well if you're not an expert on your second session I suggest you give it up altogether. all the pros were experts by day 2.

yeah right. but how many people take that approach with so many things?

well the cover came out so so, clearly I failed to realize part of the inside was exposed so I have an ugly 2 tone cover for the machine, but it doesn't matter, I learned a little about coating and prepping so it was a success in my book
 

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maxpower49

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How long do you bake the coating for and how much propane do you go through? I would probably also go the propane oven route over electric to save on the power bill. If it doesn't need much I would go with a 40lb bottle.

It uses surprisingly little propane mostly because it is just a basic house oven I got for free from work, I used a 20lb tank on a grill regulator again scrounged from a junk grill at work and I never even ran threw one tank when using it just to run the oven at 400 degrees and swapped it between my grill and the powder coating oven and it lasted me most of a winter of powder coating sessions. It is extremely economical in my opinion.
 

supermanotorious

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I made some hanguards for my Dyna after ordering a $90 set from Dennis Kirk, which of course will go right back. Many of the club community have praised them and asked to order a set. Yes they're large and maybe a little Robocop looking but darn it all they block the wind, MUCH warmer hands on ride to work Friday. Well some of that HF flat black and man oh man they look gooood
 

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itsid

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individual chain links.. of course..
chain, yeah if you don't care that it might not be perfect where the links are touching.

UNLESS you talk roller chain, then no :(

I mean sure you can, but the powder would creep into the rollers,
stiffening the chain to a point where it's unusable or it'll break free from the coating.
rubber seals are not a friend of getting baked either.. soo for decoration purpose.. (say a keychain.. yeah..
for a "to be used" kart chain.. I'd vote no.

'sid
 

supermanotorious

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i do mean chain links as opposed to roller chain, that gate lock chain is oily and rusty and makes a fine mess out of your fingers when you lock or unlock it, so i was thinking powdercoat obviously

now, in my search for coated chain i did come across a kid on youtube who coated his atv or dirtbike roller chain, no commentary as to what happened after though
 

itsid

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chain shouldn't be much of a problem,
again contacting points with "moving" parts can cause imperfections
(up to a point where the coat splits from the part)

unles you find a way to 'seperate' the individual links during the coating and baking process
like hanging each link carefully off an individual contacting wire :eek:

frankly, I like the rubber dipped chain.. a bit stiff around it's hips, true;
but it's easier to achieve ;)
IMHO the best bet for such IMHO is a chain bicycle lock.. coated or wrapped, stainless or chromed..
mostly affordable to buy and it's not making a mess out of your fingers
and some are even pretty'ish in appearance ;)

'sid
 

itsid

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Sorry..

sure uhm.. forget what I said and proceed with your test.

keep in mind that to be powdercoated parts need to be rust and oil free and smooth parts yield better results than pitted parts.

*whistling, strolling offscreen*

'sid *giggling in the distance*
 

supermanotorious

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ordered some Sherwin Williams gloss black from Amazon, did the air cleaner cover and upper shock mount cover on my FXDB, mirror finish, I'm getting better at this

before and after
 

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TBS99

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Looks good Supermantorious. I was a powder coater for over 25 years until I became disabled. The best tips to remember is make sure the parts are clean. Also make sure your air source is free of oil and water. A good ground is a must. Try to shoot your parts cold so the powder will flow properly. You can shoot the parts hot but you risk the chance of getting runs and orange peel. Lastly make sure your oven is to the temp the powder specifies and I found over the years that baking your parts at least 25 to 30 minutes for full cure. If you are doing very thin sheet metal or using white powders, 20 - 25 minutes would be sufficient.
 
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