electric powder coating system

[Mark Rutt]

Has anyone had any experience with any of these units?I'm talking about the small "home" units that are sold thru catalogs such as Northern tool,Harbor Freight...etc.

I had some time to kill on thurs. afternoon so I stopped by the local Harbor Freight store just to walk around and look.I happen to run across the unit they sell and I am just curious.I know the quality of their inventory isn't always the best but I do pick up some small items every now and then.



Thanks,Markr

 

[Scott Tanner]

i have one from eastwood, they work great. they are good for doing small parts. doing large parts with those guns is not cost effective and is time consuming.

 

[A1cntrler]

What about baking the part?? Do you have a seperate oven to do that in, or do you use the one in your kitchen?? I thought about doing this, but not sure about smells that it would make inside my house...

 

[Richard L]

i have several poweder coat guns and they all work fine. I'm not sure what STanner means when he said they are not cost effective on larger parts??? The gun will spray on the powder the same way regarless of the size of the part.



The only limitation to size it the oven you use to cure the powder. The larger the part the larger the oven. If you don't have the money or room for a larger oven, they do make and sell special high temperature heat lamps, but even those are pretty expensive.



I have been using powder-coating on my LeverLift products for about 6 years now and they work great. I use a large toaster oven (Actually a large table-top rotissier unit) and it works perfectly for my needs. It has a temperature control and heats to 400-degrees and a timer. So I always keep the tempurature set and just turn on the timer and walk away. It bakes for 30 minutes and shuts off. I can take the powder-coated parts out when ever they cool down.



You can even use a home style electric oven but you can never use it for cooking food again, so don't try it in your kitchen oven. Also, you will need a well ventilated location for the oven since it will give off some smoke and fumes while the powder-coat is curing. You also need a particulate mask to prevent breathing in the powder as well as the room needs to have dust control and no open flames or you will go boom! I use a large cardboard box as a spray booth. I don't recycle my overspray powder, but you can do that if you have a dedicated vacuum to suck up the excess powder. That only works if you are using the same kind of powder and color, which I do, but I just use my shop-vac to clean up.



I have had one powder-coat gun fail on me after about 3 years of heavy use. I now have two guns. One is about 4 years old and the other is a little over two years old. Both work fine.



You will also need a small air compressor. I have a larger 6 HP with a 20 gallon tank, but you only need about 12-15 psi to run the powder-coat gun, so a small portable unit will work just fine.



...Rich

 

[Thomas Rogers]

RichardL says:

I'm not sure what STanner means when he said they are not cost effective on larger parts??? The gun will spray on the powder the same way regarless of the size of the part.



The only limitation to size it the oven you use to cure the powder. The larger the part the larger the oven. If you don't have the money or room for a larger oven, they do make and sell special high temperature heat lamps, but even those are pretty expensive.

I think you asked and answered your own question, Richard.



A large oven or pretty expensive heat lamps might not be cost effective for casual use.



TJR

 

[Scott Tanner]

I just found it time consuming and expensive to use the gun i have to coat big stuff like a mower deck, or snowblower housing with the small system..... it take a lot of time and powder to get a good thick furry coat on it so that it will seal the metal sufficiently..... i found it better to use an HVLP gun w/ conventional enamel paint w/ hardener.... I found an electric oven on the side of the road and use it for powder coating.... you can not use momma's oven... JMO

 

[Richard L]

STanner,

Sorry, I thought you were implying that there was a limitation to the gun to do larger items.



It is possible to take the guts out of your oven (Heating Eleiment & Thermostat control, and mount them in a large metal cabinet like a metal storage cabinet. Add a layer of fiberglass insulation, and you have a larger powder-coat oven. I got that idea from a guy who made a large smoker using a similar idea.



The oven only has to mantain 350-400 degrees for about 30 minutes, which it will do if the cabinet is insulated on the outside with syrofoam or fiberglass insulation. When you take the oven apart you will see that there is not really very much insulation in there.



...Rich

 

[Paul Howard]

Will powder coating work on Aluminum? I need some door handles coated. Epoxy paint will not stay on. I wire brush all the old paint off but it still comes off.

 

[Richard L]

Paul,

Yes, powder coating works great on aluminum, or any metal that is clean. You can even powder-coat plastic, as long as it can withstand the 400-degree oven curing. You can buy a spray that will make non-conductive materials be able to take a charge required for powder-coating.



Most of the Lever parts of my earlier LeverLift kits were made of aluminum. Once coated, it would take a wire brush in a grinder to get it off and even then it would stall out the motor.



If you are interested in getting your handles powder-coated, email me. I can do it a lot cheaper than most local shops will charge you.



...Rich