Omnipotent Octopus

I'm going to start my own powder-coating setup in my garage soon and I'm wondering if there's anybody here currently on the forum that can give me some novice advice, equipment ideas, let me pick your brain, all of that stuff.

Rogue4x4

What kinds of things will you be doing? As in, what sizes? Your biggest concern will be curing the coating if you are doing large pieces such as bumpers or wheels. Small components are fairly easy if you have a curing oven, and I have had some success with infrared lamps, but not much. Are you constructing a booth?

Omnipotent Octopus

Things I have planned as of now to coat are; my winch bumper which is fairly big (It's dirt-bound), gas tank skid, CB brackets, & the metal brackets the 4wd lever sits in. Unfortunately no booth. I plan to use a 3' infrared lamp to keep this whole experiment on the cheaper side. I think I am going to get the dual voltage gun from Eastwood and will be getting all of my powders from Prismatic Powders.

My main concern is trying to do the bumper since the whole lamp wont provide enough coverage at 6"-12" or whatever distance it will be. I take it you aren't a fan of the lamps then?

Rogue4x4

The bumper will be a PITA, but it can be done, if you do it in sections. The skid will likely be the same, it's bulky. Brackets and whatnot will be ok. As far as a booth goes, do what I did: Get some plastic sheeting in a roll, like the kind you would use to mask off your house when using a sprayer, from your local hardware store, and build a makeshift booth. Make sure you leave some at the bottom, to help capture any residual powder, you can re-use powder if you keep it clean and dry. I made my "booth" and then hung what I was coating, using bailing wire from the rafters. I just took down the plastic and did my cure with everything still hanging. Word of advice: do not bump, blow on, rub against, or let a mouse fart on your coating, it will fall right off. Just be as careful as possible. If you have enough lamps, or multiple lamps, it will help, I have a single lamp, and wish I had more, to do larger sections of things, and to cure it all at once. I just used a HF powder gun, worked ok, but I would like to buy the Eastwood. Just better quality. Also, as with any paint job, prep is key. I blast everything I can, and really scuff up larger items when I can't. A clean smooth surface is a must, and once you clean (use MEK) handle only with new, clean nitrile gloves, even the oils from your skin can screw up all your work. It is pretty cool to say you powder coated your own stuff, and you will be able to make some side coin as well. Any other questions feel free to ask!

Rogue4x4

http://www.autobodytoolmart.com/infr...FU1bfgodRnkA_g

This is the lamp I got. It's ok for small areas, for anything longer than 2 feet, you'll need to cure in stages, or get more lamps.

Omnipotent Octopus

Yeah for sure! thanks for the info. I never thought about doing the booth how you explained. In my mind I was picturing one of those large metal booth/ovens that you can walk into lol.

So when you do parts in sections is there a possibility of burning or overcooking the powder? I saw somewhere that temps over 400F will burn but I wasn't sure if the same thing could happen if one area of the bumper got cooked twice, if that makes since..

Rogue4x4

Well, the nice thing about the lamps is it doesn't really heat the air that much, but heats the part, because it's infrared. It will get warm, but it's kinda difficult to put it into words how it acts. Just keep an eye on it and you'll get it. Yes, you can burn powder, just don't overheat it. I suggest doing a few smaller items first, to get the hang of it. You can overlap as long as you don't exceed the temp limits of the powder. If you feel it's too much, pull the lamp away a tad.

heydockyle

Can't help you much on big stuff. But I use a household oven for smaller stuff, and an eastwood gun. Use Columbia Coatings powder. Have nothing but good stuff to say about it all.