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So let's talk about powder coating

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Your responses this Am to my powder coating question got me going and I'm currently on Craigslist looking for full size ovens.

Before I get too crazy, can you guys take me to school on the do/don't of powder coating. Blast the snot of of the items to be coated, or is wire brushing and cleaning OK? Do the containers of powder go a long way or are the consumables expensive?

Oh look, a double oven....
 
Powder Coating is really a tough and strong addition to any metal when it comes to adding protection and life for any metal. I would like to say one thing: If you have a local powder coater as I had plenty to pick from, go talk with them and get some prices. In todays market you may be surprised with the amount you can get done versus what your paying. I used to work with an old friend that restores vintage gas pumps and makes them look new with all the metal powder coated. They end up like armored tanks. I think he would agree that the cost of an oven, the consumables needed, and more so the proper application methods (some are sprayed, some are sand packed, etc.) all needs to be looked at. To buy an oven and supplies just to do parts on the car may not balance ($$$) but thats entirely up to you. Most of the coaters also will build up the coating if they know its going on parts that will take abuse and be out in the elements. Just remember, you can reverse the coating BUT it is not easy, so make sure you choose wisely. Early on when I did some coating for the first time the work came out but it was not anything to show off to friends cause without the right understanding of temperature, application amount / technique, and the right type / brand of powder w/ color pigment can give you a cracked mess rather then a smooth, glass finish.
 
I have a set of the mid 1960s steel wheels that need to be sandblasted clean of rust and old paint and refinished in silver...is powder coating an option? Can it be done in two colors such as on Rostyle wheels?
 
The only limiting factor for powder coating is that the product must be able to withstand 400 degrees F. You will need an over large enough for the part and a sandblast cabinet is best for prep. You can wire brush an/or sand with paper but abrasive blasting is much faster and provides a more uniform surface as well as a good roughened base for adhesion. Blasting, of course, requires a good air compressor which is probably the number one power tool in any auto shop. Many get a regular household electric over for their shop to do the baking. I use a small commercial batch oven.

I started out with Eastwood's hobby gun and they work well. Later, I purchased a cheap gun from Harbor Freight and it works good too. HF's is cheaper but either will do. Eastwood offers a good variety of powders at reasonable prices. But the biggest advantage of Eastwood is small quantities. An 8oz container of powder goes quite a ways and cost about $10-15. Larger suppliers have larger selections of powders, but you'll probably have to buy a larger minimum. Eastwood makes it easy to have many different colors on hand.

I agree that you should start off by visiting a local powder coat supplier and talk with them. Small batches are not expensive any they have a very large selection of colors. If still interested in doing it yourself, Eastwood has a small book on getting started and a forum were you can dialog with other users. Here's a link with some customer pictures at Eastwood's site: https://www.eastwood.com/hotcoat_Standard

And yes, you can do multicolors such as Rostyle wheels. Multiple coats are a little tricky and masking has to be done with hi-temp tape and holes are plugged with silicone plugs. A bit more work than single colors, but not too bad. Transparents, like candies require a silver base plus a transparent color top coat. They come out very beautiful. Hammer tones and wrinkle finish come out really nice and uniform. Oh, and the best part is that the baking process is about 20 minutes and once the part is cool, it's done - no waiting for paint to dry.
 
Wow, those wheels came out looking GREAT! But they sure do look itty-bitty next to those others!

JACK
 
Yep, those look great. I've never seen a sandblaster specifically designed for wheels - cool. FYI: you can easily get the same results in your home shop with one of the Eastwood, Caswell or HF powder coating guns. You need an abrasive blaster and oven large enough for the wheels. It's surprisingly easy to get results every bit as good as shown in the video.

Thanks for the link to Caswell. They appear to have very nice low cost powder guns. The one on close-out for $75 has a 16KV power supply. The new one for $230 has a 50KV supply. If I'm not mistaken, the HF and Eastwood guns only have a 5KV supply. Perhaps they are higher now, mine are quite old. This is key when doing multiple layer coatings as it's difficult to get good powder adhesion on top of previously applied and cured powder with only 5KV. I've never had any problems with single coatings only multiple layers.
 
Yes, no nicks, scratches, etc. Even when I pry off the hubcaps.
The wheels next to the Sprite are semi, school bus, firetruck, etc...

The wheel bead blaster is pretty cool. You can see my son starts it and leans over and listens. The Sprite wheels are so small they can fall over in the rotating shafts. Not a problem with a truck wheel.
 
I have the Eastwood set up for better than 10 years now.
Over the years I acquired lots of colors and textures.
And I picked up an electric range (oven) from the trash.
I get most of my powders from Caswell Plating these days because of the larger quantities like black, silver, etc rather than the 8 oz bottles from Eastwood but I do get small bottles from them when I want to make weird colors Morris green and mix a few colors together to make it.
I have mixed up white and red to make pink, I made a color to match the outside of my Sprite.
It's easy, fun, and durable and you can blast, coat, bake and install a part in an evening.
Check out Eastwood.com, you can be powdercoating for about $100.
 
On the oven baking - once you have powder coating on the wheel how do you put it on the oven rack without brushing off some of the coating or leaving a line in the finish where it sat on the rack?
 
Hang them by the lip or suspend on a rod passed though a hole.
 
I fit 2 Sprite wheels in the oven at the same time.
1 on each rack, the rack does leave marks in the powder but the marks are on the inside of the rim.
Small parts get hung from the racks on wires.
Some parts need to be placed on a prop or leaned off the edge of a cookie sheet to minimize any marks.
 
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