The Shop > Finishing
Cheap and easy powder coating
David Morrow:
I posted this on the Model Engine Machinist forum but for those of you who don't get over there, it may be of interest to you her as well ...
Normally, I don't apply colour to my projects but every now and then, I think a little colour would be nice. I do a bit of anodizing which provides a very nice finish. Lately I've been thinking about powder coating. One of the things that has kept me away from powder coating was the small size of my projects and the big messy setup to powder coat. I was doing a bit of Googling the other day and found a couple of interesting links. The first is a powder paint air brush ( I'm not sure how it differs from the air brushes that are used for paint.) and it uses very little air to move the powder. From what I can see, you just heat the object to be coated and then spray.
http://www.luremaking.com/catalogue/catalogue-index/catalogue-items/tools/powder_paint_air_brush.htm
Here's another link, where they just heat and then dip the object in the powder and then bake. ( Glitter optional ) I see that they sell a clear PC which would be interesting to try to see how something like polished brass would retain its bright finish.
http://hubpages.com/hub/Powder-Coating-Jig-Heads
The powder is actually quite cheap and is easy to find. The first link above sells in small hobby sized containers; 50 grams cost $7 or $36 / pound. I'd go with the small containers.
Brass_Machine:
Interesting. I have a cheapo powder gun and do quite a bit of powder coating. It is messy. I am going to build a better powder booth very soon.
Thanks for the links
Eric
David Morrow:
I finally bought an airbrush and some powder. I found a good Youtube video where a guy first heats his small parts with a heat gun, sprays on the powder, and then heats it again to melt the powder until it flows out. I've done some sample projects and am quite impressed. This method is best for relatively small parts.
Since the parts are small, I found that, if I'm really fussy about the finish, I can wet sand the parts with 600 grit paper and then polish them to a very nice finish.
This sample pendant is just over 1.5 inches in diameter.
Here's a Youtube video showing the heat gun technique but he doesn't use an airbrush - he uses a home made fluid bed. Lots of other Youtube vid's if you go looking
Tony Wells:
For slightly larger parts, Eastwood offers a few options in powder coating. It's a pretty basic process.
http://www.eastwood.com/hotcoat-powder-coating.html?srccode=ga200220&gclid=CI6XwoSC460CFUHktgodxFDWiQ
sparky961:
Cool, I didn't realize powder coating was even an option without a big production line.
-Sparky
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