Powder coating - cheap alternative

[dickda1]

I have anodized, parkerized and blued metal parts in the past.  The ratio of "satisfaction" to "labor/toxic chemical/hassle" has always been low.  Have found that powder coating is cheap, fast and durable for most of my machine related items.

I use an inexpensive toaster oven to cook on the powder (thereby avoiding certain death from my spouse if I used her oven).

Here is a collet closer that had very rough castings that I re-machined and coated.



Dick

[j45on]

Great looking finish
How do you apply the powder coat ?

[Brass_Machine]

I have an elcheapo powder gun kit... I have gotten well past my money worth out of it  I agree with you Dick. 

Eric

[DeereGuy]

It looks great...I have the Harbor Freight gun and powder.

[dickda1]

I ground the cast iron supports to remove the worst of the casting flash and filled in most of the inclusions with some body putty.  I am way too lazy to do more.  My ultra cheapo Harbor Freight gun was used with discount powder (SpeckledGreen  from ColumbiaCoatings.com - $7/lb).

The large steel ring had more than .03 inch of runnout.  I mounted it on the lathe and turned it true.  Sprayed the powder on the part in a small cardboard box.  Everything was cooked in my toaster oven at high for 20 minutes.

Powder coating is very durable and covers my not so smooth machined finish.  I have no concern that the finish will wear off.

By the way my 12x24" lathe is not only bolted to its stand, but also attached with steel cables to the wall.  San Francisco has had some pretty good earthquakes in the 35 years I have lived here.

Dick

[AdeV]

San Francisco has had some pretty good earthquakes in the 35 years I have lived here.

I can see how that might bugger up the surface finish...

Powder coating Q: Do you powdercoat all surfaces in 1 go, and if so, how do you hold/suspend the item in your oven?

[dickda1]

I thread wires or paper clips through holes in the parts and suspend inside the oven.  The assembly you see was completely taken apart and sprayed in separate pieces.  Precision surfaces inside the hub were masked off to prevent powder coating.  The hub was supported from the inside during spraying and in the oven.
I have never tried to finish various parts of an item in separate operations - you get one go as far as I know.  The coating does not come off easily even with paint remover so getting it right the first time is important.

[AdeV]

Ta, interesting stuff. One more question - if you wanted an entire part powdercoated, would suspending it on wire work? Surely the bit where the wire touches the part, doesn't get coated? How do you get the wire off without damaging the coating?

Just curious... I'd like to have a crack at powder coating myself one day, when I have a part that justifies it...

[dickda1]

I have never completely coated a part.  For my projects, there have always existed a through hole for a roll pin or surface that did not require coating. Going to shut up now since there are people out there who I am sure know this better than I.

Dick