loggyboy
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| posted on 14/7/10 at 11:45 AM |
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First Attempt at PowderCoating with Electrostatic Magic
Had a go at using the kit I bought at Newark.
In fairness it may have been better to start with something small, but as I dont have the Striker Kit yet, I have nothing other than than some A
frames I picked up ages ago that were unfinished.
 
Frame - Before clean up
Gave it rub down:
 
Frame - After clean up
 
Frame - After clean up
 
Electrostatic Magic
I applied a coat of the powder and started to heat it with a paint stripper gun as there was no way I'd get it in my Oven! (plus ive been told
its best not to use an oven thats still used for cooking due to fumes)
At first it seemed to be ok, but suddenly the layer of powder seemed to blow off leaving an area of bear metal. Being my first go I continued to heat
the rest of the coating which was fairly sucessful.
Once this was done I sanded down the areas that had gone wrong and replied a fresh coat of powder to the whole frame.
I think the first coat was too thin, so this time I applied a little more.
 
Applying PowderCoat
I then started to heat again.
 
Heating PowderCoat
This time arround the heating went fine and the coating baked on nicely.
 
Last area to be heated
 
Finished Frame
 
Finished Frame Close up
 
Finished Frame Close up
Im quite please with the end result. Finish is good, and the process is much simpler than wet paint. I think I took no longer than 2 hours to do both
coatings, clean up was just a simple broom up, there was minimal waste of powder (id say i used less than a 1/4 of the bag which came with the kit
(£4.99 to buy alone) so in all much easier and cheaper than spraying.
My only concern is how well i have baked it, the recommened 10mins at 180degrees is hard to achieve with the heat gun, I basically went over the frame
very quickly untill the powder started to darken but still looked powdery (I was recommended when i bought the kit to go over the powder till it
turned satin, I assume this is what they ment.) then after than I went slowly over it until the coating baked and became more glossy and looked as you
would expect powdercoating to look.
[Edited on 14/7/10 by loggyboy]
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gingerprince
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| posted on 14/7/10 at 11:53 AM |
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Looks good. I guess the main problem is the blow from your heat gun. I wonder if you could get a suitable infra red lamp, or use an electric bar
fire and rely on just radiated heat?
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loggyboy
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| posted on 14/7/10 at 11:57 AM |
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I also wondered if the metal might not of been perfectly clean and dust free.
Will try the other half of the Aframe later, that will give me a chance to apply more powder for the first coat and maybe get it right first time.
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dinosaurjuice
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| posted on 14/7/10 at 12:01 PM |
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i have a kit, think its fab. but it has limitations. youve done well to get that done with a heat gun. I always use the kitchen oven, and let it vent
for hours after use.
What air pressure do you run? I find i have to shake the gun constantly to avoid it clumping up and blocking.
will
[Edited on 14/7/10 by dinosaurjuice]
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loggyboy
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| posted on 14/7/10 at 12:09 PM |
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I used about 20 psi (set the gauge to about 25, which gave 20 when flowing)
Didnt seem to have any issues with clumping or powder flow.
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nick205
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| posted on 14/7/10 at 12:09 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by dinosaurjuice
i have a kit, think its fab. but it has limitations. youve done well to get that done with a heat gun. I always use the kitchen oven, and let it vent
for hours after use.
What air pressure do you run? I find i have to shake the gun constantly to avoid it clumping up and blocking.
will
[Edited on 14/7/10 by dinosaurjuice]
Looks a reasonable finish and sounds far easier/cleaner than spray painting.
IMHO you'd need the parts properly blast cleaned beforehand to get the best finish and prevent rust from devloping and lifting the powder
coat.
On the oven/food thing, I've just replaced our oven as the fan had gone. It's a single 13A oven and is now sat in the garage until the
next time I go to the tip - could it be useful to someone for baking parts....?
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loggyboy
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| posted on 14/7/10 at 12:16 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by nick205
On the oven/food thing, I've just replaced our oven as the fan had gone. It's a single 13A oven and is now sat in the garage until the
next time I go to the tip - could it be useful to someone for baking parts....?
I thought about getting an old one to do the baking, but dont really have the space for a whole oven. I was also looking for one of those smaller
grilling ovens or a table top one on ebay, but not found one yet.
[Edited on 14/7/10 by loggyboy]
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Humbug
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| posted on 14/7/10 at 12:58 PM |
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You must live in a really posh house if the bricks have serial numbers 
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nick205
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| posted on 14/7/10 at 03:37 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Humbug
You must live in a really posh house if the bricks have serial numbers
Dodgy old builder tho' he's laid a brick upside down (and used the same s/n) 
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grusks2
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| posted on 15/7/10 at 05:02 PM |
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Looks Good, might have to invest in one for all the little brackets that are flaking already, and as i have already been caught using the dishwasher
as a steam cleaning the oven shouldnt be a problem either lol
[Edited on 15/7/10 by grusks2]
[Edited on 15/7/10 by grusks2]
http://mac1worxbuild.wordpress.com/
forgot my old password so another username doh
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ceebmoj
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| posted on 15/7/10 at 11:18 PM |
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would you mind if I ask how match the kit was at the show?
I presume it is one of the following kits
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/carlfothergill/new/index.html
what are the limitations?
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loggyboy
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| posted on 16/7/10 at 08:59 AM |
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Yes its an electrostatic magic kit, cost £109 with 1 pack of powder.
Small saving on list price and no postage of course.
The only real limitation would be size of the item, but mainly related to baking it.
Using the heat gun, it took Just under an hour to bake the item pictured (one half of an A frame/build stand), so about 4 hours to do both in total
with application and prep time. If you wanted to do a whole chassis then youd be looking at a whole days worth of baking I woudl say and if i was
doing something that was to be expososed to more than just the inside of my garage while I build the kit, I would want to get it baked in an oven
properly.
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