PowderCoating DIY

It can be expensive to have parts powdercoated.

So the question is,............ have you done the job yourself? How did it go? What recomendations can you give to those of us who are thinking of taking the plunge and trying it ourselves?

I'm looking at the Harbor Frieght kit https://www.harborfreight.com/10-30-psi-powder-coating-system-94244.html Has anyone used this tool?

 

I think that the oven would be just as critical to your success with powder coating.

 

You also need a booth. You can get small booths for smaller projects. I don't think you are going to want to just spray that stuff around your shop or garage. You can probably jerry rig some thing with scrap plywood, a piece of plexi-glass a good shop vac and sufficient hose. If you are not worried about that dust all about, then at least get a good mask that will filter out the particulate you are spraying onto the air.

After all is done, sit back and smoke a good cigar. May not be better for you but more enjoyable than breathing in that shit.

 

I understand that many are using an old toaster oven for small parts.

I was thinking of looking for an old, beat-up full size oven so that I could do my rims if I wanted to.

 

Thanks for the "heads-up" Randy. Have you had first hand experence around the spraying of the powder? Is it that dusty? I would think that the "static electrical magnitism" would attriact most of the powder. But this is the type of information that I'm fishing for.

 

No personal experience. I have just watched the process and even though it is electrostatically drawn to the item you are coating, there is still powder floating around. Without a respirator, I would want that in some sort of booth with an exhaust fan to pull residuals away from you. I should have asked if I could watch when they powdered my front rim recently. I could have spoken more definitively then.

 

As an answer to this, I almost had the exact conversation with Skimad 2 weeks ago.
I have in the last 2 months got 4 wheels powder coated at a cost of 180 - cash
They stripped, masked, painted & then baked them..
& did an excellent job.

so to the answers for getting that kit:

Pros:
Do it when you like.
Any colour you want
Any part you want.

Cons:
need to buy and store:
Booth - this can be plastic sheeting
Respritator / mask...
powder gun,
powder
Oven (large enough to do the parts you want)
also:
depending on the gun may need a compressor
May need a Sand blaster for stripping the parts (opens a whole bag of worms with that - lol)


Now the price of powder isn't that cheap. So what are you going to be saving unless you are going to do 10 wheels, & bits.

If all you want this for is a couple of bikes then I'd suggest save your money.

 

I guess that I should contact at least one pro in my area and find out how expensive it really is.
That is a good suggestion Pete, thanks.

I was thinking of doing a set of rims, the clutch cover, the clutch pressure plate (thinking of SebSpeeds window cover), a set of 4 rims from my jeep, a dishwasher rack part on which I am constantly fighting off rust, and who knows what else.
It appears to be much more durable than paint, and easyer to achive a great looking finish. I have an air compresser, resperator, room for an old oven in the shop, and the means to build a temporary booth.

bottom line is that if I find that the cost of having a pro do the job is not all that much more than the time and expense of doing it myself,.......then yeah, I'll go with the pro. But it won't be as much fun.

 

They glass bead your items first, make sure you mask off bearings to keep the beads out. I had my black fork sliders done on my '83 restore and they didn't mask off the ends, it was a nightmare getting them cleaned.

 

When I had mine done, the front twice and at a different shop the second time, they wanted the bearings removed. Since they were out, I just replaced the bearings with new ones. They were due the first time around but second time, might as well.

 

I've got an old sand blaster at work that I could use to prep the parts.
However, I'm starting to think that there is more involved to this than "hook up the electro-magnet and spray, then cook it in the oven".

Has any of the VFRW members done their own powder coating?

 

Onto wheels - as they need to be baked in the oven, you do need to remove the bearings. - so add that to any cost.
I had to change 12 bearings (almost 200 pounds) for my 4 wheels as I didn't know when they were last done - unknown history.
That also meant that I needed a bearing puller = more tools - lol, however, as I was doing this on some spare wheels I could take my time and get a really good kit & deal. That cost another 100 pounds... however as I now have the correct tools this doesn't matter.

Although they masked up and did an excellent job, I still had to go around with a blade to remove some over powder on the edges. This took me an hour as powder is really hard after baking - lol. This was me being really fussy - but the wheels are excellent.

I also have a paint tent / sand and soda blaster / compressor / full respirator and media !. Do the maths, as said the paint isn't cheap. The best guns waste less powder - the cheap ones are just that...

 

One thing I forgot to mention, make damned sure you mask off the area where your front rotors fit on. Powder is thick enough that the rotors are unlikely to fit without some force being applied, and that causes the rotor to warp... I know this because it happened to me the first time around. I thought my rotors were permanently screwed. But after I had ordered but not received the new EBC rotors, I put the older rotors back on after the wheel was re-powdered and the warp came out of the rotors.

The old rotors were still serviceable so they were sent along to someone in Colorado looking for rotors. I was made aware of his needs just as I was about to throw these things in the recycle bin. Good to see someone could make use of these old ones for a few years I am sure.

 

Good reminder Randy, I had learned of others who had the same type of problem.

 

Well. Thank gawd I am not the only fool! I was feeling kinda lonely way down there.

 

I've had 3 of the Eastwood Dual voltage guns and currently have a pair of Colo 181 guns (1 box feed, 1 cup feed). I have a 4'x4'x6' oven, and I do my own powdercoating for the plasma-cut items I sell. That being said...

Spend the few extra $ for the Eastwood Dual Voltage gun,vs the Harbor Freight. It's a better gun, and the dual-voltage aspect makes multi-layer or faraday areas a little easier to deal with.

Free (or sub $50) residential ovens can be found all over Craigslist (or now Facebook marketplace). These allow you to do all your smaller items. For larger items, google "pregnant oven" mod. This would allow you to fit bike wheels. By the time you "need" something larger than a pregnant oven, you'll have an idea of the oven size you want, or learn how to build one (not terribly complicated).

As with any other finish work (paint, stain, etc), the prep work determines most of your outcome. Proper degreasing, cleaning (caustic dip or blasting, or both), outgassing prior to coating, etc. The better the prep work, the better the outcome.

A $150 Eastwood gun, a $50 (or free) oven, $20 in "pregnant oven" materials, and you're ready to coat most bike sized items. Yes, you'll want a booth...mine is made of 2x4s, white faced luan board, LED light fixture, 2 box fans and home furnace air filter elements. Google "diy powder booth" for ideas. I probably have $150 in mine. I bought all the components (lumber, luan board, filters, fans, lighting fixtures) new.

The blaster (and required air compressor, and clean, dried air) will likely be the most expensive part of the setup.

 

Thank you for the experenced insight bmonning!
That does not sound like it would be too much of a reach in investment, and about what I thought would be possible.

Where did you purchase the Eastwood gun?

 

A quick Google Search came up with this. I don't know for sure, but I would think you could get it at a reputable quality tool store. Harbor freight appears to have some nice stuff, but they also look like they are mostly off shore tools.

If you lived on the west coast of Canada you can get them at KMS tools in a few cities here.

Eastwood 11676 Dual Voltage Powder Coat Gun - KMS Tools

 

Get it at www.Eastwood.com. It’s normally $130, on sale for $99 right now. They may have a package deal going with some silicone plugs, etc. I still have one of the Eastwood Guns as a backup, and it saved my butt when I contaminated my Colo setups (sprayed pledge on a Corbin seat in the same room where the Colo units were sitting).

Powder, like paint, is super sensitive to stuff in the air. Silicone or oils will destroy your finish and contaminate your powders. Simply spraying pledge (or Plexus, or whatever it was) on that seat in the same ROOM where my guns were situated contaminated the units. Horrible fisheyes. I ended up having to take the guns down to parts and clean -everything- with denatured alcohol. Hoses, valves, solenoids, etc.

The Eastwood powder is kind of crap. Prismatic powders have a great selection at “retail” pricing. You can buy per-pound from them, and the powder is quality. Other vendors offer better pricing, but you’ll need to purchase by the case or even per drum. I doubt you’ll be at that point with an Eastwood.

The safety switch on the Eastwood is a bit of a PiTA. You’re meant to hold it in one hand, while holding the gun in the other. I just duct taped the safety switch to the handle of my gun, so I can actuate everything with a single hand. Some people just wire the safety button to the closed position as well.

You can find extra cups for the Eastwood pretty cheap online, or in group buys. I think I bought my spares from a place called “The Cary Company”, which seems to be n industrial supply company.

If you can swing it, get a cup per color (or at least color family). Cup for clears. Cup for whites. Cup for blacks. Cup for metallics. Cup for bright colors. Cup for dark colors. And so on. This helps to minimize (or mask) any cross contamination. You won’t want to share your white cup with any other colors, except maybe clear.

 

Once again a HUGE thank you bmonning for this valueable information and advice!

I hadn't thought about contamination being such a difficult issue to protect your equipment from.