powder coating

[HotCarl]

So I bought myself an inexpensive powder coating setup a while back and I've dicking around with it off and on for a while. Now that I have a few parts under my belt I'm looking to get a little more fancy. What I'm looking to do is some 2 tone and fade technques.

 

When you tape off to do a 2 tone how to get a crisp line that are both the same thickness? Just not worry about it and put a clear on it?

 

How the hell do you fade with powder?

 

I've mixed colors and they seem to kinda come out speckled which looks cool, but not sure how to turn this into a fade. Also since I'm doing this in my garage and it is too wet outside to work I'm thinking about a paint booth. What do you hobbist use? I've been to some places that do it for a living and they have very nice and expensive setups. Do any of you reclaim your powder on smaller setups?

 

When I get a chance I'll post some pics of some of my parts. This shit is a kick in the pants.

 

also for those of you that do this for a living when I get my next frame done is it unheard of for a customer to bring in their own powder to use? Or atleast request a certain brand be used?

[NitroTate]

So I bought myself an inexpensive powder coating setup a while back and I've dicking around with it off and on for a while. Now that I have a few parts under my belt I'm looking to get a little more fancy. What I'm looking to do is some 2 tone and fade technques.

 

When you tape off to do a 2 tone how to get a crisp line that are both the same thickness? Just not worry about it and put a clear on it?

 

How the hell do you fade with powder?

 

I've mixed colors and they seem to kinda come out speckled which looks cool, but not sure how to turn this into a fade. Also since I'm doing this in my garage and it is too wet outside to work I'm thinking about a paint booth. What do you hobbist use? I've been to some places that do it for a living and they have very nice and expensive setups. Do any of you reclaim your powder on smaller setups?

 

When I get a chance I'll post some pics of some of my parts. This shit is a kick in the pants.

 

also for those of you that do this for a living when I get my next frame done is it unheard of for a customer to bring in their own powder to use? Or atleast request a certain brand be used?

 

 

I don't do it for a living but I've been doing it for about 5 years now. Usually you don't worry about trying to get your line at the same level but you can, it just takes more time. You would have to start with the bare metal and totally tape off one side, do that color then repeat for the other sides color.

 

For fading you can't mix the color to fade, I've done it two different ways, if you want the two colors to melt in together then hang your part and spray the top half color first while trying not to get too much on the bottom half, then very carefully blow off the overspray on the bottom half, then change colors and carefully spray downwards on the bottom half then bake.

 

The other way is to spray one half with your first color and make sure to go a little ways past your half way mark. Bake it, let it cool all the way, then shoot the other half. Then take a soft bristle brush and a little compressed air and carefully brush away the unwanted overspray in as even a pattern as you want and when you're happy with the look, bake it.

 

And I've never had anyone that wanted to bring me their own powder but I wouldn't care as long as they understand what they are dealing with. If it's really old powder or a really cheap brand or something it may not turn out as good as it could etc. I prefer Tiger Drylac, Columbia Coatings, Eastwood, or Caswell Coatings myself.

 

Powder coating is a blast!

[NitroTate]

Here's a few pics to look at:

 

Here's a fade I did for a friend:

 

 

Heres a Swingarm I did in super gloss black:

 

 

Heres a teapot for my wife: Translucent blue over chrome

 

 

22 inch wheels I did yesterday:

 

 

Translucent black over chrome:

 

 

My oven:

 

[HotCarl]

Now that was the kinda of response I was looking for. I'll have to try the fade this weekend, it doesn't sound as bad as I was thinking it would be. what do you use to spray in/on? Right now I'm using a cardboard box , but I need to get a dust collection system for it. lol

[NitroTate]

Now that was the kinda of response I was looking for. I'll have to try the fade this weekend, it doesn't sound as bad as I was thinking it would be. what do you use to spray in/on? Right now I'm using a cardboard box , but I need to get a dust collection system for it. lol

 

 

You know I have run out of room to have any kind of booth, especially for the big stuff I do, so I have just been cleaning up really well and hanging my parts from the garage celing and shooting in the open. I don't try to reclaim. Some day I hope to figure out some kind of collapseable booth or something...

[zach45]

when u fad try to take some pics b4 u bake it...

looks like a intresting process..

[sheerider1026]

hey tate, i have been coating for a little over 2 years, i had a question on your oven, how did u make it?? whats it made of?? electronics and elements used?? and what size sand blaster do u have?? the biggest things i can blast and bake are like +2 swingers, 17 inch rims, i just wanna be able to do frames and shit.. thanx man, gary

[HotCarl]

From what I have read a lot of garage setups can be made out of cinder blocks and halogen lights, but I have seen some that sheet metal and insulated with house insulation. What are you using to get a +2 swingarm in there?

[sheerider1026]

dont laugh.. a homestyle oven. it works great.. just limited on the size of items i can bake. i do engine cases, cylinders, swingers, lot of stuff.. cinder blocks huh?? they hold temperature well?? i guess so( like a chimney)?

[HotCarl]

I won't laugh I'm using a spare kitchen oven, I just didn't think a swinger would fit in there.

 

tate: on that chrome platter how did you get both sides? did you do one side bake it and then the other side?

[NitroTate]

Ok let me see if I can answer all your questions in one post... :cool:

 

My oven: It is 7' tall by 3'x3'. I got an old crappy oven off of the free section on craigslist, gutted it mounted the 2 big oven elements on the bottom, and three of the top burners about half way up the 3 walls. Wired in the oven line from the breaker box etc.

 

The oven is built out of alluminum wall studs (the small ones don't recall size though) with rockwall as the bottom (you can get rockwall at home depot, it's cement board). The walls are covered with thin sheet aluminum from home depot it comes in rolls. Now for insulation you have to be VERY careful. Some guys may tell you to use simple house insulation (the pink stuff), I've read many many times that it can be very toxic when offgassing so I stay away from it. You need the industrial stuff that is intended for ovens so this will be the most expensive component of your oven. You need to use something like what I did, I used mineral wool from a local heating and industrial supply store. You'll need to do some research but you should be able to find it locally. Your oven is one of the most important items of PC because you really do need to be as precise with temps as possible. I can get my oven up to 500 deg.

 

Fading: I'm not sure when I'll be doing a fade again but if I do I'll definitely take some pics. Maybe I'll fade my axle from blue to black or something??

 

Blaster: I just made a cabinet from MDF and put a hole in the bottom to sweep out the media. Put the cabinet on legs with casters and a lid on top with some plexiglass. Made arm holes and then took an old sweatshirt and cut the arms off and stapled/duct taped them into the holes. Cut a hole in the left side of the box to connect my vacuum hose and a small hole in the right side to pull air in. Then a hole to run the blast hose into. I use a 50# pot blaster. My compressor is less than adequate so I hate blasting stuff until I get a bigger compressor. It's about 4' wide, 2' deep, and about 4' tall on the back wall and a little shorter on the front wall so the top tilts toward your face so you can see in.

 

My trick though is to chemical strip stuff first because it would take weeks of blasting to get a frame done.

Edited January 10, 2008 by NitroTate

[timjz]

dont laugh.. a homestyle oven. it works great.. just limited on the size of items i can bake. i do engine cases, cylinders, swingers, lot of stuff.. cinder blocks huh?? they hold temperature well?? i guess so( like a chimney)?

 

Speaking of cylinders, there is a piece of rubber on the bottom of the jug that mates to the case. Can you remove this or is it safe to powder coat with this in place?

 

Any problems with the powder coat from heat when you are riding?

[bansheeryder_69]

Speaking of cylinders, there is a piece of rubber on the bottom of the jug that mates to the case. Can you remove this or is it safe to powder coat with this in place?

 

Any problems with the powder coat from heat when you are riding?

 

Remove the rubber it will melt or deform. and as far as motorparts go when powdercoating people usually use a ceramic powder that can withold the heat alot better. And if you guys need somewhere to powdercoat the bigger parts I work at a professional powdercoating shop we got a huge oven and sandblaster and the whole works very expensive top quality equipment.

[LiftdT4R]

Remove the rubber it will melt or deform. and as far as motorparts go when powdercoating people usually use a ceramic powder that can withold the heat alot better. And if you guys need somewhere to powdercoat the bigger parts I work at a professional powdercoating shop we got a huge oven and sandblaster and the whole works very expensive top quality equipment.

 

Yes, definately remove that, it's a coolant drain plug. The trick is screw a very small screw into it and pull it out with a pair of plier, the hole plug should pop out. If you do it right you can reuse the plug, and you wont damage the cylinder. Make sure you use High Temp RTV on it when you put it back in.

 

Also cylinders on mostly stock bikes don't get that hot. It is 100% safe to use regular PC on them. Thats what I have on mine and it has held up fine, even when the bike overheated. The ceramic coating may help the bike run a little cooler, but I don't know how much extra it costs. Pipes are a different story.