Thread: 1st Powder Coat

Good stuff Amos, not sure about the green though

In that 4th image, is that still marks on the brass showing through the coating? I thought powder coating was opaque? Or is it marks in the coating itself?

I have no idea about the process, is it just like special paint? I thought there was some electrostatic charge which made a pigmented powder adhere to the metal, and then it was melted on in the oven?

Eh, I guess I should just Google it.

How much you gonna charge for the service?

Russell.

um it might be easier for me to bye some white powder coat paint and 5 sets of tubes , send it all to you with only enough stamps to send the 5 sets of tubes back
Ive bought some white pearl blanks and figure if any thing will be see through it'll be the white pearl

Russell, opaque marks are on the metal itself, either I sandpaper more finely or coat more thickly. Green suits the home brew blanks I have, but I need deeper green or maybe black. Amos

Amos

Nice work with the powdercoating.

I powdercoat my bullet pen shells all the time and use the clear.


I do not know what is available to you there but here, what I use for my stands to hold parts is I use metal studs. These are the studs that they use in construction instead of wood 2x4's I use bolts drilled to the size I need to support the tubes. Usually 1/4" works well. I place some tin foil around the bottom of the bolt so that when the tube is placed on it it does not go to the bottom and will get stuck when the powdercoat dries. With the tin foil it breaks away clean. I also place a rolled up piece in the top of the tube because you do not want powdercoating to get in the tube. Could make for hard assembly down the road. With the use of the metal studs it is easy to place the electrode on. This is all providing you are using the powder and not the stuff in a can. I then can take over to my oven that is preheated and stick in for the recomended amount of time. This is where I get my powdercoating stuff. http://store.columbiacoatings.com/

Looking good Amos, another useful tool in your arsenal

As powder coating gives a fairly thick film do you find you have enough clearance to insert the tube?

Nicely done, Amos. Are you doing that in your wife's oven? Does she know? A dedicated oven out in your shed might be a good idea. I still remember the day SWMBO caught me putting an intake manifold in the dishwasher to degrease it.

Originally Posted by ciscokid

I still remember the day SWMBO caught me putting an intake manifold in the dishwasher to degrease it.

LOL, was that with or without the dishes in

Good point about the thickness. Could make it tight.

Russell.

Way to go Amos another new worthy tool, there's no stopping you

A few points that may be of use.

Powder coat is just paint that has no solvent and is set by heating and melting it. So like normal paint you can change the actual thickness by just adding more powder or stopping sooner. If you have sloppy fit the powder can be used to add material, you can even cut a thread in it with a tap or die or make a loose fit tight and you could turn it down on the lateh again if you want to.

If you put the piece you are powdercoating into the oven and pre heat it you will get better results. The powder sticks not only by the magnetic attraction but also by the fact the powder melts as it touches the metal. This can be of use as often a repelling of the powder occurs when parts of the object being coayed are close together. The object being one pole sets up a situation where the powder can't attach its self as the field puts up a barrier, if you have the object hot the powder can be sprayed at the area and it will stick due to the powder melting. If its cold the area will remain bald.

Once you have applied powder to a surface the coating acts as an insulator and if you try to redo the object it can be difficult to get the powder to stick. heating first helps avoid this. Obviously getting a good ground each time helps to get top results.

If you are going to do multi colours over each other make sure the next coat has a lower melting point than the previous one. The actual melting temp should be on the packet. If its higher the first coat can be affeced by the increased temp. Used to do a lot of mag wheels the silver had a temp of 180 C the clear 180C. If you can set up an area where you can catch the powder, ( say a box with a turntable inside maybe with a sloping bottom so you can sweep out into a container as you can reuse any powder that misses its target.)

Thanks for all the advice, I definitely need to make a jig with metal studs or bolts, it will make coating and putting into the oven easier and better.
Al, that is a dedicated oven. Fred haven't tried fitting the tubes in a blank yest but will let you know.
Amos

Amos,
Nick here
Using the metal studs with 1/4" x 3" bolts with alumium foil as stated in the above post is exactly what I do as well as pre heating the part to be coated.
Good luck with your experiments, there is a learning curve.

I got a batch of these done at a local coating place , the first mechanism I tried to push in using my normal methods , it just buckled ,far too tight, so I now make sure the finished shell will "a" slide on my turning mandrel and "B"
a 1/4' drill will just fit in the tube at each end, no more problems since then
Makes the tubes a bit more expensive getting them done this way, but heaps better than my efforts at coating them myself , Pity its so expensive to set up ! got another hundred shells on the way hehe.

Would any of you know if there is a clear powder coat that works on wood?

Originally Posted by QC Inspector

Would any of you know if there is a clear powder coat that works on wood?

I do not think that wood or any non metalic material can be powder coated. The part must be metalic in order to complete the electrical circuit. The pen I received from Amos was finished with CA (green dyed quilted Maple) With his process the end look is just as, if not more glossy on the wood than P/C on metal.