Thread: 1st Powder Coat

Jim Is right you could powder coat wood, the electrostatic process for applying finishes works on wood. You first dip or coat the timber in a liquid which enables the current to be active when switched on, the process then allows the paint medium to be attracted to the timber.

Electrostatic is great for difficult shaped pieces as it wraps the paint around the object evenly so you don't get runs or miss sections. Remington rifles have such a system for their gun stocks. An automatic line coats the clear onto the stocks eliminating human error as the machinery was able to be set up to do a perfect job with minimum waste.

As Jim noted heat it the problem with powder, all timber has a moisture content, the temperature needed for powder is high 180 deg C or more. If you have ever applied any normal clear fiish finish and placed it in hot sunlight or near a heater you probably ended up with the finish blistering or bubbling up as the air and moisture is drawn out of the wood. One of the reasons nitrocellulose lacquer is still so common in timber finishing is the fact it dries so fast without the need for any extra heat which accelerates paints drying time on surfaces which can take heat something timber is not too good at. Two pack polyurethanes can be accelerated from days to a matter of minutes with heat but timber prevents that from happening. It would be a big risk heating the timber so high especially if it was a project you had spent a lot of time and money on. Often you see antique furniture made overseas with cracks in it as the moisture content here is lower than where it was originally made.

A workmate was involved with an Australian invention where gas was injected into a booth rather than heat. It cured poly in 8-15 minutes.I just googled it and it appears that the technology was sold to overseas interests Here is some info.

http://www.multicoats.com/mrf.htm


The system was taken on by a firm of furnature builders in Italy as they had problems with drying tables etc in the winter. they were then able to cure them in a short time and stack them on top of each other saving space in their factory. Lotus cars also used it to cure poly on their fibreglass bodies as they also can't take the heat. 60 C is what is needed to cure 2 packs (for about 40 minutes _ what your car repairer does when respraying your car) not 180 C needed for powder.

Very interesting Amos.

Does the powdercoating scratch/chip off as easily as acryclic paint? I painted some tubes and the inside of blanks with Acrylic paint from Spotlight, but still had scratch marks which could be seen through the thin blank. I just glued up another one with around 4 coats of paint on, so I will see how that goes.

If powdercoating provides greater beenefits than painting, then I will like to look into it. Surely there'd be an Australian supplier of the powders?

Good work,
Nathan.

Benifits aren't greater for powder just different. It depends on what you are actually painting as to which type of paint system you use. Powder has a place but so do all the others. Powder is available from several sources from Dulux down.

There is a powder coater in Moss Vale he actually gave me some powder when a friend enquired for me.

Powder coat is almost part of the metal so you don't get it coming off like paint, a much better alternative than painting the tubes. Amos

while on the subject of powder coating ,any Ideas on costs to set up a basic powder coating for the home handyman, did a few searches but not many results and none with pricing , cheers john .

Got mine from Eastwood Co. in USA around US $145 plus around US $60 postage, also you will need a 240volt to 110volt stepdown Transformer that you can purchase in Australia around 80-120 dollars, you also need a compressor and a small toaster oven. Amos
http://www.eastwoodco.com/ have a look here

Thanks for that info, Budget not good at moment but nearly pay for it first run hehe. I only want to do clear coating at this point ,so should not be too big a learning curve John