Home Powder Coating

[Guest]

Inspired by the Painted Carb thread by jwhenal65,

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=141007

-I've decided to paint my carbs and a lot of other small parts on my bike. Doing a little poking around, it seems like powder coating might be a good option, especially for the carbs as the powder reportedly does a good job at coating small nooks and crannies.

There are cheapo systems like this one:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=94244

-that certainly aren't price prohibitive and seem like they could pull off a quality job.

The only other piece of equipment would be an oven, which people give away on Craig's list all day long.

So, powder coating seems cheap, easy, resistant to gas and physical abuse - and parts can be coated and then installed immediately.

So what am I missing?

[LeeGS550E]

I used the HF gun for about a year, and recently switched to a gun with adjustable KV, and put the powder in a remote hopper that delivers it to the gun through plastic tubing. The HF gun works really well for the cost. Caswell Plating has a finishing forum with lots of good info about how to modify the cheap chinese guns to get best performance.

With carbs, you will want to fully prep them, use iron phosphate (columbia coatings and Caswell both sell it) prep spray, and off-gas them for a long time since they are aluminum and the pores of the metal will have contaminants. You will want to 'hot flock' the carb bodies, meaning you heat them to full temp first, then spray the parts hot. Parts that have nooks and crannies have issues with the powder electrostatically attracting inside those areas. Shooting it hot will get you past this.

I say go for it. Its a cheap way to go - even the powder that HF sells is pretty good stuff, IMHO.

And everything I've read says to use an electric oven. I would avoid using a gas one if you can, though I have read of people using propane fed ovens. I use an electric oven that I built out of an old refrigerator.

[beingblueeyes]

Inspired by the Painted Carb thread by jwhenal65,

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=141007

-I've decided to paint my carbs and a lot of other small parts on my bike. Doing a little poking around, it seems like powder coating might be a good option, especially for the carbs as the powder reportedly does a good job at coating small nooks and crannies.

There are cheapo systems like this one:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=94244

-that certainly aren't price prohibitive and seem like they could pull off a quality job.

The only other piece of equipment would be an oven, which people give away on Craig's list all day long.

So, powder coating seems cheap, easy, resistant to gas and physical abuse - and parts can be coated and then installed immediately.

So what am I missing?

a place to put the oven
it is a good idea

[GS1100ez]

i have that same HF one, had it for 2 years now, never used it due to lack of an oven.....
gt an electirc oven not a gas one, as the gas can react with the paint i read


small things im temped to try in the toaster oven haha

[Skyboy8950]

Clearly, you didn't see the related items at the bottom of the page.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=46300

Yea, I would pick one of those up as well. If harbor freight says you need it, you need it! And a steal at just over $300!!!