Anybody Know Anything About Powder Coating?

Mike Finley

If you are familiar with powder coating - say you powder coat something, is powder coating know for being tougher than say something that was just painted? Is it more scratch resistant? If not, what is the reason for powder coating instead of painting?

ProWallGuy

Mike, here is some good, basic info on the subject.
Scroll down to see the 'why powder' section to answer your latter questions.

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slickshift

Yup
Yup
Absolutely it's tougher
And much more scratch resistant
Also more weather, wear, heat, cold, and chemical resistant

For a good video go here:
http://www.eastwoodco.com/shopping/p...iProductID=412
And click on "click on this the watch a video"
Yeah, they are trying to sell you a system, but the info is good (the system is good too ), and it really is a good, quick look into how it's done

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Originally Posted by ModernStyle I have never used this crap before and I pray to the paint gods that I never have to use it again, I would rather use Behr

Teetorbilt

Mike, ask any questions. It's really big in the marine industry.

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ApgarNJ

mike, it's a good finish but that doesn't mean it's perfect. my snow plow was powder coated but it still chips and once it starts chipping, it tends to keep going in spots. especially on the edges of metal, the flat areas it's better. i personally don't like how it looks over time. all depends what you are doing, and what kind of abuse it gets.

Mike Finley

I got a half dozen frames for my yard signs and was considering changing their color from the flat black to maybe something more appealing. People I talk to say to just spray paint them, but I'm wondering if there is a better solution. I can see them sliding around in the bed of the pick up or rattling around laying against other tools and equipment in the truck bed, so was wondering if powder coating them would be a better solution and would be worth it.

ApgarNJ

i have a few of those frames too. i've just sandblasted them and then sprayed them with normal black spray paint and they last a little while.
i'm in the process of getting a better sign built that is higher end for these bigger jobs, than just the realtor type signs. they've been good so far. but it's time for change.

Woz the Painter

Most refrigerators, washers, dryers etc. are powder coated, and stand the test of time very nicely!

A+Carpenter

Good Post

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Teetorbilt

The way that it works is that they throw a - charge to the part and a + charge to the 'paint' (dust) then it is baked which causes it to flow.
If you ding it, the oxidation process will crawl underneath it the same as any other surface coating.

Your best bet is anodized alum. Anodizing actually penetrates the surface but only works on aluminium.

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IHI

With our cars alot of parts get power coated and guys with rails are now having the chasis and even exterior body panels powder coated. When done right it does give a tough finish, but any nick/scratch that allows moisture in will quickly deteriorate it. If you happen to bump something up against it it will marr the surface and leave a nice whitish streak that cannot be buffed out like typical clear coat finishes can.

There are times when powder coating is just not the ideal option since inital cost is up there as most times the shops spraying/baking the finish want to do the initla snadblasting/cleaning to assure it's up to their standards so that costs, then the process itself (unless you know a guy) can vary by region with anything else but I'm sure if yuou get a price quote it's gonna be ALOt higher than a can of regular spray bombs, and the spray bombs will be easier to touch up and keep looking good for the long haul with the abuse the bed of a truck and/or helpers will put them through.

2 realtively cheap options come to mind: either you or have a place sand blast them, take them home and use regular automotive sealer/primer and use a 1 stage paint or if you wanna get nuts use base/clear. these will hold up rather well over the long haul and you can choose the color of choice just like powder coating...and touch up is quick/easy in the future. Say you bought 2 qts of paint that will reduce down to a gallon and 1 gallon will do any signs you have for years to come with little inital investment.

Or if going with a standard black, just go to any tractor supply house and buy a can of implement paint. This stuff is tough as nails and can be sprayed directly over the sandblasted surface since it's a sealer/paint all in one with no reducer needed. We used this on our 4 wheeler snow plows and after 3 years of snow removal and summer grading with rocks/dirt the surface was marred, but nothing was scratched to bare metal...this stuff is tough!!

Aluminum is also good and I would recommend acid washing/acidizing, this will give the frames a whitish color and you can freshen them up to look like new again with a quick spray down and acid wash anytime, when I ran an OTR shop it was aabout 50/50 with trucks getting polished vs trucks getting acid washed and both looked really nice when they were done, but the acid wash cna be performed anywhere at any truck wash or you can buy the acid by the bucket and do it yourself. Only draw back with aluminum is unless you go with heavier material they will be prone to cracking/breaking welds over time so getting them fixed (unless you have a TIG or MIG with aluminum wire) can be a PITA running them somewhere in town for a quick weld.

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kapena

Great post IHI. I especially like that you described how powder coat is prone to rust underneath after it gets nicked or scratched. I have had lousy luck with powder-coated products. The Delta tool boxes look like hell in short order from any abuse. Powder coat hides the rust and it starts bubbling if you are not careful to keep an eye out. It could be that I live where there is plenty of salty ocean air. I recently had to do maintenance on a metal fence that I installed. It was powder coated, and in less than two years exposure, I had to do a lot of tedious grinding and sanding to get it presentable again. That is when I became a firm anti-powder-coat guy. I'm sure it has its place, but if the salesman tells me it's powder coated, I want a discount.

Scott Kuperman

My name is Scott Kuperman from Paint Platoon USA. I'm not a powder coating expert. I'm a commercial & industrial painting contractor. From what I understand powder coating is a high quality, efficient, cost effective way to get things painted, especially in a manufacturing environment. It's better than wet painting things in a factory...by hand. However, I believe that there are many "wet paints" that can be field applied that are just as durable or more durable. But, you can probably wage a 20 minute argument either way. Powder coating also looks "pretty". However, once that powder coating fails in the field, I'm not aware of any cost effective way to "repaint" those powder coated surfaces. It's also my understanding that you have to completely remove all of the old powder coating before re-powder coating. (I could be wrong about that, but don't think so). There are "many tough two part epoxy systems and specialty coatings that are also very scratch resistant....and if you prepare the surface properly, you can apply them...or even a good quality one part system (paint) over an existing powder coating. Hope that's at least a little bit helpful to you.

Susan Betz

You're right, I wouldn't recommend powder-coating for anything that will rattle around. But we do ornamental aluminum from Jerith, and it has a pretty good warranty: http://www.jerith.com/pdfs/AluminumWarr.pdf

Not all powder coating is equal. Look for a manufacturer that will stand behind their work.

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Blast&Coat

Indeed a GOOD powdercoating job should never really "chip" allowing any moisure to get under it. I have coated my ATV frames and a couple of our trailers even my deck. The atv's get plenty of wear and tear an dclean up perfect every time. I'm not knocking paints because there are some very, very good paints out there but when we coat things we stand behind our 5-7x longer than paint, and many paints fade. Where as many of the new powders are UV resistant. We also offer a warranty for at least 5 years on an "chip" or blemish. It is very easy t touch something up with our finish and we can usually come right to the customer to do it! Any bad powder coat is 99% the result of a bad prep job. We blast almost everything on some level.