YSRRider

Hello, I work for a large media blasting (sand blasting) and powder coating company about an hour north or Chicago, just thought I'd toss some ideas out there for someone thats looking for custom finishes......

In case you dont know, Powder Coating is a super durable finish which is an alternative to a liquid paint, there are many advantages, 1. would be cost, IN MOST cases, its cheaper to have something powder coated than it is to paint it, excluding a $3.00 can of spray paint or $10 can of cheap paint.
2. Powder Coating is environmentally friendly! We have access to 1000's of different colors and textures, If you found a ceiling fan that is not sold in the color that you want, we can fix that problem! Cabinet handles, metal railings, lawn furniture, flat screen TV mount,.... metal frame coffee table with glass top doesn't match the rest of your furniture? We'll match it! Outdoor lighting to match your porch/deck/landscaping, we can help you match the outlets on the outside of your house to match your brick or siding. Whatever you can think of! If its metal, we can coat it!

If you live out of state, we'd still love to work with you!

powder.tek@gmail.com

tsunamicontract

powder coating is pretty sweet. I worked a day or two at a local powder coating place. I have one of those craftsman hobby guns because I wanted to coat things for customers but that never took off . . .
Did they ever figure out how to powder coat wood and other substrates yet?

YSRRider

You can coat anything, its a matter of finding a way to get the powder to stick if its not metal and can the substrate handle the temperatures? I have a "tribo" gun that works a little different than a standard "corona" gun. The Tribo gun charges the powder as it is going through the barrel, the friction builds the static charge. These guns can apply powder to just about anything. I have coated wood, it absorbs into the wood and shows the grain nicely, this would be something for a finish carpenter/cabinet maker to play with..... if you coat wood, and sand it to leave the color in the grain you could make some cool stuff. One problem you have with wood is the sap sweating out during the cure cycle, this gives inconsistencies in the coating. Medium Density Fiber board (MDF) is growing pretty popular in the powder industry, I believe they have special powders for coating that. There are a couple companies working with wood grain powders, they look like wood...... You can coat a steel door and it comes out looking like wood. I have seen finished products in magazines and even found one of the companies that is making it, but they never got back to me with any further information.

Those craftsman guns are kind of a gimmick.... I havent tried one, but one thing I have learned in the powder coating business is that it is all in the prep work..... whats does a $120 coating gun do when you need thousands in other equipment to put out a coating that isnt going to fail in a couple months. I started out with $25,000-$30,000 worth of equipment and had to keep buying more to meet the demand and quality expectations of myself and my customers. I helped a close friend powder coat a set of my personal motorcycle wheels for me at the small shop he worked for, I didnt know much about powder coating at the time but I knew that you dont coat over a half way sand blasted wheel and wipe it down with acetone and a dirty shop rag before applying powder. I helped with that job, I wasnt happy with the quality and the owner still raped me $100 which was not the agreement, but I handed over the cash with a smile while the gears were turning in my head on how I was going to put him out of business. That was 4 years ago.

How were you prepping your parts? glass bead in a small cabinet?