DIY powder coating
Been Around A Long Time Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 7,381
From: St. Paul, MN
RE: DIY powder coating
^ x2. You do not powder coat and cook food in the same oven... ever. The powder is either a thermoplastic and/or thermopolymer... not exactly something you want anywhere near your food.
Been Around A Long Time Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 7,381
From: St. Paul, MN
RE: DIY powder coating
Gross Aaron, you're an engineer, you should know better! A powder coating over get's really nasty over time. The charge that hold the powder on is weak and creates a cloud. It's really a messy thing to do, but the results are amazing.
Thread Starter
|
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 774
From: Canada
RE: DIY powder coating
Well, today my wife and I took the mixer pieces to "Impact Coatings" in northern Edmonton. The guy there was terrific. He first gave us a tour of the facility, which was very impressive. Then he showed us a variety of colors on a variety of metal objects - metal chairs, varous automotive parts, even sculpture. The array of colors is simply mind-boggling.
Unfortunately, my wife acted like a kid in a candy shop. She picked out a nice red - not quite a candy apple red, more of a fire-truck red.
Anyway, in order to cook off any possible remaining oil or grease, they're going to first bake the parts at a pretty high temperature. Then they'll give it a light aluminum oxide blast to get the exact same look all over the bare metal and to properly etch the surface for good coating adhesion. Then they spray on the color powder coat and put it in the oven for only a short period of time in order to melt the powder. Then, while the parts are still pretty hot, they apply a final clear coat and then bake the thing for around 30 minutes at 400 F. The parts are then cooled to room temp and they're then ready to go for mixer re-assembly.
As I said above, after my wife screamed about five times that she was in love with powder coat, we were told that the price for all of the prep (masking included) and two powder coats would be $150 - the highest end of the previous night's photos-only quote. I was ready to walk, but my wife wanted to go ahead with the job, so that's what we did. (Actually, I'm glad that she insisted, because now, not only will I not have to deal with it, I can still blame her for being a splurge!)
So the pieces are now at Impact. The guy said that the parts should be ready "in a couple of days". Realistically, I expect that we'll have the pieces sometime mid-next-weekish, so I'll post some photos of the assembled mixer a short time after that.
Unfortunately, my wife acted like a kid in a candy shop. She picked out a nice red - not quite a candy apple red, more of a fire-truck red.
Anyway, in order to cook off any possible remaining oil or grease, they're going to first bake the parts at a pretty high temperature. Then they'll give it a light aluminum oxide blast to get the exact same look all over the bare metal and to properly etch the surface for good coating adhesion. Then they spray on the color powder coat and put it in the oven for only a short period of time in order to melt the powder. Then, while the parts are still pretty hot, they apply a final clear coat and then bake the thing for around 30 minutes at 400 F. The parts are then cooled to room temp and they're then ready to go for mixer re-assembly.
As I said above, after my wife screamed about five times that she was in love with powder coat, we were told that the price for all of the prep (masking included) and two powder coats would be $150 - the highest end of the previous night's photos-only quote. I was ready to walk, but my wife wanted to go ahead with the job, so that's what we did. (Actually, I'm glad that she insisted, because now, not only will I not have to deal with it, I can still blame her for being a splurge!)
So the pieces are now at Impact. The guy said that the parts should be ready "in a couple of days". Realistically, I expect that we'll have the pieces sometime mid-next-weekish, so I'll post some photos of the assembled mixer a short time after that.
