Anyone have experience with powder coating?

[unclemoak]

I was thinking about buying one of the beloved HF 13 drawer tool boxes, but have read the finish is less then desirable, so I thought maybe I'd try to powder coat one.

I understand the whole concept of how the gun works with charged part, but how would I be able to cure something as large as a tool box on a budget?

 

[GuerrillaCycles]

To powder coat something like that, You have to take it all apart and coat the parts separately. You're not gonna do it as a "whole toolbox". Once it's apart, you will need to strip the parts all down to bare metal. Then you need to mask any areas that were unfinished originally.

Once you get powder on it, you're gonna need a curing oven big enough for your largest piece, and a way to move that piece from your coating area into the oven without touching any of the raw powder.

I'm not one to discourage anyone from taking on something new, but this would be an extremely challenging project to dive into the world of PCing with. Maybe just get the HF tool box, and leave it as is for a few years while you work on your PC skills.

 

[unclemoak]

The only real challenge I see is being able to cure it. Disassembly, stripping, coating doesn't seem like it would be a problem at all. I just didn't know if I could get away with curing it with a bunch of 1000 watt work lights or something similar.

 

[toxicz28]

I just didn't know if I could get away with curing it with a bunch of 1000 watt work lights or something similar.

Going to need something along the lines of these, probably cheaper to have it done though.
http://www.eastwood.com/hotcoat-powder-coating/curing-lamps.html

 

[kc-steve]

I just bought a gas stove for the kitchen to replace an old electric I bought in 1973. I seriously considered keeping it in the garage for future powder coating projects, but when I looked in Craigslist there were many electrics for sale for $50. So I decided I need the garage space more than a hopeful thought.

But it isn't beyond the scope of the average guy to take an old electric stove and modify it in size for powder coating. The main thing would be to try and stay within the electrical limitations of your home. Just a thought.

Steve

 

[Ditchdigger]

depending on the powder used the piece being coated has to be heated to 350-400 degrees for 15 to 30 minutes. For a single large thing it is cheaper to pay someone to do it for you than it would be to build a large oven or purchase infrared heaters.

 

[Red05GT]

A friend started powder coating in his garage about three years ago using an old electric
range he found at the curb on trash collection day. As the pieces he was doing grew
in size he built his new larger oven and upgraded his powder coating gun. Surface preparation is the key to the quality of the powder coating job. So you are also looking
at a sandblasting setup to properly prepare you pieces for coating. I agree that if you only need an occasional piece done, it would be cheaper to sub it out. Just my .02.

 

[John Timmins]

A friend used a retired pizza oven. He mounted an old oven rack in the top of the oven. He'd powder the prepped parts which were hung on hooks made from coat hangers. Then he'd gently transfer the parts from his spray booth and hang them from the oven rack.

Evenutally he had a 7 foot oven to fit Harley frames in, but he made the most profit from the old pizza ovens. They were on legs so the height was convenient.

The success of powder coating is the metal preparation and oven temp.

 

[Boiler]

I utilize a professional powder coating place with the conveyor system going through this huge oven for my coating. I clean the metal and they clean and coat it. They are very cheap too if I use colors they're already running, so I do. They powdercoat my roof racks for my jeep for $25.00 and its like a 60 x 50 round tube frame. I couldn't rattle can it for that and it would look like ****. I've had them coat a vise and some shackles and a bumper, always really cheap if they've got other stuff going through. The ***** is the prep.

Personally I'd never take the time to refinish one of those. They aren't THAT great. Use it and when you tire of the paint, sell it for damn near new cost. I see HF stuff sell at new price or higher all the time. They are just so darn cheap to start that people guess would be a good used price is actually close to the new price.

 

[Catamount]

This past summer I restored an old motorcycle. I was getting tired of paying & waiting for the local guy to PC my parts so I looked into what it would take to do them myself. The answer? Not much!

I picked up this old relic on Craigslist, a homemade sandblast cabinet. It works great!

Turned these brackets...

Into...

Bare metal very quickly!

Now into the cardboard box for application of high voltage powder with $60 Eastwood powder coating gun.

Yes, the powder gun is that inexpensive!

It looks gray, but it's semi-gloss black. There are zillions of colors available.

Into the free Craigslist oven (the guy just wanted it gone because it had a cracked glass top) for 25 minutes at 400 degrees.

Brackets ready for another 20 years of dirt roads.

Nice curves!

Honestly, this was about $150 invested in tools including the sandblaster, free oven and Eastwood Hot Coat powder coating gun from eBay.

The process is also pretty stupid-proof. I highly recommend it if you have the need and the space! The other guys are right though, you'd need a BIG oven to do a toolbox.

Fair warning... it's addictive! Once you realize how easy it is to quickly and professionally powdercoat your own stuff, you start looking for things to through in the sandblast cabinet!