DIY powdercoating thoughts?

[larryq]

Eastwood has a home powdercoating gun that looks interesting for ~ $100. No doubt others do too. Is this something the home guy can do without too much difficulty or do you need a rugged spray booth and fans and filters, as you would in painting auto body panels? And are these home kits any good if used properly or do they leave plenty to be desired compared with the pros?

I'm talking specifically about coating smaller items like wrenches and such, that can fit in a used kitchen oven. Not roller cabinets or anything large.

 

[Outlawmws]

I know a few people on a Honda forum that regularly powdercoat. No experience with it myself, however, DON'T use your regular kitchen oven for this or other oven operations where outgassing is present (Curing paint, etc). If it outgasses it will condense on the oven walls, and could wind up in your food...

Its easy to get a cast off oven from a remodel, probably for free too. Set that up dedicated. If the parts are small, you might get by with a toaster oven, again, easy to get free/cheap.

Not sure powdercoating is a good way to go for tools like wrenches, its likely to get chipped in use.

 

[larryq]

however, DON'T use your regular kitchen oven for this or other oven operations where outgassing is present...

Not sure powdercoating is a good way to go for tools like wrenches, its likely to get chipped in use.

Right, great point. No intention of using my regular oven for that. As for chipping the wrenches, it would be more for decorative use on old ones that have had the rust cleaned off them previously, etc.

 

[bullfrog123]

Yup its easy. I had the original Hotcoat gun from Eastwood for years. Recently upgraded to one from Summit with its own air source. One less thing to hook up and mess with. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/XYZ-01-07100/
As for the booth.... I just built one out of melamine and put a hole in the bottom to sweep the excess into a coffee can located underneath. Works fairly well. And 2 dedicated old ovens that I got for free.

 

[larryq]

Thanks for the heads up on the Summit unit bullfrog. Do you prefer it to the Eastwood model, air supply issues aside?

On the spray booth, are you blowing a fan from behind while you spray?

 

[colonel25]

I"ve used and now own an Eastwood model works well #10198. Very suprised how tough this product is I coated some lower control arms and didn't like the color tried sand blasting no help ended up using 2 cans of gasket remover and scraper. I hung plastic from ceiling and shot powder into it. Baked in oven that was a throw away very happy with outcome.

 

[bullfrog123]

Thanks for the heads up on the Summit unit bullfrog. Do you prefer it to the Eastwood model, air supply issues aside?

On the spray booth, are you blowing a fan from behind while you spray?

Nothing wrong with the Eastwood one but..... you have to hold a "trigger" button with one hand and spray with the other. Also the air supply was a pain. The Summit one is just a spray and bake. Easier to clean also.

No fan on the booth. Not sure why you would want one either

 

[Outlawmws]

I used to use a large cardboard box on top of an old desk for a small parts "paint booth" not sure if this would be applicable to powdercoating.

If you want an exhaust, a 4" muffin fan from a computer and some dryer ducting would work wonders.

 

[240sxguy]

I have one, and have yet to buy another oven for this current house to use it. I do little parts in a toaster oven. The problem i have with it is that I have to strip the parts before coating and I don't have any blasting setup and am too lazy and don't like to use chemical strippers.

 

[Catamount]

I use the original Eastwood hobbyist gun all the time! Got an old oven on CL for free and it was off to the races. I love doing it, very rewarding. Would love to pick up a large (4' x 4' x 6') oven someday.

My experiences here:

http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=68956

 

[buildmyown]

Nothing wrong with the EW hobby gun at all. That is what i started with 6 years ago and have since steped up to a mid level gun. It does have its limitations but there are some tricks to overcome those. Most common type of spray booth for hobby use is a simple box made out of just about anything and a box in the back with a furnace filter or two infront of the fan to catch the powder over spray.

Heres is a tip for the little button you have to hold down cut it off there are only 2 wires in there now wire those to a little toggle switch now you dont have to hold it down.

For more info and tips and tricks check out these sites.

eastwood.com has a forum used to be really active but i havent been on there in sometime.

powderbuythepound.com also has a good forum

powder365.com has one as well most active in my opinion

There is a ton of reading on these sites for everyone for a hobby user to a pro.

 

[willyrocket]

http://forum.caswellplating.com/

Good for lots of info, even building your own oven.....my second favorite site behind GJ

 

[bullfrog123]

As for the switch on the EW gun.... I zip tied it to the handle of the gun and used my thumb to activate it. I ended up giving that gun to my brother when I upgraded. I just like the newer gun because of no air line, no trigger, and no worrying about air pressure and moisture in the line. jmo