What to paint powder coat with
The Ultimate Beginners Guide to Powder Coating - How to Powder Coat at Eastwood
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everybody Randy here in the East will
garage and today we're going to explain
the basics of powder coating to help you
understand the process and show you how
it's done and give you some tips that
will help you get professional results
and remember if at any time you want to
visit eastwood.com for more info when
the tools we're using all you have to do
is click or tap the button in the top
corner of the video to begin powder
coating you'll need a powder coating gun
powder and air compressor which can be a
small pancake compressor and air
pressure regulator and air filter to
maintain dry air and electric oven
dedicated for powder coating and a part
you want to coat that's it
we're going to show you how we transform
this old ski-doo snowmobile engine head
cover from dull gray aluminum to a shiny
blue metallic that will look great for
years to come plus we're going to show
you some tips and tricks using other
parts as well we're even going to show
you how to give the engine head cover a
cool two-tone appearance now before we
show you how we revive this old part
let's explain the process and show you
what you need in the simplest terms the
steps of powder coating are attach the
cup of powder connect the compressed air
attach the ground clamp and spray when
the part is coated with powder cure in
an electric oven but don't worry we'll
go know much more detail in this video
typically powder coating is done over
conductive metal parts but many items
that can withstand the curing
temperature of 400 degrees Fahrenheit
can also be powder coated like glass
which is done using a process called hot
flocking which will demonstrate later
but for this video we're going to focus
on the most common use of powder coating
which is for metal parts powder coating
is a process that involves applying an
extremely durable plastic coating using
an electrical charge and compressed air
before baking it permanently with heat
typically in an oven but heat lamps can
also be used using the large 240 volt
home oven has many benefits when powder
coating not only can you fit large parts
like wheels and home ovens but they also
recover much quicker allowing the oven
to get back to curing temperature faster
and giving you the best results its
durability is what makes it so popular
for parts on the underside of a car that
are commonly hit with stones are sawed
it's also great for hood hinges or
suspension components like Springs and
items that move
and stretch because it's more flexible
than paint powder coating is much safer
for the environment than paint because
it contains no solvents that produce
hazardous emissions or VOCs which also
means cleanup is quick and easy and
leaves you with no hazardous solvents to
dispose of just sweep up your floor and
blow out the gun and everything is clean
which is also much easier than cleaning
a paint gun let's discuss the process an
emitter rod electrically charges the air
in front of the gun compressed air moves
the powder out of the gun where it
passes through this charged air and
picks up a high voltage electrical
charge as these charged particles travel
through the air they're drawn to the
metal parts which have been grounded by
being attached to the ground lead of the
powder coating gun the electrical
attraction is how the powder particles
are able to get great coverage and reach
inside parts and around edges
unlike paint which travels in a straight
line out of the gun this is also why you
need a good ground to attract the powder
for the best coverage so impossible
ground directly to the part you're
spraying another advantage of powder is
that if you make a mistake you can
simply blow the part off and start again
which is a huge advantage of our
mistakes that are made during the
painting process
now once the part is coated you'll place
it in the oven to cure during this
process the first thing you'll see is
the flow out or melting of the powder
particles you'll be able to see this
happen as the powder becomes a smooth
even surface if it's a gloss it will
start to shine at this point a good rule
of thumb is to allow the powder to flow
out and then continue to cure it in the
oven for an additional 20 minutes at 400
degrees Fahrenheit but remember to check
the instructions for the powder you're
using a great tip that's more accurate
is to use an IR thermometer to check the
temperature of the part rather than the
temperature of the air in the oven when
the part reaches 400 degrees then cure
it for 20 minutes also heavier cast
parts will absorb more heat and may take
more time to reach the full cure
temperature which is another reason it's
beneficial to use an IR thermometer and
remember an extra five to ten minutes of
curing shouldn't hurt the powder let's
discuss safety when spraying powder
you'll want to wear safety goggles and a
dust mask cure the powder in an electric
oven dedicated for powder coating don't
cook in the oven after you've used it
for powder coating
and never use a gas oven to cure the
powder when cleaning up never use a
vacuum cleaner which could emit a spark
and ignite the powder always sweep the
powder with a soft brush and dustpan
also never smoke near the powder when
filling the gun applying the powder or
when cleaning never touch the emitter
rod to defuse the possibility of an
electric shock touch the end of the
ground clamp to the emitter rod and
remember never handle or touch apart
while powder is being applied because
you could receive an electric shock to
begin powder coating make sure you
remove anything that could be damaged by
the 400 degree temperature that is
needed to cure the part like grommets
bushings bearing seals or other plastic
components the part should then be
prepped like you would for paint
removing all dirt dust grease and oils
with a product like Eastwood pre paint
prep and then wipe with a quality tack
rag you will also need to remove any old
coatings like paint
since many paints won't withstand the
curing temperature paints will also not
conduct a charge which means the powder
won't adhere properly a great way to
remove paint and prep the part for
powder is by blasting in a cabinet or
with a pressure blaster we put the head
cover in the eastwood blasts cabinet and
use glass beads to fully clean the part
we used our large cabinet but if you're
only doing small parts Eastwood offers
other sizes of cabinets including a
bench top version that's great for small
parts or even crafts
if cleaning apart by blasting it's a
good idea to place the part in the oven
and heat it until it reaches 100 degrees
this will remove a charge you may have
created while blasting that could affect
your coverage you can also use a
chemical stripper like eastwood down the
metal to remove these coatings which
we've done with other projects like when
we restored an old set of wheels and
covered them in East with gloss white
and cosmic clear if your powder coating
a cast part it's also a good idea to
place the parts in a 450 degree oven for
an hour to bake out the impurities and
the IR thermometer is helpful for
determining the temperature of the part
if it's preheated or being hot flocked
an IR thermometer will tell you the
exact temperature of the part you're
coating while the oven thermometer will
read the air temperature and there could
be a difference between the two
especially if it's a thick cast part and
here are a few more things to look for
many body fillers won't with stay in the
hearing temperature and fillers that
will withstand the temperatures are not
electrically conductive so they will not
accept the charge powder and we'll leave
you with bare spots
wherever there's body filler so make
sure all body filler is also removed you
should also avoid touching the parts
with your bare hands because you will
introduce oils to the part which will
also affect powder adhesion parts can be
hung to be powder coated or placed
directly on the rack hanging the parts
from the oven rack is a great method if
you need to coat all sides of the part
if using a larger home oven you can
support the oven rack with two sawhorses
this is easier than attempting to powder
coat the part and then hang it on a rack
that's already inside the oven here's a
tip when powder coating a part that has
threaded holes use bolts not only to
protect the threads but to also give you
an anchor point to hang the part when
hanging parts make sure you're using
wire that doesn't have an anti rust
coating that could prevent proper
grounding stainless wire is great for
hanging parts when applying powder if a
part is bumped or touched before it gets
to the oven you can blow the powder off
and start over this is one huge
advantage over paint where you would be
forced to use a chemical stripper to
remove the paint before respraying
if you need to mask areas be sure to use
a quality high temperature polyester or
fiberglass powder coating tape polyester
tape is much thinner than fiberglass
tape and provides a sharp or cleaner
edge but fiberglass tape is more
flexible and will conform to irregular
shapes better to protect this engine
head cover off a ski-doo snowmobile
we're using the high temp polyester
masking tape to get a nice edge around
the cover use the narrow tape on the lip
and then use the wide tape to cover the
entire bottom with a cover flipped over
use a razor to cut along the edge also
tape off any other surfaces you don't
want powder coated and trim with a razor
if you need to tape off a large area you
can use aluminum foil in conjunction
with high temp masking tape this way you
can protect your parts while using less
tape high heat silicone plugs can be
used to cover and fill any holes to
begin powder coating select the powder
you'll be using and pour it into the cup
for this project we're using Eastwood
metallic blue powder which will really
make it pop when using Eastwood dual
voltage system and for best results it's
recommended that for the cup not to be
filled more than half
whey powder is made of my new particles
so different colors cannot be mixed
together like paint to create a new
color here's a tip make sure you're
using virgin powder so you know it's
pure and doesn't contain dirt or
contaminants powder can be swept sifted
and reused but for the best results use
virgin powder like we offer at Eastwood
it's now time to connect the ground
clamp and begin spraying the powder hold
the gun about 8 to 16 inches from the
part and apply using gentle steady
sweeping motions while moving around the
entire part the gun we're using only
requires 5 to 10 psi at a mere 2 CFM
which is why you can use a small pancake
compressor apply powder until the part
is uniformly covered and you can't see
through it a dual voltage gun like this
one from Eastwood is great because you
can switch the voltage to get the best
coverage on large flat areas as well as
in tight corners where you can get poor
coverage due to the Faraday cage effect
meaning the powder will be repelled from
those areas unless you're using a gun
that allows you to adjust the voltage
Faraday cage effect happens most often
in areas where the angles are about 90
degrees or tighter to avoid this effect
first set the powder gun to the lower
voltage setting to limit the charge or
building up on the part make sure you
have the deflector on the gun and turn
up the air pressure to allow more powder
to flow out of the gun also spray these
areas first because by spraying them
first you haven't built up as much of a
charge which will repel the powder start
spraying the area with a gun parallel to
the part and the deflector will direct
the powder out of the side and onto the
part once you spray the tight areas you
can remove the deflector and switch the
gun back to the higher voltage setting
to spray the remaining larger areas once
the powder is applied place the part in
the oven and cure we suggest curing the
powder at 400 degrees Fahrenheit once
the powder flows out and appears to be
smooth continue to cure for an
additional 20 minutes remember always
check the instructions for the powder
you're using for proper curing
temperature and time when it's fully
cured remove it from the oven and you'll
have a highly durable part that looks
great for years to come as you can see
the Eastwood blue metallic really made
this old snowmobile headcover look
better than it was when it was new and
the best part is that it didn't take my
investment or time to get these results
if you want to add a cool effect you can
sand through the lettering to give it a
two-tone appearance start with 120 grit
and then move to 600 800 and finally
1200 grit to remove all the powder as
well as the scratches from the previous
grits of sandpaper with the powder from
the lettering removed the cover looks
even better and it only added a few
additional minutes of work as you can
see the blue metallic looks awesome
against the aluminum lettering giving it
a cool two-tone effect plus we now have
a highly durable coating that will look
great for years to come to clean the gun
simply blow it off with your blow nozzle
no harmful chemicals or solvents to
dispose of like when mixing and spraying
paint not only is powder coating easy to
apply it's also easy to clean up even
from a floor in fact all you need to do
is sweep up the overspray that's why
when you're buying powder you should
make sure you're buying virgin powder
many companies who sell powder sell
reclaim powder which is why it may cost
a little less but you may not be getting
the best powder and it may show up in
your finished job now that you've seen
how easy it is the powder coat let's go
over a few other options chrome powders
can mimic the appearance of chrome but
typically need to be clear coated for
highest durability there is a trade-off
for this added durability because you
will lose some of the chrome appearance
additives like metal flakes can also
provide a great appearance to your
powder coated items translucent powders
can provide a great look and drastically
change the appearance whether it's
sprayed over chrome or a white base
these were sprayed first with white
powder and then top coated with a
translucent as you can see there's a big
difference in appearance whether the
base is chrome or white you can even
powder cook glass using a process called
hot flocking which means the part is
preheated before applying the powder
this is done because the glass won't
conduct a charge so it also won't
attract the powder when the part is
removed from the oven the powder is
applied quickly before the part cools
and that's because it's sticking through
the part because it's hot not because
it's attracted due to the static
electricity you can actually see the
powder begin to flow out because the
glass is so hot hot flocking can also be
done on metal objects to help with the
coverage especially on a second coat the
ground clamp is still connected to the
metal but you're gaining the benefits of
both electrical attraction as well as
the powder sticking to the
due to the heat and remember powder
coating is not only great for car parts
but also motorcycle frames and
components as well as doorknobs lawn
ornaments fishing lures stainless mugs
and even crafts I hope this helped you
understand powder coating and how easy
it can be to make your parts look great
make sure you subscribe so you'll be
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troubleshooting as well as projects from
the east wheel garage and we have a lot
of cool projects that will be powder
coating over the next few months and if
you want to visit eastwood.com for more
powder coating guns and supplies all you
have to do is click or tap the button in
the top corner of the video or follow
the link that appears on screen
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