POWDER COATING

[Metal Lee]

Hello all, I am looking at getting into powder coating again, I have an old stove now and moving forward with the purchase of a PC gun etc. my question is with HR steel what is the prep involved? Is it a must to sand blast? Or how clean must the steel be? Can I just clean with a flap disc?, Does it need to go to the shine?

Thanks for the help.

[noplacetosail]

Hey,

PM me with any question you have I would be happy to help. Here is an excellent free resource

http://www.powdercoatingonline.com/html ... orner.html

Select any applicable link under "How to"

You can media blast or you can remove the mil scale with a variety of disks, etc....

One need not spend a great deal of money and much of the equipment can be purchased used or made.

[steelfx]

Just my two-bits: I use mostly CR or P&0 steel, but also powder-coat quite a bit of HR.
No need at all to remove the mill-scale but it does need to be cleaned & prepped correctly.
1) After dross removal, wipe down both sides with pre-paint cleaner. (not solvent)
2) Use a 6" Random Orbital or 6" DA Pneumatic Sander with a 60-grit disc. Depending on the size of
the piece, you may go through 2 or 3 discs.) You're NOT trying to remove the mill-scale with this, merely
giving the surface some profile or "tooth"
3) Wipe again the cleaner, followed by a clean soft rag to remove any sanding dust.
4) The piece is now ready for you or your powder-coater to do a phosphate etch/coat & apply the color coat.

I haven't had a powder-coat failure yet using these steps.

And, again...i might be full of crap! but, it works for me!

Cheers! ?
Bill, Steel FX

[Metal Lee]

Thanks to both of you for the replies and the input.
This is one of those things ya keep putting off and putting off, the powder coating is much better then painting for sure. Just need to get to it.

Thanks for the help.