Powder coating oven

[elkriverfab]

I just wanted to get some input on building a mid size powder coating oven.
I use a guy down the road and his work is great.

He really gives you a good job and spends the time to sandblast, clean and turn your work into a great looking piece.
Although I was wanting to powder coat my own larger pieces.

I would like to be able to powder coat my own products that are practical when time allows.

I have powder coated my small pieces for several years now but I use the infra red propane burners I bought from Columbia coatings a few years back.

They are fine for small stuff but not for larger projects(even heat).

I took a look at the guys oven who powder coats my larger work.
He built his out of sheet metal panels (insulated).

It is basically a 8 X 10 room that is expandable by connecting more insulated panels to make it larger if needed.
I was wondering if anyone out there has built their own oven for larger projects like motorcycle frames, headache racks or even art work and stuff like that.

I found a few guys on ebay that build ovens that you assemble when they arrive.
Insulated panels, burners and thermostats that run off of propane.

Basically a kit oven about 6-8 feet tall and 4 x 4 wide.

At this point I have done enough powder coating to be able to successfully coat larger pieces.
I don't want to be the guy who takes business away from anyone but for me, being able to complete the whole project would be cost effective for sure.

I am not looking to build a huge expandable room like his but an oven just big enough to do what I need.
Does anyone have any tips that could get me pointed in the right direction?

Of course like most people I am not looking to spend a lot of money on a fancy set up just a functional oven that is capable of generating the correct temperatures for powder coating.

I did have access to a larger oven a few years ago and I was told to powder coat all I needed that weekend.
I will say this, it is amazing what can be done with a simple oven that holds the heat in.
It made the powder coating a breeze.

It made the infra red burners I have look like camping heaters for sure.

I figure with all the time we spend plasma cutting and building all this cool stuff, it would be great to be able to put a professional powder coated finish on them.

Sprayed on paint is fine for some stuff but you just cant beat the durability of powder coating for projects that will be used outdoors a lot.

If anyone has a good way to build a simple oven about 8 foot high and 5 X 5 square, that would be great.

Thanks everybody.

[redneckgateart]

I'm in the same boat! I've got a great powder-coater , but he's 45 miles away. I'll still use him for big jobs but it would be convenient to have an oven for those small (or weekend) projects.

Here's a couple of links to oven projects on the net (admin...hopefully the links are ok....if not, delete them)

http://www.clubchopper.com/forums/showt ... p?p=913671
and
http://machinebuilders.net/plans/galler ... 0Oven1.pdf

If anybody has a better set of plans, I would love to get my hands on a copy.

Thanks,
Clark

[Eagle Mtn Metal Works]

Shawn Have you tought of useing the insulated panels from a walk in cooler or a freezer with the floor and adding the heater blowers to it? Just a tought.

On a different note, I will need to get the pictures of the truck hoist and some of the other ones reduced to a smaller format to be able to post. I will try to get them posted sometime this week.

[ALLOHIO]

I built a 8' deep 4' wide 6'tall oven for less than a $1000.00 by using 8 4x8 sheets of cr steel a old oven window 6 oven burners and a control panel from teds fab. We painted the inside of the oven with engine paint to keep it from rusting. I looked at teds web site and it looks like he is not selling the control panels anymore (thought that to be the hardest thing to fig out) the oven was easy to build with some light welding and rivets. I will try to get a hold of the ele that changed the control panel to take 6 burners since he has my wire dig. that has all the parts.

[redneckgateart]

Ted has his control panels listed on eBay currently for $275.00 + 21.73 s/h

[AnotherDano]

Five stars for Ted. He's a great guy and makes a superior product.

There is a lot of information on oven building on powder365.com.

[Bigrhamr]

Here's another good resource and there are several detailed build threads on it.

http://forum.caswellplating.com/oven-building-forum/

[jeeplogic83]

Take a look at my oven build page. kind of a step by step guide.
http://priority1signs.com/index.php?id= ... OVEN-BUILD
Hope it helps

[elkriverfab]

Greg,

Thanks for the link to your info.

Looks like a nice oven.

I Really need to build something like this.

I think I have the info now for the oven itself but I may need a little more on the wiring info.

Looks pretty straight forward as far as the oven box and insulation.

The control set up is a little hairy though.

I am sure once I really start researching it, things will fall into place.

It would be nice to have an oven to throw a few projects in.

I think I will start gathering supplies here and there and start building it this spring.

Like I said before, the guy I use is great but I feel like am am not fully in control of my jobs when I have to rely on someone else to complete it.

The only problem I see is that when I build gates up to 18 feet long!!!!
But than again, not everyone is willing to spring for powder coating on every gate anyway.

Most want me to shoot paint on them.

But for medium sized projects, that would be fine.

Thanks everybody for all the great info and replies.

It's nice to have a place like this to get advice, input and experience's on subjects like this.

Thanks again.

[bogger44]

w.powderbythepound.com go to forums there is a thread about oven builds and the caswell site lots of info all about pcoating. Randy

[tentonjj]

Just a FYI
We started out doings small parts in a conventional house oven...........4 years later we have a 10'x10'x30' oven.