Powder Coating Kit.. The Results...

[Davefx]

Hey everyone..

About a month or so back, I inquired if anyone had used one of those powder coating kits that can be had from the MSC catalog.  All of you said that you hadn't, (RG said he hadn't, and that frightened me!:} ). Since I work in an aircraft propeller shop, where we have a big oven and exhaust boothes, etc., I decided to be the guinea pig.  Well I'm pleased to report that yes, it works great, and even the somewhat thinner, Eddystone/Hammond boxes won't melt at 450 deg./fare.

 A few lessons were learned  along the way... First you need to pre-bake the box @450 deg. to boil out the impurities of the cast aluminum, which leaves a very hard brown substance that you almost need a chisel to remove..Fortunately, I have access to a plastic media  blaster which worked great for that purpose. And second you need to really sand all of the imperfections off the boxes, as it will show them even more so than a painted box, prior to coating. And third, 3-5 lbs. air pressure, no more!!
We discovered that we could poof away an 11$ bottle of powder in 2 poofs of the gun, if the pressure is too high...Poof...    After coating, you bake it 400 deg. for 20 minutes, to cure the coating.

 All in all if you can get by the initial investment of $169 for the kit (RG says he saw one locally for $59, hmm, wonder what all comes with it), the kit works great, your typical hard powder coated finish.  A myriad of different colors are available, translucent, plain, textured, priced anywhere from $10 for black to $17 for the translucent. You could coat about 4 BB boxes with one bottle.  It does cost a bit more than krylon, but if you are so inclined, it's fun anyway...


Hope this satisfies a few curiosities.....

 Dave

[ncc]

Dave,
I seem to recall reading your original post. You wanted
a black powder coated box if I remember.
A few questions come to mind; is the powder
the same thickness al around (top and edges)?
Can you mix different colors, for example, top
half red, half black? Will you be able to post some pictures?

Thanks for sharing your experience with the rest of us.

ncc

[troubledtom]

very good info . got any pix  
           peace,
               - tom

[The Tone God]

I've been wondering how the "Hot Coat" kit from Eastwood would work on hammond boxes. I know the powder coat needs 400 degrees and hammond boxes are rated for much more then that so there will be no problem there. I just don't want to the money out for the kit only to find it doesn't work that well. Still an interesting option.

Andrew

[Davefx]

I'm getting ready to template and drill a new BB box for my next project, so I will prepare it properly, as the first one was a junk box used for proto.  I will get a pic posted soon..

Dave

[brett]

My local powder coating shop does my boxes for $5 each, including sandblasting them first.  They do them when set up for large jobs, so if I want a specific colour, I have to wait a few days or a couple of weeks until a job comes in the same colour.  Only disappointment is no metallic finishes.  Otherwise, fantastic!