Powder coat painting

Anyone know anything about this process? I have wanted to try it but have not gotten around to learning about it. I have this tail wheel for my plow that has a new tire coming later this week. While I am waiting I get to thinking the wheel is a little rusty and maybe I should blast it and hit it with some paint. If I do that with the usual soft finish rattle can stuff it will take a real beating when I use it. SO, I heard this powder coat gives a hard finish but don't know anything about it. Do I need special equipment? Can I bake it in the house oven without killing the canary or making the roast taste like paint? Is it durable enough to survive a plow furrow or should I just use the rattle can stuff and keep re applying?

Dave I don't think you can bake in the oven takes more heat than that. If powder coating is done right the only way to get if is to cut it off or reheat it to burn it off. It comes in maney colors. Not to bad a price, if you can find a good powder coater.

Well I'll tell you what I heard, and others can weigh in on it...

Googled around a little and seems to me I remembered 400 degrees in a home type oven with a proviso that it may make the bread taste funny next time you bake. I also have some memory of some DIY type car repair show doing it and cooking it in the kitchen. Don't know if he got the stuff in a can or had to have a sprayer though.

I do some powdercoating... it isn't painting... what you have is finely particulated plastic... the consistancy of talc more or less... load it into a "gun", connect ground to the part to be coated and the control box creates a large potential difference that charges the powder... The powder then eletrostatically clings to the part as the gun meters it out (forced out by compressed air).. just wand it over and the dust cloud adheres to the part.. more or less... If you mess up just smack the part, all the powder falls off.. or you can blow it off with the air gun and start over.

DO NOT use the house oven as the curing process off gasses and can smell something terrible.. don't want to melt and cure in any oven you use for food prep due to those chemicals. I have an old oven in the shop... most non ceramic based powders require right around 400 F to cure.. anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour... after melting and flow out... Once it is cured I just shut the oven off and crack open the door and let it cool... Or let it cool a bit and slide it out as I set it all on oven racks.. and move the part and rack somewhere to cool out of the way.

Good luck... If you want a 'decent" intro package look at caswell plating and their stuff...

That's what I was looking for! I was thinking it was more like painting and maybe I could get a small quantity and try it. Clearly it is more like electroplating (Dad was a genius in this field and pioneered some of the techiniques in use today, God rest him) and not painting. Still interesting and I will have to look into the equipment costs.

Where are you at in Michigan... I am in Hillsdale Co.

I'm in Brighton. I have customers down in Hillsdale who come up here to see me. Kind of amazing when you consider it takes a while to wind your way up here. On my way up to the tire store now to buy a couple of tubes and a used tire for the plow. The rain has cleared off and it is sunny and hot. Can't adjust to the weather this year.

Hillsdale County, huh? I spent alot of time in North Adams at my Grandma's place during the summers of the early '50s. My father went to Hillsdale College. Family names are Randolph and Kempton.

There's is another forum member from Hillsdale County. I'll let him identify himself.