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First, thanks Jackie and Lisa for responding to my queery on the pics page. Any way, I thought more people than myself would be interested in how to finish stands so I moved here. You mentioned powder coating in your response to my question on how to paint stands. Just what is powder coating and are there any books that cover the procedure. Thanks again. Ann

Ann Demko wrote:First, thanks Jackie and Lisa for responding to my queery on the pics page. Any way, I thought more people than myself would be interested in how to finish stands so I moved here. You mentioned powder coating in your response to my question on how to paint stands. Just what is powder coating and are there any books that cover the procedure. Thanks again. Ann

Ann....Powder coating is a process where the products (stands) are put into a spray booth and electricly charged. The powderized paint is then sprayed into the booth where it adheres to the metal because of the electrical charge...."ie positive and negitive ions"

I dont know if there is any books on the subject but I'm sure that a search would provide plenty of info via the net. I've heard there are ways of doing this process by yourself, but Ive always taken my metal stands, equipment, etc.. to the powder coaters (look in the yellow pages) Its relatively cheap to have done and the more product you bring, the less expensive it is..Usually I have 3-4 dozen stands done for about $50.

The powder coat is very scratch resistant and almost a plastic like coating (although it can be shiny or matt in appearance) The extra cost of this process is well worth the money and effort involved. It can be done in many colors, but they say the most popular is a matt finshed black, and if you have the time...ask the powder coaters to save them back untill they have other stuff going into the booth that is the same color...this usually saves even more expense. Good luck

Just to add some more information.

My husband does this in our basement for car parts. He sprays the powder on in a spray booth, like Doug said. Then the powder has to cure in an oven. It's kinda like a low temp. enamel but very durable.

Amy

This company has all the stuff for powder coating. My DH bought the set up with the lamp but hasn't used it yet. He's looking to set up an oven as well. I've ordered from them too, airbrush and stuff, and they have very fast shipping.

http://www.eastwoodco.com/department.as ... SKW=FHCOAT

That's where we got our stuff too. We use an oven to do the curing.

You also need a dust collection system too. We use a 5 gallon bucket with a drywall bag in it.

Amy

what kind of prep work has to be done for the metal?

harbor freight has a bunch of powder coating stuff too. i don't know the quality, but it's frequently on sale.

btw: you DON'T want to use an oven that you want to use for food again.

Right Charlie, we have and extra oven in our basement.

All we do to prep the metal is sandblast and wash the grit off.

Amy

Oven? Am I missing something here? We all DO have kilns, right? At least that's where I cure my powder coating efforts.... Exact temp control, no bacon grease.... Use your kilns, folks!

Regards, Jacques Bordeleau

One point about powder coating: Since it is essentially a plastic coating, you can't 'touch it up'. This may or may not matter for your application.

Cheers,

Glenn