Powder Coating
Painting steel parts
General Info
Make
Model
Serial	Unknown
Specs
Manual	Manual for the smaller gun
Asylum Info
Location	Metal Shop
Rubric
Training	Tool classes
Testing	Tool testing, or [[:Category:Metal Shop#Tool Testing Night|come to the shop on Tool Testing Night]]
Restrictions	red

		Eye protection required!

Description

Located in a room on the southern wall of the Metal Shop, between the sand-blasting room and the CNC plasma cutter. This facility is sized to accommodate bicycle frames. A rolling rack holds the workpieces in an 8'x8'x8' spray booth and then transfers to a 4'x4'x8' box oven. Two guns are available, and many jars of colored paints are present in the shop. The spray booth is vented inside the room after filtering the airflow.

The process uses dry powdered paint that is applied with a pneumatic gun that includes a high-voltage electrode. As the powder passes by the electrode it becomes electrically charged. The metallic workpiece is grounded and so it attracts the charged paint particles. After coating, workpieces are baked in a convection oven to fuse the paint.

Films made by powder coating are up to ten times more durable than those made with liquid paint. The coatings are essentially fused plastic, and so they resist chemicals and salt exceptionally well. Further, the process produces no organic fumes or toxic waste. Unfortunately the literature recommends cleaning workpieces with acetone, so organic fumes are still present.

Use For

Clean metal parts.

Weldments

Brazed parts

Forgings

Castings

Sheet metal

Steel, Stainless, Galvanized, Aluminum, Titanium, etc.

Do Not Use For

Dirty, rusty, or flaky metal parts.

Nonconductive plastic, wooden, or ceramic parts.

Parts that can't tolerate heating to 400°F (200°C)

Safety Notes

• Danger of electric shock. Don't touch the gun electrode while the activation button is pressed.

• There is A SEVERE RESPERATORY RISK from breathing powdered pigments! Wear a respirator or an N-95 dust mask or better.

• Don't touch grounded workpieces or racks when operating the coating gun.

• Wear a dust mask and eye goggles. Eyeglasses are not goggles.

• Wear heat-resistant gloves when handling hot parts

• Keep the pressure set to below 10 psi. 3 Psi is recommended.

• Always run the fan on the spray booth when operating the coating equipment.

• Dense clouds of powder are flammable. Keep flames away from the machine during coating.

• Don't over-reach, keep proper balance at all times.

• The room will tend to overheat if the oven is operated for a long time.

• Avoid trip hazards. The room is small and there is a lot of equipment in there.

• Don't use the ovens in the shop for heating food.

Tools

Tools in the Powder Coating Facility

Spray Booth	Eastwood Dual-Voltage Gun	HICOLO Fab 660 System	Box Oven

Instructions

Link to: Texbook on powder coating