My experiment with powder coating at home...

[catamount]

Some of you may know that I'm restoring a little old Yamaha TW 200. Well, lots of the parts are rusty and beat up and after doing a little research, I found that it's fairly simple to powder coat at home with very little invested.

On Friday, I picked up the last thing I needed to give this a go... a sandblast cabinet (Craigslist find). This antique is homemade but it works amazingly well and can fit semi-large items, unlike many of the bench top models.



Turned these...



Into...



Bare metal very quickly!



Now into the cardboard box for application of high voltage powder with $60 Eastwood powder coating gun. It looks gray, but it's semi-gloss black. There are zillions of colors available.



Into the free Craigslist oven (cracked glass top) for 25 minutes at 400 degrees.



Brackets ready for another 20 years of dirt roads.



Nice curves!



Honestly, this was about $150 invested in tools including the sandblaster, free oven and Eastwood Hot Coat powder coating gun from eBay.

The process is also pretty stupid-proof. I highly recommend it if you have the need and the space!

["Dangerous" Dan K]

That is BAD-ASS!!! Looks like I'm doing some powdercoating on my next project bike! Thanks for the post, and anything you learned along the way would be appreciated. I figure if you can save me any mistakes itls better than learning the hard way. Were those the first parts you tried or did you practice on scrap?

[markbvt]

Sweet! I'll have some parts for you to powdercoat.

--mark

[csmutty]

Dude that is sick! I'm jealous.

[Baggey22]

Will that sandblast cabinet fit a rim . . . . .

[catamount]

I figure if you can save me any mistakes itls better than learning the hard way. Were those the first parts you tried or did you practice on scrap?

I practiced on real parts. It's really so simple.

Clean metal + apply powder + bake!

I did some reading over on http://www.eastwood.com before diving in but really didn't need to. It would be hard to mess this up. I have a feeling that many of the metal items around my garage will be coated soon...

Sweet! I'll have some parts for you to powdercoat.

Bring it!

Will that sandblast cabinet fit a rim . . . . .

It's 24" x 24" x 24" so technically yes. Although I feel so bad for my little 2HP compressor motor

[Pigman]

Did you heat the parts before you coated them??????? Looks pimp either way

[catamount]

Did you heat the parts before you coated them??????? Looks pimp either way

Nope, from what I've read pre-heating is only recommended for castings to allow for any out gassing prior to the powder coat bake.

[Pigman]

Hmmm cool may try this my self......who's gun u use, i was gonna go with a Sears one?? I have ovens, sand blaster and Hoods here at works so...

[catamount]

I used the Eastwood Hot Coat gun, which seems to be "the one" to use for DIYers.

I found mine on eBay in new condition with 5 different bottles of powder for $60 + shipping.

http://www.jcwhitney.com/hotcoat-pow...29&zmap=32774G


PS: You should not use your home oven for powder coating, btw. Toxins will end up in your future pizzas and make you develop a third nipple.

[typeone]

wow, nice work! ive always wanted to do this

[gamorg02]

very nice. what did you use for charging the item first. or am i off base there. don't you give the part a charge for the powder to stick better?

[catamount]

very nice. what did you use for charging the item first. or am i off base there. don't you give the part a charge for the powder to stick better?

The powder coat gun has everything you need to give the powder a high voltage static charge.

The gun has a long ground lead that you clip onto the hanger going to your part so the part is grounded.

Notice the grounding clamp:

[Omahastylin16]

very cool, think you just got yourself a lot of side work

[Doc]

very cool, think you just got yourself a lot of side work

Yep! Or at least start thinking about rental fees. I'll buy my own sand and powder.

[catamount]

I'll buy my own sand and powder.

You want me to dump out my 100 lbs of sand and set it aside each time you want to blast something, so you can use YOUR sand?

[Doc]

You want me to dump out my 100 lbs of sand and set it aside each time you want to blast something, so you can use YOUR sand?

No... I am sure your sand will work. I will buy you more of your sand...

[Half Squid]

Sweet!

I just got my in for a side business in my buddies machine shop!

[GNTurbo6]

What sand blaster do you use or are there certain ones you'd recommend? Looks like a spare toaster oven would work fine for most smaller parts. I wouldn't want to pay for an extra 220v hook up.

[JohnCVermont]

Love this thread !! ... but I am envious of the garage.

[Half Squid]

I have been scanning ebay and various sites for an industrial oven, & sand blasting booth!

[loudog]

So cool. I'd be powdercoating everything.

Honey...do you need that coat hanger? No? What about that paperclip? No!? Sweet. I'll be back in 20.

[OreoGaborio]

So cool. I'd be powdercoating everything.

Honey...do you need that coat hanger? No? What about that paperclip? No!? Sweet. I'll be back in 20.

Man, your wife rocks.

[Bkilm]

Sow how much are you charging? haha i have a set of passenger pegs i would love to have powdercoated black

- - - Updated - - -

Sow how much are you charging? haha i have a set of passenger pegs i would love to have powdercoated black

[catamount]

Wow, you guys bumped an old thread!

Recently I overhauled an older Mastercraft ski boat and the chipping/oxidized shift mechanism got the powder treatment:



(guts)










Some small pitting, i probably should've pre-baked this part. you can cook the impurities out of cast parts, but i forgot.



It came out looking almost as good as new though!