Custom Powdercoating jobs. "Will work for speed parts"

 

I've experimented with gloss black over polished aluminum, then using a laser to custom etch graphics onto the part. Here's a Firebird logo that I've embossed onto a Dan Burk custom ported TPI plenum. After laser etching the whole plenum was sealed with a clear powdercoat for easy cleaning.
Oc course, you may have seen this one already. It's the project engine in yellow. What you dont see is the effort it took to get the plenum to look like it did. It's about a five step process. You first gently sandblast the areas you want to coat. Next, you polish the remainder to a mirror finish. Then, you clean it of all wax, oils, and polishing residue. Next, you mask off everything you dont want coated. Then, you powdercoat. Next, you carefully scrub the powder off the areas you want to remain polished. Then, you remove your mask. Then, you clean off powder again. Then, you cure it in the oven. Then, you polish AGAIN. Finally, you gently wash it in soapy water and dry it off.
 
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Powdercoating seems SO easy from the start: You hook a ground wire to your part, gently waft some charged particles at it, ZZZWerp! They stick. You pop it in your jiffybake oven for an hour, and out pops a show quality finish.

However, theory and practice are not the same. You soon learn about orange peel. You find powder that chips and flakes off. You find thin spots with metal shining through. There's thick spots! Fisheyes! Dust in the finish! Drat! A sag. Double-drat! A sharp edge with NO powder on it. Nuts!! Ooops, you just got distracted and forgot your part that was curing in the oven for six hours... Now the "as-chrome" finish looks gunmetal grey. Holy crow, how do you strip this crap off!!??

Powdercoating as an artform requires a steady hand, super clean equipment, big enough oven, good hanger design, a good timer and temperature oven controller, a really good ground for your part, and some good datasheets for the powder that you are about to use.

I've invested in three industrial ovens ranging from small to medium size. I am currently building a new oven using a three-zone industrial oven controller with PID temperature control. When finished, I will be able to do medium-sized parts like transmission cases. Later, I'll invest in a 16 cubic foot model so that I can do bigger stuff like engine blocks, swaybars, headers, and axle housings.

I can do quality work. Give me a call if you have an application requirement. I've done stuff like valve covers, plenums, springs, spindles, brackets, etcetera.

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