Powder coating am I being too picky

[Adam_DIY]

I'm building a pedal for a friend and wanted a top notch finish so paid for a rather expensive 1590bb powder coated enclosure in white instead of painting myself.  It turned up this morning and to be honest I'd have gotten a better finish if I had painted it myself.  Because I'm in the UK I've never ordered a powder coated enclosure before, the postage from PPP makes it Just too expensive.

This enclosure was ordered from an eBay seller in the UK.  Is this normal for powder coating or am I expecting too much?  Having never ordered one before I honestly don't know. 

[Adam_DIY]

[Adam_DIY]

Sorry for the giant pics I hadn't realised they were so big 

[m-Kresol]

this seems to be a rather bad job to me. I've had good experience with powdercoated enclosures from RS electronics. They come in basic colours only, but unfortunately they don't carry white. The light grey has done the trick for me though.

[EBRAddict]

It's not a first-class job, but how does the top/front of the pedal look? As a buyer I'm not overly concerned about the quality of powder coating on the back plate.

[Adam_DIY]

Apologies I thought I'd posted a pic of the top.  It's more of the same really lots of little dents and orange peel. 

[matmosphere]

That doesn't look so hot to me. I've only bought one powder coated enclosure, from Mammoth. It looked very good, no bubbling or orange peel at all.

[EBRAddict]

It looks like my average job done in my garage.

[madbean]

Very poor, I'm afraid.

[Adam_DIY]

Thanks gents I've requested a return via ebay and will just buy a 1590bb then paint it myself.

[jtaormina]

It looks like issues with contamination to me or poor pre-cleaning. The orange peal is difficult to get rid of the dimples are directly related to poor prep work.

[BuGG]

I've never gotten a powdercoated enclosure (from anywhere) that had an absolutely 100% flawless glass-like finish.... With that said, this one does appear to be a bit lower quality than any I've received.  (including the cheap powdercoated enclosures from Tayda)

You very likely could have done better with paint, but it probably wouldn't be anywhere near as durable... If that helps your feelings at all.   

[thesmokingman]

that finish right there is why I quit doing business with a local powdercoat shop.

[rullywowr]

It looks like the enclosure wasn't quite prepared properly.  What happens a lot with cast aluminum is that contaminants and gases get trapped in the pores of the box.  When you cure your powder coat (around 400F), these gases come through as bubbles and make "fish eyes" in the powder coat.  The jagged edges are from poor handling before coating. 

The basic process:
1.  Clean (with acetone or other solvent) until no more black stuff wipes off
2.  Pre-Bake - bake for 15-30 minutes at the same temp you will be curing at
3.  Clean again with acetone 
4.  (optional) Sand (or better yet, media blast) the enclosure.  You don't have to do this step but it helps adhesion and makes for a very smooth finish
5.  (optional but recommended)  Warm part in oven
6.  Shoot powder over warm enclosure and bake to cure

All the while you have to ensure no stray fibers from any rags or dust/hair land on your parts before they are cured.  Just like any painting project, 99% is all in the prep work - 1% is the actual shooting of the powder.

I'm working up a tutorial focused on how I powdercoat enclosures which should be done soon.