DIY Powder Coating

[chromesphere]

Been a while since we had a powder coating thread

I coated some enclosures this weekend and they turned out pretty good, for a garage job at least.  They have some minor imperfections.  A few i forgot to outgas.  Some dust mounds here and there.  But I've definitely improved since i started.  The color is bright white and the coating is thick and even.  The look good to me.

Its tempting just to buy pre-powder coated enclosures, "some retailers" have them already coated for only an extra $1.  But i must say...my worst attempt at powder coating is still miles ahead.

So im just wondering what everyone's expectations are as far as bought powder coated enclosures and whether i'm just the eternal perfectionist.  To me, unless it looks like a commerical product (ie, impossible to do in a garage), i'm not 100% happy.

Also are you guys still PC'ing your own or do you buy them?  its a big mess and time consuming, so i certainly understand if you buy them!

[Adam_DIY]

They look great.  I've watched your powder coating videos Paul and would love to have a go but time and the initial outlay are what has always put me off and kept me ordering them from retailers.  The problem with the UK is your choice of retailers is severely limited and the service levels from some of them are terrible. 

Every time Banzai take my money for something which is showing as in stock when I order then need 3 weeks of chasing to find out they don't have it always makes me think about trying it myself just so I don't have to deal with them again.  Then the realities of actually having to do it kick in and I hand my money back over to them all over again with a prayer the colour I ordered is actually there. 

[Philtre]

Been a while since we had a powder coating thread

Or an Armadillo thread.

So im just wondering what everyone's expectations are as far as bought powder coated enclosures and whether i'm just the eternal perfectionist.  To me, unless it looks like a commerical product (ie, impossible to do in a garage), i'm not 100% happy.

Also are you guys still PC'ing your own or do you buy them?  its a big mess and time consuming, so i certainly understand if you buy them!

I've bought a load from Tayda. They're OK, and they have a good variety of colours. How do yours compare to Tayda's?

[stevie1556]

I used to do my own when I built before. I'm currently building up some PCBs for a few people, I haven't powder coated in a couple of years so it will be interesting to see how they turn out. When I did them before, there was next to no difference to the ones that I had professionally done. As long as the boxes are cleaned down properly (I find that acetone works really well), enough powder goes onto the box and the cooking time/temperature is correct, there is very little difference between home garage coated and professionally coated.

I've just moved my powder coating stuff to my dad's barn and I'll get a fair few enclosures done this week.

[chromesphere]

I've bought a load from Tayda. They're OK, and they have a good variety of colours. How do yours compare to Tayda's?

I was sort of...subtly hinting at this.  I realize they are only, what, $1 more, but yeah.  The quality is nowhere near as good, atleast not the ones ive recieved.  The whites are sort of grey and thin and they look sort of dirty and the quality of the powder coat just looks pretty poor.  Its sort of flat and lifeless, the pendry coatings powder coat im using is lustrous, shiny.  Its hard to explain, you can sort of see it in the pictures.

Again, mine aren't perfect but i would take my powder coating job over theirs hands down.  I have been using theirs for a while now and i was reminded how inferior they are in comparison.  Just as an example, my wife saw the enclosures i painted on the weekend and she said "they look heaps better then the other ones you've been using".  She didnt know where the others had come from or the background story.  So i guess the difference must be obvious.

Anyway, its a lot of extra work but i guess its worth it in the end, i was wondering other peoples opinions of DIY pc'ing compared to other retailers (i realise the other guys dont use the same source as tayda and possibly powder coat their own). 

And the real magic with diy pc'ing comes when you use a candy finish with a metal flick but that's a different story...

[cooder]

Your powder coating looks really great!
I had some powder coating done at a local company here and they were good but it's expensive. They were better than some that I got way back from Smallbear.
I haven't found a good source for diy powder coating gear here yet when I looked last time, so maybe I should revisit the idea. Looking tempting for sure.

[culturejam]

Those look great!

BWT, how's your boy doing?

[chromesphere]

Those look great!

Thanks CJ and Cooder.  Going to have to do more powder coating, the finish is unbeatable.

BWT, how's your boy doing?

James?  Yeah he's good.  The feet problem we had last year, its a bit of a lifelong thing.  But everything is good for the moment.

[PMowdes2]

I've brought a kit from these guys  www.electrostaticmagic.co.uk

Only baked one so far but the results are way better than my attempts with an airbrush.

[stevie1556]

I've brought a kit from these guys  www.electrostaticmagic.co.uk

Only baked one so far but the results are way better than my attempts with an airbrush.

I've got one of their kits as well. Painted several hundred boxes with it and it works perfectly every time.

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

[chromesphere]

I think the biggest factor that pulls me back to doing my own powder coating is the color selection and effects.  Transparency, glitter, holographic flicks, anodized, textured, flat, chrome, illusion, rainbow (flick)... they look awesome...

I think i need to order some new powders

[Philtre]

I think the biggest factor that pulls me back to doing my own powder coating is the color selection and effects.  Transparency, glitter, holographic flicks, anodized, textured, flat, chrome, illusion, rainbow (flick)... they look awesome...

I think i need to order some new powders

So, a bit better than Tayda's enclosures, then? ;-)

[chromesphere]

Heres a couple of photos of some i have done in the past.  Its a little hard to capture how good thing look but you get the idea.  The grey specks are the holographic flick.

And heres a catalogue for a supplier to drowl over.  Well, i do

https://www.prismaticpowders.com/shop/powder-coating-colors

[cooder]

They look indeed drool worthy....

[chromesphere]

PC'ed a couple this morning.  I rough sanded (belt sander  ) one and left the other 'natural'.  You can see the texture of the bare enclosure underneath candy finishes, so with these 2 you might be able to see the sanded enclosure has a anodized effect.  It doesnt save any time (sanding enclosures is a pita), just another finishing option.