Had a go at using the kit I bought at Newark.

In fairness it may have been better to start with something small, but as I dont have the Striker Kit yet, I have nothing other than than some A frames I picked up ages ago that were unfinished.


Frame - Before clean up

Gave it rub down:


Frame - After clean up


Frame - After clean up


Electrostatic Magic

I applied a coat of the powder and started to heat it with a paint stripper gun as there was no way I'd get it in my Oven! (plus ive been told its best not to use an oven thats still used for cooking due to fumes)
At first it seemed to be ok, but suddenly the layer of powder seemed to blow off leaving an area of bear metal. Being my first go I continued to heat the rest of the coating which was fairly sucessful.
Once this was done I sanded down the areas that had gone wrong and replied a fresh coat of powder to the whole frame.

I think the first coat was too thin, so this time I applied a little more.


Applying PowderCoat

I then started to heat again.


Heating PowderCoat

This time arround the heating went fine and the coating baked on nicely.


Last area to be heated


Finished Frame


Finished Frame Close up


Finished Frame Close up
Im quite please with the end result. Finish is good, and the process is much simpler than wet paint. I think I took no longer than 2 hours to do both coatings, clean up was just a simple broom up, there was minimal waste of powder (id say i used less than a 1/4 of the bag which came with the kit (£4.99 to buy alone) so in all much easier and cheaper than spraying.

My only concern is how well i have baked it, the recommened 10mins at 180degrees is hard to achieve with the heat gun, I basically went over the frame very quickly untill the powder started to darken but still looked powdery (I was recommended when i bought the kit to go over the powder till it turned satin, I assume this is what they ment.) then after than I went slowly over it until the coating baked and became more glossy and looked as you would expect powdercoating to look.

[Edited on 14/7/10 by loggyboy]

Looks good. I guess the main problem is the blow from your heat gun. I wonder if you could get a suitable infra red lamp, or use an electric bar fire and rely on just radiated heat?

I also wondered if the metal might not of been perfectly clean and dust free.
Will try the other half of the Aframe later, that will give me a chance to apply more powder for the first coat and maybe get it right first time.

i have a kit, think its fab. but it has limitations. youve done well to get that done with a heat gun. I always use the kitchen oven, and let it vent for hours after use.

What air pressure do you run? I find i have to shake the gun constantly to avoid it clumping up and blocking.

will

[Edited on 14/7/10 by dinosaurjuice]

I used about 20 psi (set the gauge to about 25, which gave 20 when flowing)
Didnt seem to have any issues with clumping or powder flow.

quote:

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Originally posted by dinosaurjuice
i have a kit, think its fab. but it has limitations. youve done well to get that done with a heat gun. I always use the kitchen oven, and let it vent for hours after use.

What air pressure do you run? I find i have to shake the gun constantly to avoid it clumping up and blocking.

will

[Edited on 14/7/10 by dinosaurjuice]

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quote:

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Originally posted by nick205
On the oven/food thing, I've just replaced our oven as the fan had gone. It's a single 13A oven and is now sat in the garage until the next time I go to the tip - could it be useful to someone for baking parts....?

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You must live in a really posh house if the bricks have serial numbers

quote:

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Originally posted by Humbug
You must live in a really posh house if the bricks have serial numbers

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Looks Good, might have to invest in one for all the little brackets that are flaking already, and as i have already been caught using the dishwasher as a steam cleaning the oven shouldnt be a problem either lol

[Edited on 15/7/10 by grusks2]

[Edited on 15/7/10 by grusks2]

would you mind if I ask how match the kit was at the show?

I presume it is one of the following kits

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/carlfothergill/new/index.html

what are the limitations?

Yes its an electrostatic magic kit, cost £109 with 1 pack of powder.
Small saving on list price and no postage of course.

The only real limitation would be size of the item, but mainly related to baking it.
Using the heat gun, it took Just under an hour to bake the item pictured (one half of an A frame/build stand), so about 4 hours to do both in total with application and prep time. If you wanted to do a whole chassis then youd be looking at a whole days worth of baking I woudl say and if i was doing something that was to be expososed to more than just the inside of my garage while I build the kit, I would want to get it baked in an oven properly.