What is Powder Coating?

Powder coating is by far the youngest of the surface finishing techniques in common use today. It was first used in Australia about 1967.

Powder coating is the technique of applying dry paint to a part. The final cured coating is the same as a 2-pack wet paint. In normal wet painting such as house paints, the solids are in suspension in a liquid carrier, which must evaporate before the solid paint coating is produced.

In powder coating, the powdered paint may be applied by either of two techniques.

• The item is lowered into a fluidised bed of the powder, which may or may not be electrostatically charged, or
• The powdered paint is electrostaticly charged and sprayed onto the part.

The part is then placed in an oven and the powder particles melt and coalesce to form a continuous film.

There are two main types of powder available to the surface finisher:

• Thermoplastic powders that will re-melt when heated, and
• Thermosetting powders that will not re-melt upon reheating. During the curing process (in the oven) a chemical cross-linking reaction is triggered at the curing temperature and it is this chemical reaction which gives the powder coating many of its desirable properties.

What can I have Powdercoated?

You can Powdercoat anything that is metal and can withstand the temperatures of the curing process with out breaking down!

However, you cannot powdercoat helium tanks, fire extinguishers, (any type of tank that holds gases) ect. the heat would cause an explosion, even if you drained them, the heat would mess the tank up and it couldn't be safely used again.