I would be very gun shy about a "home use powder coat system".
You did not state the parts you are painting. Do you have an oven that the part can fit in, 400 degrees 15 minutes.
The most important part of powder paint is the prep and most commercial coaters use a 5 or 7 phase acid wash and prep set up.
Personally I would look for a local powder coat company. Find out when he is painting the color you want and add your stuff to the run. Unless you have a certain color you must use, I think you would be money ahead sourcing it out.
You use your home oven, be prepared to replace it. A powder coating oven returns the exhaust air to the oven/product in the oven. You home oven does not work that way...
do some research on Bing or Google...
But if you do decide to use the home oven, post your results... ;}
OK, got your attention... the reason not to use your home oven...
This is what you will find on Google:
Do not use your kitchen oven for powder coating. The fumes will linger in the oven and when you cook your next dinner, your food will be tainted. This stuff will make you rather sick and the food won?t taste too good either.
If someone plans on doing home powder coating, I assumed (therein lies the problem) they would know that they can't use their cooking oven. A ex-coworker of mine has an old home oven in his garage for one of those kits, but I have yet to see an example of the outcome.
Sand or media blast the part, wash, dry, prep-sol parts, dry,hang, spray coat, bake...too many steps in the process gives more chance of mistakes.
Well let me chime in since I am the only one who has personally used one. I have used the Eastwood kit since 1999 but I did not like their powder. It is very expensive and not the best quality. I found a local vender that I can buy 5lbs of powder for the same price that Eastwood sells 1/2lb for. The electronics that Eastwood sells works just fine for smaller parts, but just does not have the power to completely charge up large parts. Larger parts = more resistance and the powder doesn't suck to the part as well.
As for the oven. Electric is the ONLY way to go. You cannot rely on the thermostat in the oven to be calibrated. You should use your own thermocouple to calibrate the heat in the oven so you do not over heat the powder. Different powders require different heat ranges and different times to cook. Most of the powder I use require the oven to be at 450*F until the powder melts then lower the temp to 400*F for another 30 minutes.
I would not use your home oven because the powder does make some goofy smells. You can find electric ovens on Craigslist for free or next to nothing.
Believe it or not the actual process of powder coating is the easy part. Prep is the hard part. The part MUST be 100% clean. Any oil or grease that is left on the part will heat up and cause smoke and that will discolor and ruin the color you are using, not to mention that the powder wont stick.
I use a good blasting cabinet to clean my part then thoroughly wipe it with acetone until the cloth is perfectly clean.
IMHO if you want to get into powder coating small parts and have the space for the oven and the equipment to clean it, the Eastwood system works just fine. Remember small parts...
Doesn't have to be electric and commercial ovens have air moving around in them!
An oven is a space you can heat, nothing more!
A commercial powdercoating oven is a insulated box with a squirrel cage fan and a heat box behind it.
The heat box can be electric or gas.
There is no exhaust and I have no idea why someone would have a fume issue because powder doesn't let off flammable fumes.
In fact a roofing torch works great to get a large oven up to temp.
I worked for 5 years powdercoating for the marine industry. ( Taco, B-Bracket, Cigarette, Deangelo Marine exhaust... bezels to large t-tops and everything in between)
Get a infrared thermometer and remember that cure time is the part at temp not the time in the oven. ( No reason to lower temp set it right and leave it)
Pretreat is the key- degrease with lacquer thinner and acid phosphate wash.
I have a friend in town that runs a powdercoating business (1 reason I probably won't be doing it myself) and his oven is propane fed. Of course, it's also the size of a single car garage.
He recommends prepping the part as earlier stated and then hanging it by a wire, coat it with the powder, and hang it from the rack in the oven. Don't touch it, though.
Doesn't have to be electric and commercial ovens have air moving around in them!
An oven is a space you can heat, nothing more!
A commercial powdercoating oven is a insulated box with a squirrel cage fan and a heat box behind it.
The heat box can be electric or gas.
There is no exhaust and I have no idea why someone would have a fume issue because powder doesn't let off flammable fumes.
In fact a roofing torch works great to get a large oven up to temp.
I worked for 5 years powdercoating for the marine industry. ( Taco, B-Bracket, Cigarette, Deangelo Marine exhaust... bezels to large t-tops and everything in between)
Get a infrared thermometer and remember that cure time is the part at temp not the time in the oven. ( No reason to lower temp set it right and leave it)
Pretreat is the key- degrease with lacquer thinner and acid phosphate wash.
A gas oven that is sold to households for cooking food is not ever recommended to use for powder coating. I never said that the fumes given off from melting plastic (powder) was flammable but it does give off a smell. Yes some commercial powder coating oven use gas to to heat them up, but the flame is not exposed as it is in a household oven. I am not a pro nor do I claim to be but I listened to the pros when I needed advise. So you go off and pound your chest all you want but, We are talking about a small Eastwood kit used in someones garage not some big commercial set-up. I do use the Eastwood stuff. How can you comment or give advise on a product that you admittedly stated you never used??? Really have you cured parts in a residential gas oven before???
PS
How do you know what the curing time is on the powder I am using? Maybe the powder you used in your marine industry didnt call for temp changes, but the powder I use has in big letter exactly what temp it is to be until the powder flashes and exactly what the temp should be for how long...
Your very first statement was you pounding away since your the only one.
Wonder how they stayed in business with just you as a customer?
Yes I have cured parts in a home gas stove and an electric one. Fact is using one is really a waste of time because it limits you to such small parts and makes handling way to much hassle. It will though work perfectly for him to play around and get a feel for what he's doing, and so you know there are large commercial conveyor belt systems that use direct flame.
But you posts about how he couldn't use the gas oven he has in his shop is B.S. and serious chest pounding!
As for what powder you used that tells you to change temp- What powder are you using? Is it being marketed to you as a hobbiest? There are many different types of powder for many different uses (one even uses a reversed charge).
If you stop jumping around with an attitude maybe you'll learn a few things.
The biggest problem with those kits has to be the powder delivery system.
Just putting powder in a cup is not like putting paint in a cup.
Commercial systems use what's called a fluidized bed, it's a hopper (can) with a membrane on the bottom that you feed a small amount of air under. The air lifts the powder up and it floats in the hopper, kind of bubbling. It looks like a perfect witches pot for halloween and you can move your arm around in it freely.
Sucking the powder from this gives you a consistent powder flow.
This is a huge help cause one spit and you have to blow off the part.
You could easily make one if you can get your hands on a membrane though.
The other difference this system gives you is the ability to actually pinch off the gun air getting a little spit at the right time. Little corners won't take powder because Faraday's cage prevents the charge from bringing it into them. (all the little corners on Cigarette's swim platforms are a big example)
Hang parts on rebar. You can hang more than one and only have hook the ground to one end. (Once the rebar gets coated good you hook to your hanging wires which you already connected together)
Also You need to use dry air.
But for some small parts that kit and your gas oven will work great.
