Sears Powder Coat System?

[ZOA NOM]

Anybody try this thing yet?

[Rot 911]

Some of us Gruppe B'ers have been discussing that very gun. You can read about it here: http://www.gruppeb.org/forum2/viewtopic.php?t=2898

[ZOA NOM]

Cool, I wasn't aware of the hot connection issue. Thanks.

[lally911]

Myself and a few friends have been using that gun for the last few weeks with good results. Its easy to use - no compressor required. the powder cup is a bit hard to get on and off. For DIY powdercoating its working well. Only fill the powder cup about half way full - when full it doesn't seem to work quite right.

[ZOA NOM]

Yummy. Looks nice. How about overspray and wasted material? Without the "hot" hookup, does it require more powder than it should?


edit: I just Google'd the Sears gun and came up with a site that a guy posted his test of the system. Good info.

Sears Powder Coating System Test

[88-diamondblue]

Keith,

What colors did you use and where did you get the powder. A friend has one that he has been experimenting with.

[lally911]

We have tried various colors for various people with powders coming from Eastwood and Caswell.

http://www.eastwood.com

http://www.caswellplating.com

Have tried chrome, mirror black, hi temp silver, safety yellow, lime green (for dadafour!), yellow/orange, various blues, etc... Here are more examples.







Getting a good ground on the piece and good cleaning of the gun and electrode in the tip between color changes are key to getting the powder to stick well to the piece.

[Don Plumley]

Wow - when you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail!

[lally911]

:-) My daughter wants lime green shoes for the horse she rides at the stable - he'll be the most stylin' nag in the barn!

[beamonk]

Do you tape the bottoms of the valve covers? any pics of the top covers?

[ZOA NOM]

Holy crap! I'm heading to Sears tomorrow.

[lally911]

How about overspray and wasted material? Without the "hot" hookup, does it require more powder than it should?

Don't really have anything to compare against so can't say if its more than normal. The blower on the gun is variable speed so with light trigger pressure there doesn't seem to be much wasted powder. Heavy on the trigger and it really comes out and gets all over.

Do you tape the bottoms of the valve covers? any pics of the top covers?

Used hi-temp tape over all mating surfaces on the valve covers. Here is the only picture I have of the upper covers. I'm getting a small roller and am going to paint the raised letters dark blue.

[iamchappy]

I was curious about the Sears unit as well, I received this in the mail today from Harbor Freight. This looks to be a good deal if it works.

[beamonk]

Just the mating surfaces? I don't want to tape the whold bottom unless I have to as it is a pain. Any worries of oil eating off the powder?

[Dan in Pasadena]

Anyone know if there is a way to get the powder in a Porsche factory color match? I want to redo my engine tin and I'll probably settle for black, but I would like to get body color matching as an experiment - Sahara Beige - which is actually a fairly rich butter yellow.

Also, if I use black is it all one sheen level? Or can you get something like a powderthat will come out in satin black instead of full gloss?

[lally911]

My procedure is:

- clean/degrease the part
- sand blast it clean
- spray part with metal prep cleaning solution (not sure of vendor for this)
- wash the part again. Doing this in the shower can get funny looks from the wife.
- pre heat part in oven to thoroughly dry it
- let part cool
- make small wire hangers and figure out how to hang part in the oven
- spray powder on part
- put in oven at 400 degrees and watch for when the powder flows
- bake for 20 minutes after it flows
- let cool before touching any part of it or you can smear the surface

[ZOA NOM]

Originally posted by iamchappy
I was curious about the Sears unit as well, I received this in the mail today from Harbor Freight. This looks to be a good deal if it works.

I was looking at this one too, but I like the idea of not having to fire up the compressor.

[JonT]

How much more durable is the powder coat than a good thorough prep and paint with a quality paint? Seems like a pretty elaborate way to do something that a simple rattle can can handle (with similar prep work).

[ZOA NOM]

The reaction between the molecules of the metal and the molecules of the powder make it MUCH more durable than any paint. Powdercoat will dent when you hit it with a hammer. Paint will chip.

[lally911]

> How much more durable

Its much tougher. Most any painted surface comes right off in the sand blaster but a powder coated item is a real pain to get clean. For a-arms, tranny mounts, belly pans, and other parts that are going to take a beating its worth the prep time to powder coat it in my opinion.