ok so i have a sanblaster and i am going to buy this http://www.harborfre...temnumber=94244
and i was wondering what temp i have to bake it at and do i have to hang it in the oven

I would call a shop that powdercoats and see if they will give you the info. you need. Let us know how the home made powdercoat turns out.

my shop says they bake it at 400 degrees

do you have to hang it in the oven or can i just place it on the shelfs

It will depend on the powder, some need more or less. I order all my powders from eastwood. The majority of the powders (regular colors/finishes) get cured at 400 for 20 minutes. However, it is important to put them in at 425 for about 5 minutes for the powder to "flow" (it turns fluid and shiny), then set the temp back down to 400 and your timer for 20 minutes.


FWIW: I would stay away from the HF powder gun. The eastwood hot-coat gun is a much better unit and deal for $100.

I would think that if you just laid it on the shelf, there will be no powder coating in that area. At best there would be blemishes where your part comes in contact with the rack.

I guess it could be done, you just wont get a perfect finish. I think placing it in the oven would be tricky also, as it would be hard to move the part around with you're hands without messing up the powder coating.

That being said, note that I have no experience with powdercoating, so I am no expert. Just my uninformed thoughts.

hondacrf250rrr said:

You can place it on the shelf, but whatever it contacts will rub off the powder and you will have lines. If you dont mind having lines on say the back of the part, go for it.

Also, make sure it is an electric oven, not gas.

y cant i use a gas oven

You can use a gas oven, and curing times vary with different powders. When your buy your powder, it should come with a product data sheet that gives you all the information. The most common is a 10 minute 400 degree parameter. That means after the metal is up to 400 degrees, it takes 10 minutes to cure. So like deadlyap1 said, 20 minutes on most aluminum parts off your bike would be in the ball park. If you do heavier parts with more mass, you'll need to increase your bake time. Becareful though, you can overcure which will effect the UV durability, lower the gloss factor, and possibly change the shade of the color. If you can lower your bake temp (390-370) you would be better off. To check cure, wet a rag with MEK(not dripping) and LIGHTLY rub your coated part, there should be very little or no color transfer.

would it affect my oven at all like making my food taste bad or anything

hondacrf250rrr said:

I wouldn't use your kitchen oven for this

it might be ok for one little part here and there

but If your really wanting to start powder coating, pick up a used oven for the garage

I've even seen a guide online before where someone took the heating coils out of a old oven, and built a bigger oven using 2x4's, with sheet metal on the inside, and insulation on the outside... Made a real big oven for only a couple hundred $$

I don't know if it will make food taste bad because I have never used the house oven for coating. What I did was get a cheap oven on craigslist for all the coating I do.

What I can tell you is that there are a ton of very bad fumes that come out of the oven when I am curing a part. I am not just talking about unpleasant smells, but more like toxic smelling stuff. My oven is out in the garage and I don't hang around too close to the oven when it's on. I couldn't imagine curing powder in the house oven.

ive done a ton of powder coating now. Most of it has come out great. I have found that your curing time is not as important as you would think. more is better! too little and the powder could stay tacky and never reach full strength. Too much (seriously its about 30 minutes to long). and you could start burning the powder (only noticable on lighter colors). But i put peices in for about 20-25 minutes. Or if its a big piece I check the temp with a infrared thermometer to assure the peice gets up to 375+. Also, if you have a piece you want to look great, take extra steps. clean the piece and sand it so its as good as youd like it to be before initial coating. But do not coat it, heat it up to temp for 20 min, i have had oils and other stop "pop" out of peices when the powder is put on and baked, they look like fish eyes. After its cooled, clean it off and coat away. Just a quick tip. Good luck, text me with more questions.

so using my house hold oven is not a good idea

would a toaster oven work to do clucth covers and small stuff

hondacrf250rrr said:

nah definitely pass on that IMO

That gun works great for the price, my dad has it.
As far as the baking temperature goes, on most packages it tells what temperature, the seem to range from about 250 to 400.
Most of the harbor freight powder is 400 degrees.
You really don't want to use your food baking oven. It smells like burning plastic.
Find an old oven for free and use that.

I use a toaster oven for small stuff. I bought a cheap one from walmart for about $40. First thing i did was screw one of the racks to the top of the inside. this way i have a slide point to hang multile parts. Works great. Only thing i used to do that was highly questioinable was turning the oven on its side to do long stuff like clutch lever. The sides arent designed to take the heat. it got up to 300 on the side one time. I watched it carefully but still a bad idea allaround.

I agree on the toater oven. I have one of those for small stuff too. They heat up faster than the oven and use less power.

when i do my clutch cover does it matter if i get the powder on back side where it goes on and would it affect it by leaking