I have done mostly aluminum, some steel, but no Ti. I would guess the adhesion would be the same as other metals. Any surface roughness will give better adhesion, the powder melts to form the finished surface.
Powder coating a small light
- Thread starter TranquillityBase
- Start date
Help Support Candle Power Flashlight Forum
I have done mostly aluminum, some steel, but no Ti. I would guess the adhesion would be the same as other metals. Any surface roughness will give better adhesion, the powder melts to form the finished surface.
TranquillityBase
Flashlight Enthusiast
- Joined
- Jun 12, 2005
- Messages
- 3,741
That I have not tried...
All the equipment set up, the over is still hot. If you like I can coat two scrap pieces of Ti (one glass beads media blasted, and one turned finish), and send them to you for destructive testing
^Gurthang
Flashlight Enthusiast
Tranquilty,
First time poster at CPF! Nice work, very sweet looking. I'll mention a good source for powder coat & anodizing supplies for you and the rest of members;
http://www.caswellplating.com/
Great site, download the full catalog [PDF]. Tons of different platings, coatings, etc. Pg 28 is all the powder coating materials.
^Gurthang
First time poster at CPF! Nice work, very sweet looking. I'll mention a good source for powder coat & anodizing supplies for you and the rest of members;
http://www.caswellplating.com/
Great site, download the full catalog [PDF]. Tons of different platings, coatings, etc. Pg 28 is all the powder coating materials.
^Gurthang
Oh man, with all this powder coating going on, screw the lights, I want to see your bike! 
Makes me want to finsish the rest of the powder coating I had planned for my minibike! The shop I got my powder coating done at (where Exile Cycles gets theirs done) usually bead blasts the work before coating. On the swingarms for my minibike, I had them polished then powder coated clear. The swingarms are steel. There's spots I can tell that's not holding up to racing abuse but it's held up pretty nice & long.
Makes me want to finsish the rest of the powder coating I had planned for my minibike! The shop I got my powder coating done at (where Exile Cycles gets theirs done) usually bead blasts the work before coating. On the swingarms for my minibike, I had them polished then powder coated clear. The swingarms are steel. There's spots I can tell that's not holding up to racing abuse but it's held up pretty nice & long.
Last edited:
TranquillityBase
Flashlight Enthusiast
- Joined
- Jun 12, 2005
- Messages
- 3,741
Oh man, with all this powder coating going on, screw the lights, I want to see your bike!
Makes me want to finsish the rest of the powder coating I had planned for my minibike! The shop I got my powder coating done at (where Exile Cycles gets theirs done) usually bead blasts the work before coating. On the swingarms for my minibike, I had them polished then powder coated clear. The swingarms are steel. There's spots I can tell that's not holding up to racing abuse but it's held up pretty nice & long.
The dusty & lonely :sigh:
Crap! I see another project in this photo
:help:
The dirty and wanting for more dirtyness
oo:
And the powder coat project (mirror extenders)...
I had to pull the rubber boot up, and show off one of the Ti mirror sockets....:devil: The mirror extenders are coated with matte black powder.
Last edited:
KuKu427
Enlightened
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2009
- Messages
- 452
I want to have some lights powder coated. Anyone interested?
Superdave
Enlightened
I had my 9P powder coated in candy blue transparent, it was nice for a while but the Solarforce head that i was using couldn't handle my daily abuse. It was also too slick in my hand for regular use.
a $6 can of gasket remover from any auto parts store will remove powder coating in a few minutes.
as for my 9P.. it's either getting nickel plated or anodized black along with the new D36 head, Leef grip and Z59 tail.
a $6 can of gasket remover from any auto parts store will remove powder coating in a few minutes.
as for my 9P.. it's either getting nickel plated or anodized black along with the new D36 head, Leef grip and Z59 tail.
I had my 9P powder coated in candy blue transparent, it was nice for a while but the Solarforce head that i was using couldn't handle my daily abuse. It was also too slick in my hand for regular use.
a $6 can of gasket remover from any auto parts store will remove powder coating in a few minutes.
as for my 9P.. it's either getting nickel plated or anodized black along with the new D36 head, Leef grip and Z59 tail.
Gel paint remover will also remove powder coat. just make sure the light is completely disassembled.
powder also comes in textured colors. the one on the right is texture blue.
wquiles
Flashaholic
Question about powder coating on the Al M*gs: besides cleaning well, and possibly bead-blasting the surface to increase adhesion, is there any need/reason to remove the original soft anodising?
Will
Will
I cleaned all the parts with a scotch brite pad prior to powder coating. I then wiped them down with lacquer thinner to remove any oil. I did not remove the original anodize. If you are doing it yourself, I use aluminum foil to cover any threaded areas and areas you don't want powder on. There is also high temp tape that can be used to mask off areas.
Remember - powder coat is a thick covering...
wquiles
Flashaholic
Gotcha - thanks. From what I have been reading, powder coating adds between 0.002" and 0.003" for a single coat, which is fairly significant to fitted parts, so I understand the reason to cover the threaded areas.
What about the O-ring areas? Just cover them completely as when covering the threaded areas? Or is the increased thickness in the O-ring grooves not as problematic?
Will
when I powder coat the lights I assemble them so that all the threaded areas are screwed together. It is a loose assembly. The 'O' ring area on the body tends to get powder in it and that has not been a problem. I thread the bezel to the head and leave about .015 - .030 open before it contacts the head. I do the same with the tailcap and the body. If you tighten them all the way together the power will fuse the parts together. When I finish them, I spin the body on the lathe to remove the powder on the end, then the tailcap to make sure there is a good electrical path.
I stuff aluminum foil in the head end to prevent powder from going in there. My home made stands go through the center of the assembled light. I found it easier to powder them assembled rather than make up 4 different holding things.
I stuff aluminum foil in the head end to prevent powder from going in there. My home made stands go through the center of the assembled light. I found it easier to powder them assembled rather than make up 4 different holding things.
I don't have any pictures of the stands I use.
For the AA lights I just use a wire coat hanger that has an 'S' bend that goes into the body, It takes a 180 degree turn as it exits the head end and then there is a large 'U' on the bottom that it rests on.
I have a similar setup for the C and D lights. Except the I use a piece of 1/2 inch electrical conduit that is in the shape of a 'U'. I drilled 2 holes on the top part and I put a piece of coat hanger shaped like a u through, this provides tension and holds the conduit in the center of the body. The bottom just has 2 holes with a straight piece of hanger through to provide a base
In both cases the holder comes out through the head, in the middle. I stuff aluminum foil around this to prevent the powder from going into the head and the body. I make sure it is poked down far enough so the powder will get on the front of the bezel .
I bake the small lights in a toaster oven, the larger lights go into the regular oven. Don't go to hot, the clear colors and candy colors will yellow if the temp is too high. Most powders are 350 or 375 or 400.
Also - if you change colors - make sure the gun is completely clean. Powder colors do not mix, you end up with specks. ( which can be nice - if that is what you are going for )
For the AA lights I just use a wire coat hanger that has an 'S' bend that goes into the body, It takes a 180 degree turn as it exits the head end and then there is a large 'U' on the bottom that it rests on.
I have a similar setup for the C and D lights. Except the I use a piece of 1/2 inch electrical conduit that is in the shape of a 'U'. I drilled 2 holes on the top part and I put a piece of coat hanger shaped like a u through, this provides tension and holds the conduit in the center of the body. The bottom just has 2 holes with a straight piece of hanger through to provide a base
In both cases the holder comes out through the head, in the middle. I stuff aluminum foil around this to prevent the powder from going into the head and the body. I make sure it is poked down far enough so the powder will get on the front of the bezel .
I bake the small lights in a toaster oven, the larger lights go into the regular oven. Don't go to hot, the clear colors and candy colors will yellow if the temp is too high. Most powders are 350 or 375 or 400.
Also - if you change colors - make sure the gun is completely clean. Powder colors do not mix, you end up with specks. ( which can be nice - if that is what you are going for )
wquiles
Flashaholic
Thanks much Will
I already got the PC oven, and I am hoping to buy a PC gun in the next week or so - it should be fun to experiment with this :twothumbs
Will
I already got the PC oven, and I am hoping to buy a PC gun in the next week or so - it should be fun to experiment with this :twothumbs
Will
Thanks much Will
I already got the PC oven, and I am hoping to buy a PC gun in the next week or so - it should be fun to experiment with this :twothumbs
Will
I got mine through www.Eastwood.com they also carry a fairly larger number of powder colors.
It's fun to do, just don't bounce or jar the object after the powder is on, it falls off. If you powder over knurled areas, you loose the sharpness of the knurls.
wquiles
Flashaholic
Thanks Will. Call me crazy, but I am looking at a fairly "nice" PC gun, probably one of the Hyper Smooth models:
Hyper Smooth Pony with the hopper:
http://store.columbiacoatings.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=HSPS&reference=/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi%3Fsearch%3Daction%26keywords%3D%26searchstart%3D0%26template%3DPDGCommTemplates/HTN/SearchResult.html
HS-01:
http://www.alva-technologies.com/hs01.html
HS-02:
http://www.powderbuythepound.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=2066&osCsid=biv0uq04tvml4t994vdqkn31c5
These are not cheap, but they are the highest rated guns for the Hobby and Semi-professional segments.
I have just been saving money and taking my time until I can afford one of these, although the Hypersmooth Pony is being discontinued
Will
Hyper Smooth Pony with the hopper:
http://store.columbiacoatings.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=HSPS&reference=/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi%3Fsearch%3Daction%26keywords%3D%26searchstart%3D0%26template%3DPDGCommTemplates/HTN/SearchResult.html
HS-01:
http://www.alva-technologies.com/hs01.html
HS-02:
http://www.powderbuythepound.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=2066&osCsid=biv0uq04tvml4t994vdqkn31c5
These are not cheap, but they are the highest rated guns for the Hobby and Semi-professional segments.
I have just been saving money and taking my time until I can afford one of these, although the Hypersmooth Pony is being discontinued
Will
The one from Eastwood works fine. The one issue I have is that it doesn't have a foot switch.
I also have a unit from Harbor Freight. Long story with warranty. That is why I bought the Eastwood unit.
The main thing - make sure your compressor can be set a low PSI, the powder kinda puffs out. Don't try to use it out side, unless you can completely block the wind. I set up a large box and spray into that. That keeps the overspray down. There is no easy way to be completely neat with these. If you can, clean the gun out side..
For my needs, the smaller units work fine.
I also have a unit from Harbor Freight. Long story with warranty. That is why I bought the Eastwood unit.
The main thing - make sure your compressor can be set a low PSI, the powder kinda puffs out. Don't try to use it out side, unless you can completely block the wind. I set up a large box and spray into that. That keeps the overspray down. There is no easy way to be completely neat with these. If you can, clean the gun out side..
For my needs, the smaller units work fine.
wquiles
Flashaholic
Thanks for the tip on the compressor. What I do in my "shop" is that the main tank is kept at about 100psi, but then I have a small in-line pressure regulator for each item I need to run, like for example my mister, who likes to run at about 40psi. What PSI are we talking here for powder coating? I also read that it was a good idea to have an inline filter/drier as humidity and PC does not mix well - do you also use one?
