Powder coating. Have to step up my game to keep up.

Since @Shatneyman has thrown out the pictures of the beautiful white goodies I have went back to the drawing board...

It's 29 degrees outside so I guess I will do a "how to" take a cheap powder coat gun and turn it into a really awesome powder coating gun. BUT it does require that you purchase a fluidizing powder hopper... I purchased mine about 2 years ago and it is absolutely flawless.. You will also have to butcher your new Harbor Freight powder coating gun.

Here are some pictures of what you have to do to get the gun ready to take the hopper. YOU can do smaller items just fine with the regular gun and top load screen on cup. But if you have any angles you won't be able to do then with that setup. And with a remote fluidizing hopper you can get the powder delivery perfect and uniform.

After you take the original screw on powder cup part off. You will need to cut the curl off the tube and make straight. I Your hopper may be different but that is how mine hooks up...

I just dug out my powders again and I have a little left. But it's going to be mainly the Bright White I'm going after. ..

Now what your going to do is hook the air couplings to the gun and basically your going to be using the hopper to keep the powder in a a fluid consistency. With the hopper you shouldn't have thick spots. And you should be able to turn the gun at any angle.

The smaller Harbor Freight systems will provide enough charge to the power to draw it smoothly to most parts. I have done wheels on cars with no issues.

Almost forgot. You have to cut this spacer out of the existing part that held the cup mount on. If you use the same kit for a hopper that I did you will need it because the coupling is bigger than the metal tube. I just glues it on the tube and it works perfect.

Your also going to need a moisture dryer and a good air pressure regulator. I have both of these devices made so that I can use them independent of each other. I also have a large regulator and dryer on the whole air system in the garage. You still need these in my opinion. They just chuck together in this case and make one long device.. You will want to adjust the pressure till the powder in the hopper is just bubbling. You don't want the powder going crazy in the hopper..

Here is the hopper and how it looks and how it connects to the gun.

You probably going to want to buy some thermal resistant tape for areas that you don't want to powder coat and your going to need something to hold all your goodies in the oven. I use stainless tie wire . One other cool thing you can get are these silicone plugs that you can push into threads or holes that you want to keep powder out of. I have some hidden from me at the moment. When I find them I'll add those pictures.

And you can get an electric oven for either free or cheap. I don't recommend gas. The actual powder paint isn't explosive but the "powder" is. If you don't believe that powder is explosive go and grab some baby powder and a torch and go way away from anything you care about. And light the torch and squeeze the baby powder toward the torch... ON SECOND THOUGHT just go to YouTube and watch someone else do it.... So I don't use a gas oven for that very reason... It "could" blow up the actual room if if enough powder was dispersed and the flame on the oven hit it..

Cheap electric oven is the best... And don't cook anything in it after you bake this stuff. The gasses will be a bit toxic.
This oven was given to me by an appliance store in town. It was new and they broke the front glass out on a delivery and they just needed it moved out of the way.. So I helped them with that. .

Now if your going to be doing small parts then you can get away with an electric toaster oven. Alot of times you can just use it for small brackets and screws. It just needs to be able to reach the desired temp and and have a bake setting..

This next part is where I piss off my wife. I raid the closets for coat hangers. I do use the tie wire I mentioned above but I also use heavy steel cost hangers to make fixtures to hold stuff. Especially in the small toaster oven.

Quote from Solow

I've had pretty good luck with my HF gun. The only problem is occasionally I run into the Faraday cage effect. Are you still running the original power unit that comes with the HF kit? Or does doing what you've done resolve that issue. I mean it's not a big deal, and some times when it just won't cover, I'll run the piece I'm working on to about 100-150 degrees and basically flock the part. So far, I've coated my roll hoops, brake calipers, springs, and Alpha CAI.

I do sometimes notice the effect your talking about. It will actually repel the powder. I havent had that issue here but at my other garage it would do it 1 out of 10 times.. The hopper does several things. The biggest is keeping the powder broke up and moving. The second thing is getting the gun where you can move it freely without fear of a clump of powder being thrown out. The third is allowing you to hold more product at once. There may be other benefits but those are the ones I notice.

I alway off gas my parts that I'm spraying by bringing them up to around 300 degrees and then letting them cool down to around 100 to 125 degrees before I start spraying. That way I don't have anything on the part that would cause a bubble or fisheye..

I'll post up some pictures of the steps when I start later. It just like baking Toll House cookies only easier...

Also forgot to mention that you will need a IR temp gun. Just don't drop lacquer thinner on the temp gun display. It makes it a bit difficult to see..

I spray mine while they are around 100 so that it will "slightly" melt the first small bit of powder that hits the part. It's just somthing I noticed that seems to help me get a uniform coat. I can do it without the part being hot. But this always works for me. I just shot the coil cover and I set the timer for 15 mins. It's a thin piece of metal and it's at 375 degrees. So that should look good..

And now for the final baked and ready to eat goodie. Hmmmm I see a reflection in white powder coat.......

I believe I have found the perfect color.