What Equipment & Supplies Are Required for Powder ...

Powder coating is an electrostatic process used to strengthen materials and surfaces in many industries, including automotive and industrial. But if you&#;ve never done this process and don&#;t know where to start, or you&#;ve tried it in the past and didn&#;t get the results you were hoping for, we&#;re here to help. First things first, you&#;ll need to be equipped with all the right equipment and supplies, so that&#;s exactly where we&#;re starting.

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The powder coating process can be quite complex, and there are a few things you&#;ll need to have to hand to ensure that the coating is applied properly. Below, we&#;ve broken down the required equipment and supplies into simple lists so you can make sure nothing is forgotten.

What supplies are required for powder coating?

Let&#;s start with the supplies you&#;ll need before you can get started with powder coating, including primer and masking products.

Primer

As with most coating applications, you&#;ll need a primer to help it stick to the material properly.

For powder coating, you&#;ll usually need a corrosion-resistant primer since this will prevent rusting and corrosion under the powder coating. This is the best way to ensure the coating can do its job and last longer. Typically, an epoxy primer should be used for this, so make sure you have this to hand.

Masking products

The masking supplies you use for powder coating must be durable and capable of withstanding the high temperatures they&#;re exposed to during the process. We recommend using our Green High Temperature Polyester Film Tape and Blue High Temperature Polyester Film Tape since these both offer excellent temperature resistance of up to 220°C/428°F for up to 30 minutes. Working on a curved surface? You can easily mask it off with the thinner and more flexible blue variation of our tape. Powder coating a flat surface? Go with our green variation with its increased thickness and durability.

During alloy wheel powder coating specifically, you might also need to protect the rear hub. Our Green High Temperature Polyester Film Discs are the ideal solution and something we would recommend using when powder coating this surface. The polyester film discs are temperature-resistant up to 220°C/428°F for up to 30 minutes, and like the tapes they were modelled on, they provide a perfect finish each time.

Powder coating materials

Finally, for the supplies, you&#;ll need to have the powder coating materials. This includes the polymer resin coating and the curatives, pigments, levelling agents, flow modifiers, and other additives that will be mixed with it.

What equipment is required for powder coating?

Moving on to the kinds of equipment you&#;ll need, below you&#;ll find a basic list of what should be used to carry out the powder coating process on materials and surfaces.

Tools for disassembly

Depending on the material you&#;re working on, you might need to disassemble some of the parts to ensure your coating is evenly and properly applied. This might require a wrench, screwdriver or pliers, so check the material to make sure you have the necessary tools before you go ahead with the rest of your powder coating preparation [Link to blog when live].

Sandblasting equipment

Part of the preparation will require you to sandblast the material or surface. This will give it the texture needed to help the coating stick and settle into the material, giving it the durability you&#;re seeking. For this step, you&#;ll need a sandblasting machine, abrasives and dust collectors.

Powder coating gun

A powder coating gun is needed for applying the powder coating mixture. These guns can be manual or automatic and provide  the control necessary to achieve for the desired finish. A powder coating gun will push the powder through with compressed air, and then the electrostatically charged coating can spread across the surface.

Spray booth / extraction unit

The powder coating should be applied in a spray booth that&#;s large enough for the surface. This should be properly ventilated to ensure the coating is filtered out and doesn&#;t linger in the air. The temperature should also be controlled to ensure the coating doesn&#;t melt as it&#;s being applied.

Curing oven / plant

There are a few different types of self-contained curing plants and ovens, and the type you have will likely depend on the industry you&#;re in and the size of your establishment. From compact curing ovens to industrial ones, just make sure that yours is fit for purpose and is the most cost-effective option for you. The main thing to remember is that the powder coating must be cured at high temperatures to melt it into the surface, so check that your curing oven or plant can achieve these levels.

PPE

Protecting yourself during this process is crucial since you&#;re dealing with high temperatures and chemicals. Because of the dust that&#;s produced during powder coat preparation and the powder coating process itself, it&#;s recommended to wear a respirator that filters this out. Temperature-resistant gloves and clothing should also be worn to protect you from burning yourself during any part of the process. Additionally, hard-toed boots are recommended when working with heavy materials, which is likely in the industries this coating is normally used within. 

Powder coating can involve a variety of different equipment types depending on the application, but we&#;ve covered the basics to help you get started. Before you begin this process, you should make sure you&#;re properly prepared and understand exactly what you&#;re doing. For more insights and advice on automotive painting applications and techniques, check out our JTAPE blog.

Let&#;s Start Powder Coating!

Powder coating is a fun and creative niche market for everyone. There are many powder coating operations all around the world from garages to multimillion-dollar facilities. If you want to start powder coating and be one of the successful ones you&#;ll need assistance from  suppliers in the industry to help you avoid many of the pitfalls that affect beginning companies.

Be sure to ask questions and make good use of all the advice and help available from the industry equipment and product suppliers.

The rest of this article lists a few essential items and equipment that are required to help entrepreneurs and businesses set up a brand new powder coating operation. All of these must be considered whether you&#;re going with all batch equipment, a fully automated (conveyor) system, or something in between.

Pretreatment (Chemical or Mechanical)

Pretreatment is a very crucial step in the powder coating application process. The type of pretreatment will vary significantly depending on what is being powder coated.

Abrasive blasting and/or chemical cleaning (etching) are the most common practices of preparing the substrate (typically iron phosphate or zinc phosphate). These methods remove soils and create a profile on the substate, which gives the powder a surface to adhere to.

The Abrasive Cleaning/Blast Media/Blasting Equipment category on PCO can be a great source of information. See also Stripping Chemicals & Equipment and  Pretreatment Chemicals categories.

Powder Coatings

Depending on the project you&#;re working on and on what substrate, you&#;ll quickly learn there are many different powder coating chemistries, characteristics  and colors to consider. Work closely with your powder supplier to figure out what kind of powder works best for your application.

Check this chart of the different powder types and the characteristics of each.

***Here is PCO&#;s Powder Coating Suppliers category.

Powder Coating Gun

Contact us to discuss your requirements of powder coating equipments. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.

To apply powder coating you will need a powder coating gun and system. There are multiple powder coating systems from hobby guns to multi-gun automatic systems.

One can use including cup guns , box feeders, hopper units and large automatic units. Here is where you talk to the powder gun suppliers to figure out what kind of gun works best for you.

***Check PCO&#;s Powder Coating Spray Gun Suppliers category for a list of gun suppliers to contact.

Powder Booth

You&#;ll need some kind of area (Powder Booth) in which to spray your powder. The two primary forms of powder coating booths are recovery and non-recovery booths, i.e ones that recover the over-spray powder and ones that do not (&#;spray to waste&#;). It is essential to have a booth that has a great ventilation and filter systems to properly filter out the powder. Lighting is also important with 100 kindle from ceiling to floor as the industry standard.

***Link to PCO&#;s category of Suppliers of Powder Booths

Cure Oven

Powder coating ovens come in all sizes and can be custom-built for operations. The two common choices of ovens used are infrared and convection ovens. It is important to keep in mind when installing an oven that will fit the largest parts. Great air circulation is also critical to ensure the heat is evenly distributed on the substrate.

***Find the oven you need here on PCO:  Cure Oven Suppliers

Hooks & Racks

You&#;ll also need hooks and some kind of rack(s) on which to hang your item as it passes through your cure oven. Racking systems can be very simple or complicated, but the goal is always to be able to hang your item to spray and cure efficiently.

Many companies that have fabrication capabilities tend to design their own racks. Sturdy racks to hang the powder coated parts from without being unbalanced are key for proper grounding. The importance of proper grounding can not be overemphasized. Read this great article about grounding: Proper Grounding Techniques for Powder Coating

If you need help with your racking, a company who specializes in supplying just hooks and racks is your best choice to call for help.    ***Hooks & Racking Suppliers  

***Most masking product suppliers also sell hooks and racks: Masking Suppliers

Protective Gear/PPE/Safety Considerations

Gloves, face mask, goggles, respirator and body suit are recommended for protection.
Read this article: Powder Coating Safety Considerations

***Safety Equipment & PPE suppliers

There is no question the powder coating process can seem daunting at first. However, with the correct tools and assistance you will be able to start a new hobby or business with the items listed above, keeping in mind, of course, this is a very basic guide. For more detailed how-to-powder-coat information &#; literature, training classes, podcasts, resources, etc. &#; visit  PCO&#;s Powder Coaters Corner.

There are also many Training Classes and Webinars available to you.
Take advantage of these when you can.

Also, Powder Coating Consultants are available to call when/if you need more in-depth, more technical or difficult answers,

***Click  How to Powder Coat/The Powder Coaters Corner for more information, links and resources.

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