Learn me: cheap diy powder coating

I want to have alot of suspension and engine pieces powdercoated however the local guy charges quite abit and is booked for a long time.

Im thinking buy this gun: http://www.eastwood.com/dual-voltage-hotcoat-powder-gun.html?fee=7&fep=4988&SRCCODE=PLA00020&product_id=11676&adpos=1o1&creative=83580266340&device=m&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=CjwKEAjw8OLGBRCklJalqKHzjQ0SJACP4BHr6nl9lf9O9iBL0mpTKG5j3FOKXb8zmTRHgCV0iUYBMxoCTuzw_wcB

And make some sort of diy oven so I can do the work myself and maybe make some income on the side.

Any tips on the oven/curing booth side of things?

People who get serious about it get an old oven and buy/make a temperature controller for it. Me, I only powder coat bullets.

I'm also getting ready to dig into this. I'm in your same position.

I picked up the single voltage gun from eastwood and a used electric oven. I don't bother with a booth. I get my powder from prismaticpowders.com. High quality stuff at a reasonable price. You can order samples, they will send you strips of aluminum coated in the chosen powder.

Pretty simple. I did some a couple years back and it turned out well. Just get a cheap used oven as it will apparently leave the oven unusable for food due to contamination.

I bought an Eastwood gun a $50 oven and powder from powder buy the pound (I think prismic powder is the same company).

The hardest part is cleaning the pieces. Anything with oil bake once before coating to get out the old oil. Large pieces heat before coating as they take a while to hear evenly.

I have avoided the issue but have heard the powder can be flamable when sprayed so be a little careful.

All in all easier than painting but just as much or more prep work. Once the powder is on it is very hard to get off. So get it right the first time.

I read someplace about building an oven out of angle iron and covering it with sheet metal and then heating the oven with a an adjustable electric hot plate and to monitor temperature using a BBQ Grill Thermometer.I think you have to maintain a temperature of about 400F. I have had powder coating done and the quality ranged from excellent to very poor. The one thing that was constant was the price which was expensive. You also need a source for sand/media blasting to get parts really clean.

Forgive me for bumping this thread but I think the info so far will be of more benefit to those interested than starting a new thread from scratch. 

Has anyone here done what Pirate was talking about regarding a DIY oven built from sheet metal? I’m thinking for smaller powder coating jobs it may work so long as the heat source has enough power?  Otherwise as already stated an old regular kitchen oven seems to be pretty common. Again, I’m looking only for personal use at home on smaller sized items that could fit in most typical kitchen sized ovens.

Depending on how big/small the part is, wouldn't one of those small countertop ovens work just fine? Never hurts to save on cost and space.

If the name of the game is space, you could build your own.  There are just so many free ovens on CL that I would take the pre-built route first if you can afford the space.

With any of them, do electric.  Don't use any open flame for two reasons.  1) an electric element makes heat over a large area while a gas (or any flame source) makes its heat with hundreds of tiny 2000-degree flames.  Fumes go boom.  2) all combustion heat sources produce water vapor which can cloud/bubble the the powdercoating.

Those were done with the "shake and bake" method.  Plastic airsoft BB's in a coffee can plus some HF Red PC.

Building an oven is no small task. Even if it’s small. I’m building one myself. If you know your doing small stuff go with a kitchen oven. I have been converting a very large gas smoker. It’s big enough to do wheels. The cost adds up quickly for insulation and controlling the heat. Far exceeds a used home oven. My plan is to run both. A kitchen oven and the large smoker.

Would an old chest freezer work? Big, insulated box, just add heat source and some sort of thermostat. Wonder if it could hold up to the temps?

Furious_E said:

Would an old chest freezer work? Big, insulated box, just add heat source and some sort of thermostat. Wonder if it could hold up to the temps?

I don't think so, but that's just my opinion. 

You need 400F to cure the stuff.  Freezers have plastic inside.  I think you would have to remove that and replace it with metal, at a minimum.  And the gasket would be a problem too. 

People make large ovens for curing pre-preg carbon fiber stuff.  Make a frame, add some insulation, add a heating element like from an oven or dishwasher and manage the temp either with a controller or by you being the controller for a half hour.

My dad built an oven from an old electric stovetop with a box on top made from HVAC ducting. It worked very well.

Maybe something out of two matching ovens?

Oh. I  like that idea.  I happen to have two of the same ovens.