Are you wondering what powder coating is all about? A powder coating is essentially a multi-step finishing process. The metal is first cleaned to prepare it for a coating process. A fine powder is applied to coat the metal. This powder covers the surface, after which the metal is taken into a curing oven. The powder melts and flows into the required and uniform coating. The heat ensures the coating will be durable and attractive.
There are three types of powder coating equipment needed to perform a professional and quality powder coating in pretreatment, application, and curing tasks. Below is essential information about the powder coating you need to know.
Pretreatment for powder coating
You need to use pretreatment powder coating equipment before your intended product is powder-coated. The equipment is designed to ensure a clean and free product from debris like rust, preexisting paint, and laser scale. A blast room is needed to provide an enclosure when removing the debris. This will allow you to use compressed air and force abrasive material against the surface of your product. Now, you can start the powder coating process.
Application process
Powder coating application is handled by the use of a powder spray gun intended for powder coating. For an effective powder coating application, you need to ensure the powder is electrostatically charged. The gun is designed so that compressed air will move the powder through the gun from a hopper. You will note that as the powder leaves the gun, it receives an electrostatic charge ensuring that the powder sticks effectively to the surface. It is important to get a professional-grade powder gun. It is more reliable and will provide you the best results.
Curing process
After completing the powder coating application process, it’s time to place the product in a specially designed powder curing oven. The oven has a temperature ranging between 3250 and 4500 Fahrenheit. You need to heat the oven to the temperature and stabilize it. Then, expose the coated product to precisely heated air for a certain period. After completing the curing process, remove the product and allow it to cool, after which you can handle it. It is necessary to understand that powder curing ovens come with different prices depending on their designs.
Professional powder coating systems
It is important to have a batch powder coating line. This is a system that you will need to prepare, coat, and cure your products. You need to have operators to handle each task, especially when dealing with multiple products. Such a system helps you to manage the powder coating tasks effectively without dirtying your workshop.
You can as well consider having an automated powder coating line. This is a modified system compared to the batch coating line. It connects multiple stages via motorized conveyors. The conveyor moves parts of the system at a constant rate. The loading of products and moving them to the next stages is done remotely. This system is economical as it doesn’t need many operators.
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