Sourcing Powder Coaters

[kidb]

I had a custom powder made for me for a project, and had two different places powder coat a panel one local, one states away. Both did underwhelming work.. The first company was local and even though they got the best reviews in town, the finish was very uneven looking lots of bubble like dips in the finish. I found a company out of state that said no worries we can do it right, and they did do a better job, but still a slightly bubbly looking finish. I know theres a way to get smooth finishes! I see it all the time on gear, but I'm striking out! Anyone have suggestions for a place to powder coat some panels for me? I'm in Nashville btw...

 

[OneRoomStudio]

Maybe contact Matt Stager of Stager mics ([email protected])? His mics have great looking powder coats and he's in Nashville too.

 

[JohnRoberts]

Powder coat is not rocket science but a PIA to start and stop for small runs. I recall when Peavey set up our powder coat production line and it was significant, but worked better running the same color for long runs, not small batches.

JR

 

[pucho812]

If you have the space can get a diy powder coat kit

 

[zzzzz]

I had an acquaintance who worked at a small local motorcycle rebuilding shop do a small batch of powder coating for me back in the day. He was surprised at how small / simple the job was. Maybe look into that kind of business in your area?

 

[JohnRoberts]

I had an acquaintance who worked at a small local motorcycle rebuilding shop do a small batch of powder coating for me back in the day. He was surprised at how small / simple the job was. Maybe look into that kind of business in your area?

IIRC the production powder coat line involved a controlled environment with electrostatic charged parts hangers to attract the powder onto the parts. Then they run through an oven to get cooked (cured). Not rocket science but imo not simple.

JR

 

[tony hunt]

Just a diy powder coater speculating: the OP complaints sound like maybe too much powder material was applied. Easy to do. It can cause an orange peel finish.

 

[MidnightArrakis]

I had a custom powder made for me for a project, and had two different places powder coat a panel one local, one states away. Both did underwhelming work.. The first company was local and even though they got the best reviews in town, the finish was very uneven looking lots of bubble like dips in the finish. I found a company out of state that said no worries we can do it right, and they did do a better job, but still a slightly bubbly looking finish. I know theres a way to get smooth finishes! I see it all the time on gear, but I'm striking out! Anyone have suggestions for a place to powder coat some panels for me? I'm in Nashville btw...

[Anyone have suggestions for a place to powder coat some panels for me?] -- How many panels do you need powder-coated?

I'm guessing that for what you need to have done and with using your own powder, your personal project will probably more than likely tend to run a bit pricey. With that being said, there is a sheet-metal shop here where I live that primarily works on defense contractor projects, yet I have used them myself for a couple of my design projects. This local sheet-metal shop sends their projects out to a local powder-coating shop to do all of their powder-coating. I am mentioning this just to give you a reference of the level-of-quality that this local powder-coating shop has to be able to provide in order to meet defense contractor projects.

I myself have visited the powder-coating shop umpteen times and on the occasions when I have been there, they were involved with powder-coating "parking meters" for a nearby small town and even a "wrought-iron bench" for some local old-lady who wanted to freshen-up the look of her bench that she had in her backyard. My point??? ..... This local powder-coating shop does everything from an old-lady's backyard bench to rack-mount chassis I have personally designed to equipment consoles used on U.S. Navy vessels.....all with the same level of craftsmanship and quality. Would this be "good enough" for you?

[I know there's a way to get smooth finishes] -- YES!!!.....There is!!! But, you will need to do some "homework" first in order for you to determine -- exactly what type -- of "smooth" finish that you are looking for. There is:

• Smooth
• Fine
• Fine Textured
• Sandtex
• Matte
• Low-Gloss
• >> Others.....

There are two basic -- charts -- that I am immediately aware of that you can choose your finish from: 1) Federal Standard, 2) RAL. Maybe you can visit one of your local powder-coating shops and request that they show you their "Finishes Chart". Select one that you like and make a note of whatever its "Code Number" is. As an example, in the chart that I have right here with me, for a basic "Black" panel, you can choose from:

• Federal Standard 595 Color FS 37038 Flat Black
• Federal Standard 595 Color FS 17038 Black
• RAL9005
• Black Sandtex
• Realcoat EL HNF35QF ECB-1363A (Black 2701)

So, basically.....if you have both the time and -- the money -- to get your project powder-coated correctly, then I "might" be able to help you out here. The powder-coating shop is about maybe 40-minutes from where I live in another nearby town here in Maryland.

>> Here's a stack of one of the rack-mount chassis I have designed:


>> My chassis ready to be powder-coated:


>> My chassis rear-panels inside the powder-coating booth:


>> Chassis rear-panel powder-coated and on a finished piece of equipment:


>> Chassis inside-view:


>> One of my "panel" designs:


>>> Your call!!!.....

/