Coating parts

[Meriachee]

I've been making small parts forever, and this year we got a new wheel for the little Catalina. There is a gap between the locknut and the wheel collar that is purely cosmetic, and I made a small insert to fit over the shaft and fill the space.
Using aluminum that is uncoated is dreadful, it gets warm (real fast) in the sun, and paint sucks. I got a small powder coater rig from Eastwood a couple of years ago and this thing does amazing work, the powder comes in a number of colours and the coating is epoxy, and won't peel as long as the part is really clean.
Here's a quick shot of the coated part, all you'll ever see is the sides, not the faces. It's been coated with their "Starlight Blue" which is akin to a metalflake and it's close to the Catalina blue, and as I've found from a number of tries, it takes a lousy picture.
It is smooth, polished looking and rock hard, although this picture looks exactly the opposite.
It's a much, much better solution to paint, and it holds up very well outdoors.

 

[RussC]

I have one of the same units and it does create a nice durable finish. I found one key to consistent results is to pre-heat the part for an hour or so, before coating, to bake out any impurities. as with any coating product, preparation is key. I have a dedicated (household) oven out in the shop for larger parts, but the toaster oven I bought for the purpose is used much more often.
Quite by accident I discovered that spraying a very thin coating of black powder on aluminum parts also gives a really cool translucent, almost pearl, look. provides protection from oxidizing, and it looks good to.

 

[Meriachee]

Are you coating black and then covering with whatever colour, or following their "bake it half way" suggestion?
I tried the gloss "top coat" method with less than expected results. The real translucent coatings are quite difficult to get looking good, and you're right, having the part cleaner than clean is the key. ANY blemish will show though, and you can't polish it out.

 

[RussC]

I had sprayed some fabricated parts black and stuck them in the oven. when they came out it looked like this:

They appeared equally solid black before I put them in the oven, but I was still learning and hadn't gotten it down yet as to how much material to apply. the horizontal surfaces had more material on them because of the way the powder settled onto the parts, so those areas came out as intended. I used this "mistake" in the future to come up with some other really neat effects. Like: you can bake a part just until the powder melts some, pull the parts and spray a different color on some areas, and finish baking. the two colors will fade into one another (works good for "flame" effects). You just have to play with different ideas but it's a very fun medium to work with.

 

[Meriachee]

Cool. The largest project to date is a sprit for the kite. There are some pictures here.
https://meriachee.wordpress.com/2014/06/23/sprit-city/

 

[RussC]

Wow! that's very nicely done Isn't it cool to carve a piece out, have it look that good, work that good, be one of a kind, and still not cost a fortune. check book sailing is for wussies.

 

[Meriachee]

Thank you very much. The whole project was centered around the Selden ring, and when it was all said and done was about 1/5 the cost of a "proper" sprit.

 

[Chief RA]

Meriachee: That powder coating concept seems really neat! I never have played with that stuff.
Just about have a new tiller made as my laminated Oak and Mahogany blew up like a gun! Fortunately it was on the hard when it exploded from a load. Made the new one out of Doug Fir and it seems to be hell for strong with its fibrous straight long grain. Did tests on woods years ago in college and hardwoods are strong but when you hit their limit; they explode! Doug Fir just bends. It was fun to make but lots of work as I don't have a band saw in my shop. Chief

 

[RussC]

Thank you very much. The whole project was centered around the Selden ring, and when it was all said and done was about 1/5 the cost of a "proper" sprit.

It's just like building a canoe out of a log: first cut down a suitable tree, then remove everything from it that doesn't look like a canoe.