Powder coating oven

[edelbikes]

Hi all !
I'm thinking of getting equipped for powder coating frames, and checking what would be the required budget. In a first time it would be to offer a "black only" option, and then try to be able to offer fancier alternatives (metallic, candy clear-coating, etc...) than what my painter does.
I found a lot of information on Columbia Coatings website, but not much about ovens...
For those who are powder coating at home, which kind of oven do you use ?
One issue I can see is that you need to be able to move the frame from the paint booth to the oven without touching anything... Do you put it vertically or horizontally in the oven ?
Any hints on DIY ovens ?

Thanks !
Francois

[Eric Estlund]

I don't have a set up, but at BF we used a re-purposed vertical bakery oven. I'm glad to not stand next to that all summer anymore.

[bellman]

I've toyed with the idea of finding two identical used ovens on craigslist, removing the doors, putting 4 crazy casters on the bottom of each, placing them face to face and hinging one edge so that to open it you would roll it open like a book. The idea was more for the aging of aluminum frames than powdercoating but It would probally work just the same.
A guy locally made his own oven from double walled sheet metal and heated it with the elements from 4-5 electric ovens. the size was 5'x5'x 7' probally. seemed to work ok.
One last thought, Pizza ovens always intrigued me for that use as well but again, it would have to be a flat insertion which it seems like would be harder to control.

[datas_brother]

Here's something Dave Anderson wrote on another forum:

Quote:
Hi James,

No, I bought my oven. See photo below. It's actually an electric pizza oven. I use it for curing powder & for force drying wet paint. I can also use it to heat treat certain aluminums and 953 (it will hit 1,000 degrees F, no problem).... There are various commercial ovens available, but they are expensive. Many people do build their own. See this link:

Home

The oven generally needs to reach and maintain at least 400 degrees F. You can get away with a little less heat if longer cure times are factored in, but 400 is kind of the standard, etc. The powder MFG's provide specs on how long to cure at a given temp. The Tiger Drylac site I noted above provides a ton of info.

Regarding using a powder clear over Auto Air...been there, tried that Smiley....unfortunately, it doesn't work. As you note, Auto Air will take a lot of heat, but it will often bubble on you at 400 degree. Plus, prolonged exposure to heat at that temp causes the colors to fade or yellow and, as Bryce noted, there are significant adhesion concerns, etc. I do, however, use Auto Air to paint on graphics & lettering over powder a LOT. I just follow the auto air with a liquid clear, rather than a powder clear. (NOTE: just like with applying clear over a fully cured wet paint finish, liquid clear WILL peel off powder that's fully hardened (powder will stay a little "soft" for a few hours after coming out of the oven), unless its sanded first.)

Dave
un-quote

Maybe this helps.

[edelbikes]

Thanks for the oven construction link. Some really good ideas inside, like the trolley system.
I think I will start to gather parts to build an oven (I already have the window ! ;-) ). Just need to carefully choose the size...

[2wheelrider]

I realize I'm a little late to the party but I built my oven and found the forum at caswell plating very helpful. My oven is certainly not a professional unit but it has worked so far for me and the folks on the caswell forum had more information than I knew what to do with.

[EricKeller]

there is a post up about a home made oven in the "handmade" part of VS

[edelbikes]

I realize I'm a little late to the party but I built my oven and found the forum at caswell plating very helpful. My oven is certainly not a professional unit but it has worked so far for me and the folks on the caswell forum had more information than I knew what to do with.

Hi !
Could you share a few pictures ? At the moment the main question I have is what would be the optimal shape to be able to move the frame easily inside, how to hold it, etc...

[2wheelrider]

Again sorry I'm late in responding. I don't have any pictures but my oven is 6 feet tall by 3 feet wide and 3 feet deep. The walls are two inch thick and use rock/mineral insulation which is enough to to keep the outer skin warm but not hot. it is heated by three heating elements like those in a kitchen oven but I can't remember how many watts they are. One of the stickys on Caswell Plating forum is a calculator on how much power you need to heat your chosen oven size. I wrote all of this down when I built the oven but can't seem to find the notebook I was using at the time. As far as the size goes mine is far bigger than neccesary for a bike frame and takes awhile to heat up. You could build a much smaller oven as long as you can keep the frame far enough away from the heating elements or build a heat shield/diffuser to keep from overheating the closest side of the part you are coating.