I never check thickness. The only time I do multiple layer is it is like a 2 stage color or the chrome I use requires a clear. When I have issues with the powder I never recoat I have better luck just to strip and start over. I use a bright light to check for thin places.
I have pieces I have painted that are on buildings out in the weather for a couple yrs. All look as good as they did when painted.
As for cheap enough gun you are correct. I almost gave up when I bought the one from harbor freight. It actually looks like a battery charger.
I apply the primer and put it in the oven for about 5 min. Take it out and shoot it again once it cools. The first coat is not totally cured. I object is to get it to gel.
Yes the gun will spray but not stick. The cheap guns canât correctly charge the powder to make it stick. It generally just blows by. Think of the first coat as a insulator.
You can get by with heating the part âhot flockingâ. The problem is the powder generally melts on contact so controlling coverage can be a issue.
Have you attempted adjusting the kv? I have a nozzle for my gun that helps with faraday. This nozzle makes multi coats a lot better and also helps faraday areas. It slips right on the end of the nozzle.
I have the omega gun with a hyper smooth led from Columbia coating. It is what I consider a high end hobby gun. I spray around 60 to 100 lb of powder a year.
I buy 99% of my powder from Columbia. I like how it sprays them prismatic second.
The worst offender is the Eastwood Dual Voltage gun. I always just tell most anyone to avoid their guns. It is not very good without a bunch of mods and even then it is sub par considering the effort and frustration with it. Itâs still cheaper than most but I actually tested it compared to the HF gun because most everyone starts out with the cheapest stuf. I know I did. The HF gun was not much better but it was better. It did one coat well enough but it never would do a chrome or the candy/metallic colors. For hobby use now days there is a Vevor gun that has multiple KV settings and in spite of it looking lik the old HF gun it actually does multiple coats, which was a surprise. I didnât test it personally but I saw on youtube from a commercial powder shop and he was just testing it to give beginners an idea on where they could spend money on equipment.
Here is an anchor pulpit that I fabricated out of 304 SS for a cruiser for which the original was no longer available. Prismatic coatings - Super Chrome Plus with a clear second coat. The Vulcan 16 is working perfectly so far.
The cost of polished 1/4 SS was crazyâfour times what a replacement would have cost. Unfortunately, it is not made anymore.
He decided to go with a regular 304 plate. It was too big to bend in the Titan so I made it in three pieces ,and Tig welded them together.
The pictures donât do it justice after powder coating it. He took one look at it today and said God dammmm.
Did anyone order the (Variable mesh fixture) or the (fixture cart) didnât see much info on them wanted to see if anyone had hands on and found them useful or not necessary. Looks like the (Vertical / Horizonal fixture kit) is bolt on so you pick how to mount it and not a quick change?
I have both. The roller mesh bracket at the top works well after I added a sheet metal mod to keep the rollers from hitting the bolts that support it. I mounted the other bracket horizontally because it just works better for me.
