I notice edge pull the most on high gloss blacks and whites personally. If you don’t want to preheat you can do a primer first or 2 coats of whatever color. The first layer allows the powder to stick at the edges better.
I tried a bunch of gloss blacks trying to find one that pulled less before I started doing preheats (think 5 in total but only ones I can recall are prismatic ink black, prismatic gloss black and I think columbias Harley Gloss Black).
I think the quality of these two brands is similar
I’ve had the most trouble with edge pull using Super Mirror Black from Columbia, also putting anything down on top of a high gloss pulls hard too. If you’re going to do more than one layer just make sure the base layer is not glossy. Also I’ve noticed that the super matte from Columbia in pretty much every color I’ve gotten it in is actually satin not matte/flat. The only color I’ve gotten from them that was actually a flat/matte finish was their federal standard green camo which was an awesome finish. I got the federal standard desert camo (basically tan) too because I like it so much. I picked up a pound of their plastisol black a few weeks ago, it’s supposed to create like a rubber finish similar to what you would find on tool handles. I’m going to try that soon I think, any suggestions on what tools that would be good on? I’m thinking for starters the good old half inch breaker bar.
Never heard of that plastisol but it definitely sounds interesting, look forward to how that turns out.
Did my first candy paint job, and thanks to Unknown Coatings I finally got masking figured out! This sign turned out even better than I hoped, primary design by Aidan from FireShare! I made a couple little tweaks, nothing too major.
Awesome video. I watched a video where a guy was coating Porsche calipers in red with the Porsche name in white and he cooked them to 160 until the powder flowed and then pulled off the decal. I wonder if the lower temp for the red is to prevent it from turning darker than it’s supposed to? Is there a difference in using the yellow gas bottle vs the blue?
Yellow is MAPP gas, it’s hotter than the blue and green bottles that are straight propane. I will be doing some stuff with lettering and logos with the vinyl plotter this spring I think, those will be cool videos.
Nice video. Awesome sign! I was having trouble using foil too, put over powder it “glues” on. I tried parchment paper, solved that for me. Ive had good luck for clean lines, no adhesive using frog tape and I remove the tape before the part goes in the oven
I’ve always heard that you want to flow your powder before you pull the tape so you don’t get powder puffing on an area that is supposed to be clean. Frog tape is good stuff though, I use it for traditional painting. Parchment paper is a great idea, I’ll have to pick some up!
I have had powder spill over on the surface I was attempting to keep clean. I just used a fresh piece of tape and dabbed the spilled powder with the sticky side of the tape. Just seemed like using the high temp tape and letting the powder flow out I would either remove some of the old paint or leave adhesive behind. Seemed to me, using frog tape worked the best
I was having a big problem leaving adhesive behind, I reached out to Unknown Coatings on YouTube and he said heat it up to 180-200 for a couple of minutes, I did that and the adhesive problem stopped. Using the sticky side of tape to remove spilled powder is a really good idea. 200 is the absolute limit though, I let it get to 225 for the blue and it was leaving adhesive behind again. I don’t like the high temp tape, it’s very rigid like thick cellophane.
You can’t over prep, but a lot of the time it isn’t needed. I have been successfully powder coating for years and have rarely gone to the extent that some of the posters are recommending. I only off gas with cast materials, with oil contaminated items, or to expedite drying. I also media blast then wash the part with water or denatured alcohol. If the part is not contaminated with oils, air blasting generally works fine. If you get water on the part while air blasting, you need to check your filters.
I also don’t prep anything like guys on here, and have had no problems other me not getting things covered, due to my poor lighting when I first started. I do the normal vinegar soak then neutralize and follow up with an Iron Phosphate wash. If I blasted everything I could never compete with local coasters that run parts on a conveyor through wash tanks and automated lines.
the iron phosphate is supposed to etch the metal. it is the commercial equivalent of sandblasting.
I have the phosphate liquid, never used it though. I’m going to be trying all kinds of different things this spring looking for the most efficient process that still has professional results. I’m brand new to powdercoating (and plasma cutting for that matter) so there is a TON I don’t know yet but I like to learn hands on as much as possible. I’ve learned a ton on this forum.
I think your doing really well at powder coating!
I just ordered 5 of these hoppers, the plugin version that doesn’t use the latex tubing. Did you ever order these and try them out? Also I’ve got a new issue with the Hyper Smooth, I was spraying clear using the widemouth nozzle and instead of a nice well dispersed cloud it was coming out as a stream with way too much material being laid down. Air pressure to the control unit was 25PSI, pressure to hopper was 3-7 PSI (I was trying different pressures to see if I could find a good flow). I pulled the nozzle apart and it looks like there is some damage to the ring with vanes on it that I suppose is meant to create a swirl pattern that makes more of a cloud. I’m going to order a new standard nozzle and see if that fixes the issue. Just picked up 3 more sheets of 14 gauge today for some projects and I need to get the gun working right pronto!
I ordered the parts off the guy on Etsy. Nice parts I made a small hopper used it once. Also ordered the stuff to make hoppers like yours. My old oem ones are made different from yours. I use it the most generally my painting sessions I spray a pound or more at a time so larger hopper is better.
The issue you are having I haven’t had. I have had mine to split even high end guns will and can. have you tried one of your old hoppers? Most time I never get over 5 to 8 psi so you should be good I was thinking that they advertise the vortex cup which these are similar requiring 25 psi?
I did order the parts from Printrovert3D on Etsy too, I really liked them but I wanted to try hoppers that plugged right into the gun to save time on color change outs. I’ll keep you posted on whether or not the new standard nozzle fixes the issue. I’m still less than impressed with the customer service at Columbia Coatings, I do still really like the Hyper Smooth though, it’s just that all the peripheral equipment and the customer service are kind of shit. If I can find the time this weekend I’ll try and get a short video of how it’s spraying the clear coat. I didn’t try changing out hoppers, I did some digging and kind of ruled the hopper itself out as the cause but I could easily be wrong. We’ll find out soon enough…
Actually to it could be bad powder maybe. He sell the stuffs to make the on gun hopper. I used those once the jar wasn’t ideal. I have since found a good jar to make one out of. Work and side Hussle has been crazy busy for the last bit. I have had to hold off on unnecessary changes. Good luck!