I use an old oven from a kitchen that i picked up for free and its big enough to fit a 16" truck rim in it. If you need something bigger, you can make a propane powered oven out of some old grill burners. I wanted to do a Mower frame so i made an oven out of an old 275 gallon oil tank with 3 propane burners on the bottom. Looks ugly but it got the job done!
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Did you put a box or something inside to separate the flame from the part?
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I bent some sheet metal at about 45 degrees and ran it the length of the burner. This helped protect the parts and distribute the heat better. I can take a picture of it when i get home tonight if you would like
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That would be great. My goal was to have electric but Iâm already taxing my electrical with the plasma as it is so maybe I can do it outside with propane instead.
That was how I ended up with my solution. I didnât have more 240 capacity (or space) in the shop so I went with the vertical electric smoker approach.
Keeping the temp consistent with propane can be a little more difficult but youâll find lots of people who will tell you never to use propane in a powder coating oven because itâs dangerous. Theyâre usually reacting to fine powders being prone to explosion. But in a powder oven, the powder is stuck on the part - not free floating and in real life (vs internet experts) propane or natural gas tends to be used in most large ovens because itâs easier to get lots of BTUs for room sized ovens with it than with electric.
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Well I hardly ever get the urge to use fire around any kind of dust. I dont imagine the temperature is that critical, give or take 25° would be ok wouldnât it?
It does matter some. I use powders that specify 375 and others either 400 or 425. It also matters if youâre doing powder on base or powder on powder coat (for two color or clear coat applications for example). Just means you need to watch it.
I think itâs less critical if your oven is consistent but off-temp because then you can adjust bake times vs the powder recommendations. I know certain powders I use say 20 minutes baking but theyâre better at 18 and under at 15 because my temp controller is running a bit hot.
Oh, and for the newbies - itâs usually part temp that matters so you have to account for warmup if the part. I usually have another piece of steel in there that I take a reading (ir laser thermometer) off of before I start the timer.
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Good tip on the target steel for temp. Are you using any kind of thermostat control?
Yeah, mine has a digital thermostat control (itâs a MasterCraft? electric smoker from the big box - 2 models, 1 with an analog control and one with digital, getting to be sale season with summer ending 
). The digital version was an extra $50 I think.
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oh yes right you used a smoker to start
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Yep but it was new (end of season). I wouldnât want to try to clean one so it would work for powder 
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Good call on the PMT James. Just get a good IR gun and you will be good
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I wouldnât. If all you used was one color maybe. But really the powder is cheap. Way cheaper than refinishing a coated part that has contamination.
I found a good smoker that reaches 400. I posted a video on YouTube about it with links in the description. https://youtu.be/4oVBvdgLZqA
I have a lot of videos on Powdercoating primarily of tumblers. That said Iâve done everything from toy cars to skid plates. I normally use my 240v house oven that I bought damaged for this purpose. I needed something taller for a few jobs and wasnât ready to commit to buying an oven. I started looking for a smoker aka 120v electric oven that would hit 400. Most donât get above 250. I found a brand that did and they phased them out. Then I found another brand that still makes the original. This one. https://amzn.to/2nOESCZ
I have 3 guns. Harbor freight. Eastwood Dual and Redline EZ50. The EZ50 definitely gives me the best finish. https://amzn.to/2ppZnpN
Let me know if you have questions. I know a couple others have commented and given excellent info. I wish Iâd seen this earlier.
Thanks this is a good information
What makes the diference between the better gun and the rest?
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Kv adjustment will give your powder better adhesion, air adjustment on the gun, a better spray pattern, better powder flow, etc⌠these are all things that make the ez50 100 times better then the Eastwood gun in my
Opinion. It was what I started out with as I wanted to see if I even liked powder coating. And the EW gun works just fine for single colors, but is damn near impossible to get good results when trying to apply multiple coats on a somewhat complex part that has tight corners, without hot flocking, (which is a no no) the EW gun just doesnât have the kv adjustment you need to get the kilovolts low enough for those multi coat applications. From the very first use of the redline I was able to tell a night and day difference, even just in how well the powder stuck to the part. Which in turn, cuts down on powder waste. I would like to upgrade to the ez100 as it has the powder cup on top, which eliminates any flow issues if you turn the gun to the side
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Mostly Iâll be doing angles and flat plates with a lot of holes and shapes. Not like a truck bumper where there would be a lot of contour and and blind holes. Also one colour, Iâll have to look at your videos to see how multiple colours could even be done.
If your doin anything with a corner. I would recommend u go with the better gun. Just from my experience, it will save you a lot of frustration. Plus you say you will just do single colors now, but once you start doing it you will want to do some of the cooler colors which typically require a chrome or silver base coat or a clear top coat
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