Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Next week I should be at a stage where it is time to put some colour on the frame of my tray and the roll bars, as well as my sliders that are sitting waiting to be fitted...

Question is : Am i better or powdercoating for a better finish, or painting so that its easier to touch up when scratched?

What is every1's thoughts?

Powder coating your tray would be exspensive,spray painting your tray would give the same effect and both can be touched up with paint.
Powder coating is stronger but once you`ve scratch through it it starts to flake off.

Cost isn't a problem with the powdercoating, cause i get a lot of stuff done for work, and the guy looks after me...

Of course he is a bit bias towards powdercoating so I thought I would get some other opinions....

JoeLux wrote:Cost isn't a problem with the powdercoating

Then get it powder coated for sure,make sure all the welds are sealed cause when they dip it for cleaning prior to coating the cleaning stuff runs back out and stuffs the powder coating

4sum4 wrote:Then get it powder coated for sure,make sure all the welds are sealed cause when they dip it for cleaning prior to coating the cleaning stuff runs back out and stuffs the powder coating

Im just curious what would they dip a steel tray in before powdercoating.

I assume this is a steel tray as well as steel sliders.

i was gunna get my tray powdercoated 4 the strength but then i thought bout it, wen i scratch it and touch it up i will b able 2 c the spot but if i just use spary paint wen i mark it i can just sand it back a bit get out the rattle can and go 4 it...

(b4 any1 says anything, i know that i have done neither and the tray has been built 4 like 18 months or more )

Often powder coating is not very good on large items or items where the high voltage field gets shielded.
Wet coat runs onto the hidden bits and is more suitable in my opinion.



Bazzle

my tray/rollbar and rear barhave been powder coated and i dont like it.. flakes off easy as shit once u scratch it, and cant touch it up without it lookin shitty.. go the spraypack i recon, then u always got some on hand in the shed for quick touch ups if u wanna do some bling bling mall cruisin..

Do you know the colour,if the scratchs are small Dulux sell touch up pens or if you could make your own if your able to score some powdercoat and MEK.

Charlie

you can buy the matching paint from the powder coaters ,I had my roof basket powder coated 7 years ago it looks fine.

The problem with powder coating is if you scratch it and not touch it up straight away rust can start under the plastic surface of the powder coat and big pieces will flake off.
2 pack paint is the go I reckon.
Paul.

no one has mentioned gal dipping.??
all the stuff i make for my truck gets gal dipped then powder coated.
the coating seems to stick extremely wel to the gal.
i don't mind the scratches and chips and theres no rust either.
you can do sliders, bars, roofracks, towbars, bashplates.
just another option

david

modman wrote:no one has mentioned gal dipping.??
all the stuff i make for my truck gets gal dipped then powder coated.
the coating seems to stick extremely wel to the gal.
i don't mind the scratches and chips and theres no rust either.
you can do sliders, bars, roofracks, towbars, bashplates.
just another option

david

The reason it sticks well to Gal is because the only effective way to Powder Coat Gal is to pre-heat the product then coat it hot.

bazzle wrote:Often powder coating is not very good on large items or items where the high voltage field gets shielded.
Wet coat runs onto the hidden bits and is more suitable in my opinion.



Bazzle

Powder Coating doesnt involve High Voltage. Its actually just a static charge. The problem with coating large areas is that the powder becomes heavy and will tend to fall.

JoeLux wrote:Next week I should be at a stage where it is time to put some colour on the frame of my tray and the roll bars, as well as my sliders that are sitting waiting to be fitted...

Question is : Am i better or powdercoating for a better finish, or painting so that its easier to touch up when scratched?

What is every1's thoughts?

Powder coating would be better if it is done right. 100microns thick is the recomended thickness and thid is why most things powdercoated that peal after scratching do so. If its too thick it will peal/chip. Or if its not prepared right.

For steel the best way is to first Sand Blast then etch prime it then Pre-heat it and coat it hot. This will give a highly durable finish.

Touch ups for powder coat are only enamel paints.

But if you are planing on giving your tray a hard work out then its prob better to paint it so it can be touched up easy. Finding someone that can powdercoat the right way the first time is difficult.

A powder coater we used at work insisted on hot gal before powdercoating, to maximise corrosion resistance. Great for the deck of a ship, not really a problem in an air-conditioned laboratory...

My neighbour runs a powdercoating line, and they chromate (?) immediately before coating and baking.

Cheers,

Scott

NJ SWB wrote:A powder coater we used at work insisted on hot gal before powdercoating, to maximise corrosion resistance. Great for the deck of a ship, not really a problem in an air-conditioned laboratory...

My neighbour runs a powdercoating line, and they chromate (?) immediately before coating and baking.

Cheers,

Scott

Chromating is usually only done on Aluminium. To etch the surface. You can also use Hydrofluric Acid but its not real safe to touch with bare hands as it gets into your bones real easy and depletes the calcium in them.

PRESSURE PAKS....


cheap as chips
easy touch ups
wont matter how scratched it gets.
color matching aussie wide
availiable in every hardware, ex army, and some supermarkets !!!

Flat Acrylic rattle can paint. minimal prep for retouch, good blending, secondary flow is not so important. Acrylic's dry faster, so you touch up
on the trail so the missus wont notice the damage immediately...
Best pattern from a pressure pack is those little 'Holts' cans, good atomisation and particle size allow very little air pattern to form.

Premium enamels (white knight, killrust) will flow well, provide a good pattern out of the nozzle, excellent secondary flow, good gloss, but unfortunately will fade, go chalky and flat with lots of UV - ok for a handrail at home but average for a fourby. Cheap enamels are average for their price, good for bling wheelarches and chassis before resale

Twin pots are the best, but whats the point loading up the gun for a small scratch (unless you do it for a job on work time)

I think that makes it pretty final for me...

Go down to the paint shop and rack up the acct with flat black acrylic spray cans.

easy touch ups turn me on

Joe , make sure u use a top quality product like OZ EXPORT for that expert bush boilermaker look GOOD LUCK

JoeLux wrote:I think that makes it pretty final for me...

Go down to the paint shop and rack up the acct with flat black acrylic spray cans.

easy touch ups turn me on

White Knight make a top quality black satin acrylic rattler, it is for touch up of colorbond panels etc, excellent UV resistance. Bunnings $8 can (or cheaper if you know someone behind the counter damaged stock is always cheaper...

RUFF wrote:

NJ SWB wrote:A powder coater we used at work insisted on hot gal before powdercoating, to maximise corrosion resistance. Great for the deck of a ship, not really a problem in an air-conditioned laboratory...

My neighbour runs a powdercoating line, and they chromate (?) immediately before coating and baking.

Cheers,

Scott

Chromating is usually only done on Aluminium. To etch the surface. You can also use Hydrofluric Acid but its not real safe to touch with bare hands as it gets into your bones real easy and depletes the calcium in them.

We use a combined degrease and phospate wash to do steel or gal where I work and then spray cold, in fact its not possible to spray hot with our setup. I'm begining to suspect powdercoating might be a generic term for a few different processes.
Charlie

Area54 wrote:

JoeLux wrote:I think that makes it pretty final for me...

Go down to the paint shop and rack up the acct with flat black acrylic spray cans.

easy touch ups turn me on

White Knight make a top quality black satin acrylic rattler, it is for touch up of colorbond panels etc, excellent UV resistance. Bunnings $8 can (or cheaper if you know someone behind the counter damaged stock is always cheaper...

Area54 seems to be THE MAN when it comes to spray packs!!!

I agree 100% on the quality side. Cheaper ones go on very thin and you need heaps of coats to get decent results. This is hard on your fingers and makes it easier to gets runs in the paint because after a few coats you start to get annoyed with it!!!

My paint was pretty average and thin, I scuffed it with steel wool, cleaned it with prepsol & painted with cheapo cans. Cant complain about the finish considering.

Charlie wrote:
We use a combined degrease and phospate wash to do steel or gal where I work and then spray cold, in fact its not possible to spray hot with our setup. I'm begining to suspect powdercoating might be a generic term for a few different processes.
Charlie

Electro Static coating. When powder is applied to a surface that receives a static charge the powder will be attracted to this surface and then the product is baked for a preset time at a preset temperature.

Ive been out of the industry for a few years now but was a gun operator for one of australias most awarded powder coating companies- http://www.electroseal.com.au/index.html