Powder coating is a process that is used in the automotive industry to protect metal parts. Powder coating is often applied to car, truck, or motorcycle parts. This process involves putting a dry powder onto a metal surface and then baking it until it forms a permanent, protective layer. The powder coating serves to prevent rust or corrosion on the auto parts.
If you have a motorcycle, you may wonder what you can do to protect those beautiful, shiny chrome parts. Chrome looks great, but not after it has been scratched up or exposed to the elements and gotten rusty. This is how to powder coat chrome.
- Powder coating needs to be applied to a surface that it can grip. Chrome is too smooth and slippery; powder coating won’t slip. So the first step in powder coating chrome is to strip the chrome surface.
- Before you can apply the powder coating, you must sand blast the parts to make sure that any chrome surface residue has been removed. Don’t worry about losing that shiny luster; you can purchase powder coating that looks just like chrome when it is finished. This way, you have the protection of powder coating and the appearance of chrome. It’s the best of both worlds.
- It is also important to pretreat the parts before applying powder coating. This will ensure that the parts are completely clean and prevent the powder coating from flaking off after application. If you plan to take the piece to a shop for professional powder coating application, be sure to carefully choose the shop that will apply the powder coating in order to be sure that the process is performed under high quality standards.
- If you are going to apply the powder coating yourself, begin by thoroughly cleaning the piece. Be sure to use a degreaser and do a thorough job to make sure that all traces of grease are completely removed.
- Next, preheat the chrome piece in your oven. Set the oven to 400 degrees, and heat the item for about ten minutes. Then hang the chrome piece so that you can cover every angle. Load the powder into the gun, and adjust the air pressure setting. Now evenly spray the coating over the chrome piece. Be careful to cover the piece from all angles, and apply a second coat if necessary. To finish, bake the item in the oven at 400 degrees for 25 minutes. If you are working with a particularly large piece, turn the oven up to 450 degrees.
Powder coating is a great choice for several reasons. For one, powder coating is much thicker, and therefore more durable, than liquid coatings. It is also a more environmentally friendly choice. This is because powder coating is a low VOC choice. VOCs are volatile organic compounds that pollute the air; the fewer VOCs that are emitted, the better. This makes powder coating a particularly good choice for items that will be used indoors, like appliances.
It is always advisable to speak with a professional when it comes to powder coating chrome or any other material. Often you must engineer the proper coating in order to get the performance you really need. Let the experts at Toefco Engineered Coating Systems design the right coating for your needs. As the coating customizers, we enjoy finding creative solutions to our customers coating challenges. We offer a wide variety of different coating types, and we can create a coating that will suit your purposes exactly.
To learn more about our industrial powder coating services, call us at 888-912-5921 or ask an industrial coating engineer.