The Semi Comprehensive Guide to Powder Coating

Photo: Monnig Industries

First Off, What is Powder Coating?

Powder coating is the way that metal essentially gets "painted", except better. 

How does the Powder Coating Process Work?

1. Metal gets cleaned and blasted to remove dirt, oil, etc. Areas that aren't getting painted get masked. 
2. A spray gun is used to apply the dry powder particles until the metal surface is coated. The gun is needed to provide an electrostatic charge to the powder, allowing it to stick to the metal. 
3. Curing: the metal is placed in a curing oven in a temperature ranging from 325-450 degrees F. This melts the powder to create the durable finish.
4. The metal is then moved to a cooling rack to dry. 

Photo: FInishingandcoating

Paint vs Powder coating

Can't I just paint the metal? 

Technically, you can paint almost anything. However, when using traditional wet paint on metal, there's a higher risk of dripping and run off. It can be wildly inconsistent, running the risk of ruining whatever it is you're painting (which I'm assuming you don't want since you're reading this). 

Which is more durable? 

Powder coating is much more durable and scratch resistant than liquid paint. Powder coating has a higher resistance to light, chemicals, corrosion, moisture, etc. It's also why we use powder coating on all of our steel furniture frames! 

There's even environmental benefits! 

You heard right - powder coating is more environmentally friendly. How? Unlike liquid paint, the powder in powder coating is a dry paint and is not made from solvents - this means little to no VOCs are released during the whole process. VOCs can be harmful with long term exposure. An additional benefit is that the overspray can be reused. 

Picking a Type of Powder Coat

Powder Coating Finishes

A big thing to consider when choosing a PC are the powder coating finishes - you might like the color but the texture could be way off! Similar to paint, powder coats have finishes that range from very high gloss to matte and smooth to textured. For durability purposes, all our in-house colors at Sean Woolsey Studio are textured - we have found these have the most durable + long lasting finish. 

Choosing a Color

This is the fun part! Lucky for you, there is a massive range of colors and pigments to choose from. Most companies offer samples or even color matching to get exactly what you're looking for. For a high quality finish, we recommend checking out Cardinal or Tiger powders. 

Professional Powder Coating

Due to the electrostatic application process and how each coating is applied differently from one another, we recommend checking out your local powder coater for your PC needs. This will also insure a very high quality finish. 

What is Powder Coating Used For? 

1. Automotive Parts
2. Wide Array of Housing Pieces like gutters, shutters, etc. 
3. Construction machinery 
4. Our Luxury Gaming Tables