# Powder coating a small light



## TranquillityBase (Jun 14, 2009)

I slipped this one in while working on some motorcycle farkle oo:

This light was powder coated using a Harbor Freight powder coating unit and cured using an *electric* household oven.

****THE OVEN IS DEDICATED FOR POWDER* *COATING ONLY******

The pics make the coating look much thicker than it actually is. 

Black specks are leftover black powder that was still in the gun (I blew, and blew, and blew, then the cows came home...I blew some more, and there still was black powder in the gun, just not that I could see :green

I think the next light will have a black and yellow body:twothumbs

Hope you like...


----------



## wquiles (Jun 14, 2009)

Looks very nice 

How do you like the Powder Coating kit/system from HF? Would you buy it again, or get something else/better if doing it again? How do you keep it away from threads and other dimensionally critical surfaces? Do you have additional pictures of the prepping work?

EDIT: Is this the one you have/use?
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=94244

I ask since I have been wanting to do some Home Aluminum Anodizing, but it is kind of mesy, expensive, requires space for all of the solutions, etc.. I simply don't have the space and I am worried about the chemicals with my two small children, so the Powder Coating might be a good solution.

Will


----------



## StarHalo (Jun 14, 2009)

TranquillityBase said:


> I slipped this one in while working on some motorcycle farkle



It's farkin' nice :thumbsup:


----------



## TranquillityBase (Jun 14, 2009)

> wquiles said:
> 
> 
> > Looks very nice
> ...


----------



## Drewfus2101 (Jun 15, 2009)

I love powdercoating and don't understand why more people are not doing it on flashlights. I'm pretty sure it will hold up better than Type II anodizing. 

If only I had a 220 plug in my garage, I would have a powdercoating oven out there.

Nice work, looks great.


----------



## TranquillityBase (Jun 15, 2009)

Not much of a 'how to', but here goes...

Aluminum bodied host, glass beads blasted (the blasting step isn't required). The light was used and carried daily for a few months.

I disassemble the light, washed the head, body, and tailcap, with citrus cleaner. I baked the host at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes (I have had problems,_ in the past with funky flow-out,_ with parts that were blasted before powder coating). Pre-bake is suppose to cook off unwanted/undesirable constituents that may affect the finish.

The host was allowed to cool, then I assemble it with standard the red silicone o-rings (I left as much gap as possible between the body and head, and the tailcap and head). I hung the light from the inside of the tailcap, coated it, and then hung it in the oven with that same hanger.

I'll post a photo of the hanger, later today.


----------



## jch79 (Jun 15, 2009)

So can my bike frame fit in that oven? 

Sweet looking finish on a sweet looking light. oo: And TB does aluminum?!?! Return to the good ol' days? :nana: How do you think this thing would handle abuse?

:wave: john


----------



## TranquillityBase (Jun 15, 2009)

> jch79 said:
> 
> 
> > So can my bike frame fit in that oven?
> ...


 
The new bike?!?!:nana::devil::wave:


----------



## jch79 (Jun 15, 2009)

Not cool dude. :mecry: LOL

I'm gonna go have a Brooklyn Lager to drown my sorrows. :nana:


----------



## Kiessling (Jun 15, 2009)

Ah ... yellow. Good choice. Very sexy.


----------



## TranquillityBase (Jun 15, 2009)

Yellow sexy, black and yellow sexy more :nana:

The black piece was a test part ... 

The wire, is the hanger I used for hanging the yellow light for coating and curing.

Knurling on the yellow light was knocked down in the lathe, and the knurling on the black part was left sharp...it's not powder fill-in/flow-out that makes the two appear different.


----------



## wquiles (Jun 16, 2009)

Thanks Scott for your informative post and your time on the phone - much appreciated 

Will


----------



## TranquillityBase (Jun 16, 2009)

You're most welcome Will...it was my pleasure


----------



## jar3ds (Jun 16, 2009)

how tough is this stuff? Can it hold up to abuse? Thanks!


----------



## TranquillityBase (Jun 16, 2009)

*jar3ds*, I'm curious myself...

I know it's very difficult to remove via media blasting. What that means for the EDC flashlight :shrug:

Here's another test piece (yellow). A very thin coat (probably less that 10 seconds of spray time). Very thin, full coverage, with nearly no loss of detail.


----------



## jar3ds (Jun 17, 2009)

i think the black specks are awesome... good contrast with the yellow


----------



## TranquillityBase (Jul 3, 2009)

For those following this thread, here's a pic of a light in matte black...oo:


----------



## will (Jul 3, 2009)

I have been Powder Coating lights for the last 3 years. I use the home Powder Coating kit from Eastwood Auto. (http://www.eastwood.com/) They also have a large number of powder coat colors in small amounts. 

Just a few notes worth mentioning:

Powder coat can be removed by using a strong paint remover.

I use aluminum foil to mask off areas I don't want to coat. There are also heat resistant tapes that can be used.

Don't powder coat any threads, Powder coat is pretty thick.

My opinion - anodize is harder than powder Coat. 

One advantage of powder coat - there are more colors available, like white for example.

some samples of Maglites. The wood covered light is actually wood covered, not powder coat.


----------



## McGizmo (Jul 3, 2009)

Cool stuff TB! Have you tried it on any Ti? I have a system myself that I used on some brass LED fixtures but I never did any flashlights that I recall. I've wondered about coating Ti but question the effective adhesion to the metal. Probably a good blasted surface might provide sufficient mechanical bond but I wonder. :thinking:


----------



## Kiessling (Jul 3, 2009)

The white one is really beautiful.


----------



## will (Jul 3, 2009)

McGizmo said:


> Cool stuff TB! Have you tried it on any Ti? I have a system myself that I used on some brass LED fixtures but I never did any flashlights that I recall. I've wondered about coating Ti but question the effective adhesion to the metal. Probably a good blasted surface might provide sufficient mechanical bond but I wonder. :thinking:



I have done mostly aluminum, some steel, but no Ti. I would guess the adhesion would be the same as other metals. Any surface roughness will give better adhesion, the powder melts to form the finished surface.


----------



## TranquillityBase (Jul 3, 2009)

> McGizmo said:
> 
> 
> > Cool stuff TB! Have you tried it on any Ti? I have a system myself that I used on some brass LED fixtures but I never did any flashlights that I recall. I've wondered about coating Ti but question the effective adhesion to the metal. Probably a good blasted surface might provide sufficient mechanical bond but I wonder. :thinking:


 
That I have not tried...

All the equipment set up, the over is still hot. If you like I can coat two scrap pieces of Ti (one glass beads media blasted, and one turned finish), and send them to you for destructive testing


----------



## ^Gurthang (Jul 3, 2009)

Tranquilty,

First time poster at CPF! Nice work, very sweet looking. I'll mention a good source for powder coat & anodizing supplies for you and the rest of members; 

http://www.caswellplating.com/

Great site, download the full catalog [PDF]. Tons of different platings, coatings, etc. Pg 28 is all the powder coating materials. 

^Gurthang


----------



## McGizmo (Jul 3, 2009)

Thanks but I was never any good at tests! :nana:


----------



## darkzero (Jul 3, 2009)

Oh man, with all this powder coating going on, screw the lights, I want to see your bike! 

Makes me want to finsish the rest of the powder coating I had planned for my minibike! The shop I got my powder coating done at (where Exile Cycles gets theirs done) usually bead blasts the work before coating. On the swingarms for my minibike, I had them polished then powder coated clear. The swingarms are steel. There's spots I can tell that's not holding up to racing abuse but it's held up pretty nice & long.


----------



## Kiessling (Jul 3, 2009)

I can imagine a SF C2 in white or yellow ... very classy with the contrast of the black clip and rubber parts  
bernie


----------



## TranquillityBase (Jul 3, 2009)

> darkzero said:
> 
> 
> > Oh man, with all this powder coating going on, screw the lights, I want to see your bike!
> ...


 
The dusty & lonely :sigh:

Crap! I see another project in this photo :help:







The dirty and wanting for more dirtyness oo:







And the powder coat project (mirror extenders)...

I had to pull the rubber boot up, and show off one of the Ti mirror sockets....:devil: The mirror extenders are coated with matte black powder.


----------



## KuKu427 (Jul 24, 2009)

I want to have some lights powder coated. Anyone interested?


----------



## Superdave (Jul 24, 2009)

I had my 9P powder coated in candy blue transparent, it was nice for a while but the Solarforce head that i was using couldn't handle my daily abuse. It was also too slick in my hand for regular use. 







a $6 can of gasket remover from any auto parts store will remove powder coating in a few minutes. 

as for my 9P.. it's either getting nickel plated or anodized black along with the new D36 head, Leef grip and Z59 tail.


----------



## will (Jul 24, 2009)

Superdave said:


> I had my 9P powder coated in candy blue transparent, it was nice for a while but the Solarforce head that i was using couldn't handle my daily abuse. It was also too slick in my hand for regular use.
> 
> a $6 can of gasket remover from any auto parts store will remove powder coating in a few minutes.
> 
> as for my 9P.. it's either getting nickel plated or anodized black along with the new D36 head, Leef grip and Z59 tail.



Gel paint remover will also remove powder coat. just make sure the light is completely disassembled.

powder also comes in textured colors. the one on the right is texture blue.


----------



## wquiles (Oct 29, 2009)

Question about powder coating on the Al M*gs: besides cleaning well, and possibly bead-blasting the surface to increase adhesion, is there any need/reason to remove the original soft anodising?

Will


----------



## will (Oct 29, 2009)

wquiles said:


> Question about powder coating on the Al M*gs: besides cleaning well, and possibly bead-blasting the surface to increase adhesion, is there any need/reason to remove the original soft anodising?
> 
> Will


I cleaned all the parts with a scotch brite pad prior to powder coating. I then wiped them down with lacquer thinner to remove any oil. I did not remove the original anodize. If you are doing it yourself, I use aluminum foil to cover any threaded areas and areas you don't want powder on. There is also high temp tape that can be used to mask off areas. 

Remember - powder coat is a thick covering...


----------



## wquiles (Oct 29, 2009)

will said:


> I cleaned all the parts with a scotch brite pad prior to powder coating. I then wiped them down with lacquer thinner to remove any oil. I did not remove the original anodize. If you are doing it yourself, I use aluminum foil to cover any threaded areas and areas you don't want powder on. There is also high temp tape that can be used to mask off areas.
> 
> Remember - powder coat is a thick covering...



Gotcha - thanks. From what I have been reading, powder coating adds between 0.002" and 0.003" for a single coat, which is fairly significant to fitted parts, so I understand the reason to cover the threaded areas.

What about the O-ring areas? Just cover them completely as when covering the threaded areas? Or is the increased thickness in the O-ring grooves not as problematic?

Will


----------



## will (Oct 29, 2009)

when I powder coat the lights I assemble them so that all the threaded areas are screwed together. It is a loose assembly. The 'O' ring area on the body tends to get powder in it and that has not been a problem. I thread the bezel to the head and leave about .015 - .030 open before it contacts the head. I do the same with the tailcap and the body. If you tighten them all the way together the power will fuse the parts together. When I finish them, I spin the body on the lathe to remove the powder on the end, then the tailcap to make sure there is a good electrical path. 

I stuff aluminum foil in the head end to prevent powder from going in there. My home made stands go through the center of the assembled light. I found it easier to powder them assembled rather than make up 4 different holding things.


----------



## will (Oct 29, 2009)

I don't have any pictures of the stands I use.

For the AA lights I just use a wire coat hanger that has an 'S' bend that goes into the body, It takes a 180 degree turn as it exits the head end and then there is a large 'U' on the bottom that it rests on.

I have a similar setup for the C and D lights. Except the I use a piece of 1/2 inch electrical conduit that is in the shape of a 'U'. I drilled 2 holes on the top part and I put a piece of coat hanger shaped like a u through, this provides tension and holds the conduit in the center of the body. The bottom just has 2 holes with a straight piece of hanger through to provide a base


In both cases the holder comes out through the head, in the middle. I stuff aluminum foil around this to prevent the powder from going into the head and the body. I make sure it is poked down far enough so the powder will get on the front of the bezel .

I bake the small lights in a toaster oven, the larger lights go into the regular oven. Don't go to hot, the clear colors and candy colors will yellow if the temp is too high. Most powders are 350 or 375 or 400. 

Also - if you change colors - make sure the gun is completely clean. Powder colors do not mix, you end up with specks. ( which can be nice - if that is what you are going for )


----------



## wquiles (Oct 29, 2009)

Thanks much Will 

I already got the PC oven, and I am hoping to buy a PC gun in the next week or so - it should be fun to experiment with this :twothumbs

Will


----------



## will (Oct 29, 2009)

wquiles said:


> Thanks much Will
> 
> I already got the PC oven, and I am hoping to buy a PC gun in the next week or so - it should be fun to experiment with this :twothumbs
> 
> Will



I got mine through www.Eastwood.com they also carry a fairly larger number of powder colors. 

It's fun to do, just don't bounce or jar the object after the powder is on, it falls off. If you powder over knurled areas, you loose the sharpness of the knurls.


----------



## wquiles (Oct 30, 2009)

Thanks Will. Call me crazy, but I am looking at a fairly "nice" PC gun, probably one of the Hyper Smooth models:

Hyper Smooth Pony with the hopper:
http://store.columbiacoatings.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=HSPS&reference=/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi%3Fsearch%3Daction%26keywords%3D%26searchstart%3D0%26template%3DPDGCommTemplates/HTN/SearchResult.html

HS-01:
http://www.alva-technologies.com/hs01.html

HS-02:
http://www.powderbuythepound.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=2066&osCsid=biv0uq04tvml4t994vdqkn31c5


These are not cheap, but they are the highest rated guns for the Hobby and Semi-professional segments.

I have just been saving money and taking my time until I can afford one of these, although the Hypersmooth Pony is being discontinued 

Will


----------



## will (Oct 30, 2009)

The one from Eastwood works fine. The one issue I have is that it doesn't have a foot switch.

I also have a unit from Harbor Freight. Long story with warranty. That is why I bought the Eastwood unit. 

The main thing - make sure your compressor can be set a low PSI, the powder kinda puffs out. Don't try to use it out side, unless you can completely block the wind. I set up a large box and spray into that. That keeps the overspray down. There is no easy way to be completely neat with these. If you can, clean the gun out side..

For my needs, the smaller units work fine.


----------



## wquiles (Nov 1, 2009)

Thanks for the tip on the compressor. What I do in my "shop" is that the main tank is kept at about 100psi, but then I have a small in-line pressure regulator for each item I need to run, like for example my mister, who likes to run at about 40psi. What PSI are we talking here for powder coating? I also read that it was a good idea to have an inline filter/drier as humidity and PC does not mix well - do you also use one?


----------



## bmstrong (Nov 1, 2009)

TranquillityBase said:


> For those following this thread, here's a pic of a light in matte black...oo:



Did you build that one yourself?


----------



## will (Nov 1, 2009)

5 - 8 PSI. I don't use an inline dryer other than the filter supplied with the gun. 

It does take a little practice when spraying. The nice thing about powder, if you make a mistake, you can just blow off the powder and start again.


----------



## HarryN (Nov 1, 2009)

I am trying to remember what temps the Al starts to loose its temper. At 400F, I think it is getting close, but maybe not. Something to look up tomorrow.


----------



## saltytri (Nov 30, 2009)

deletedhttps://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/250806


----------

