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Old 06-04-2020, 11:12 AM   #9
BRENT in 10-uh-C
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: Eastern Tennessee
Posts: 11,508
Default Re: Les Schwab powder coating

Quote:
Originally Posted by SSsssteamer View Post
I had five 16" Ford wire wheels done by Les Schwab about 4 months ago out of their Sedro-Woolley, WA store. $35 total for blasting and powder coating. I am elated. Only down side is after blasting, if there were any rust pits, they get powder coated over and they do show through. Apparently there isn't any surface prep before powder coating. Still a rock'en deal.
If you are saying you can't do anything with the pits, here is some options that we used to do when we were powder painting in-house. There is a product called Lab Metal ( https://www.alvinproducts.com/Produc...ID/3/Lab-metal ) that can be applied after the mediablasting. It can be smoothed easily with sandpaper after the Lab Metal has been baked/cured. Then apply the powder-paint over the top of the smoothed area as normal.

Another way we used to prep wheels was to apply a heavy coat of powder to the problematic areas and then do a partial cure at 375° for about 8 minutes which would allow the powder to flow but not cure. We would sand the pitted areas with 80 grit sandpaper and then when smooth, re-powder paint the entire wheel and bake to cure as normal. Below is pictures of a pitted wheel that was initially powder painted with black powder, then partially cured & sanded. Next red powder was applied, partially cured again and then the wheel was resanded. Finally the Red powder was sprayed and cured, followed by colorsanding and buffing the powder paint. The finish was as slick as any sprayed urethane that had been buffed.

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Attached Images
File Type: jpg Powdercoat1.jpg (93.4 KB, 41 views)
File Type: jpg Powdercoat2.jpg (90.8 KB, 36 views)
File Type: jpg Powdercoat3.JPG (150.7 KB, 42 views)
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