Powder Coating Guide
What can be powder coated?
In terms of material, we can powder coat anything metal that is strong enough to withstand sandblasting to prepare the part, and oven temperatures of 400°F to cure the powder coat. Anything attached that is plastic will not survive these extreme conditions!
What are the advantages of powder coating vs painting?
While paint offers many advantages such as pristine finish and color matching capabilities, powder coating has the benefit of affordability and durability. There are still thousands of color options to choose from, and the correct applications cover a much wider range than painting. While painting and powder coating rely heavily on the quality of the prep work done beforehand, powder coating is now designed to work as much "magic" as with painting. Dents, dings, and rust pitting will still show through, but powder is designed to take a bit more abuse than traditional paint.
Different powders are even formulated to withstand different stresses, such as UV exposure, chemical exposure, and even rough situation exposure. By strategically selecting powders such as textures and avoiding high-gloss finished, we can even somewhat hide negative aspects of the parts such as pitting.
What is the max size you can sandblast and powder coat?
Our blast room and oven limit us to items that are 11' long, by 7' wide, 7' tall. We have customers with individual small pieces and customers with items that test the limits of the oven size, and plenty in between. Some of the common items we have to turn down include trailers, car frames, complete car bodies, and excessively long railings & fences.
What's the turn around time?
Most standard jobs tend to be completed in 1-2 weeks. Jobs that require special order colors, excessive masking, or other non-standard requirements may take longer. We will always work with our customers to get all jobs completed in a timely fashion.
What colors do you offer? Can you color match?
Unfortunately we do not offer color matching services, but most of the time we can come somewhat close to the desired color. Prismatic Powders even offers free color tags if you require a specific color that you would like to see first.
How much does it cost to sandblast and powder coat ____?
Our standard shop rate is $100/hr, and we try to base our pricing off of this rate. Please keep in mind everything that must go into prepping and refinishing your parts that may affect this price. Bringing parts in completely disassembled allows us to efficiently start the sandblasting stage right away. Other factors such as heavy rust or paint, or previously powder coated objects are also very time consuming. Masking requirements, while necessary, significantly add to the cost of materials and time requirement needed to complete the job.
Can you disassemble my parts before coating them?
We prefer that everything comes in disassembled, with bearings, seal, and fluids removed. Our hope is that the parts enter our shop ready to be placed in the sandblasting queue. For orders where disassembly is required, the labor rate fits into our standard shop rate of $100/hr and will be billed accordingly. Please have your parts ready so as to avoid any additional fees!
Can you fix dents before powder coating?
Unfortunately powder coating is not as friendly to body work and repair as painting is. While there are situations where it is possible, we have found in our experience it is better not to rely on this route. If an absolutely pristine finish is needed, paint it the better route.
Can you powder coat parts that get hot?
You may see that there are hi-temp rated powder coatings available on the market, however we have found that the additional expense of ceramic coating is well worth the investment. Ceramic coating is a applied as a liquid and offers a 2000°F temperature rating. Zybar is available in several bold and beautiful non-corrosive colors.
So you offer Ceramic Coating. Can you ceramic coat my vehicle or my firearm?
Unfortunately we have decided against expanding into these areas and focus soley on high temperature cermic coatings. Thus, we do not offer any services for firearm coatings or vehicle paint protection coatings.
Can you protect the flange surfaces and threads?
Absolutely. We have a full range of high temperature silicon caps and plugs, as well as high temperature fiberglass tape to mask off anything that needs to be protected during blasting or coating. We take masking seriously to make sure the coating process is completed correctly.
Does it need a primer or clear coat?
A primer coat is only necessary when used to add an additional layer of protection. We often recommend this on steel parts that will spend a good deal of time outside such as steel car wheels, or parts that may take abuse such as hand railings and car bumpers. Primer can also be used as a filler layer to help smooth an uneven surface.
Clear coats are unnecessary in most instances as a good deal of powders are a single stage applications. Some, such as dormant and illusion colors, require a clear coat to bring out the final color of the powder. Candies are tinted clear coats that allow for customization through selection of different base coats. Different clears such as satin or matte allow for additional creativity. Two coat applications such as these are more expensive due to the cost of time and materials, but also offer a much more unique look than solid tone colors.
What warranty do you offer?
We must first stress that a warranty is not a free pass to abuse the product, and all guarantees are void in situations where the parts take abuse or the powder coating is taken outside of its advertised applications. While refinished parts may look revived after coating, cases of extreme rust may just be too far gone to completely contain.
With that being said, we will fix any issues due to application error on our end and warranty our work for a period of one year from the date of pickup. Lifespans of powder can vary based on application, and while we feel the lifespan on most parts that come through our shop will be much longer, this time frame is a safe length to ensure that any issues are due to application on our end and not abuse on the end of the user.