Powder coating tubes

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What I do is take a piece of metal stud which you can get in Home Depot, in fact I use a couple of them if I am doing alot of tubes. I used threaded rod cut up in pieces but you could use anything. You could use bolts, metal drywall screws or the like as long as it is metal. I screw them into the metal stud and stagger them back and forth so that when spraying I can get around each one with no problem. I slide the tube over the bolt and then take small piece of tin foil and wrap around the extended bolt and it slips into the top of the tube ever so slightly just to block the tube from overspray. Do not want that inside the tube. I use tin foil on the bottom also. You can reuse these as many times as you would like. Have been using mine for a few years now when I was using them. I use to do all my bullet casings this way when I made the cartridge pens at one time. I sprayed them with clear.

I did not use a nut and washer at the top because it will become part of the tube and be hard to get off especially if the threads were sprayed. Plus it may crack the coating. Very easy to take the thin tin foil off without problems.

I then spray away and take metal stud and put in my oven that I bought on clearance at Walmart for practically nothing. It was dented and returned. Set timer and good to go. Works very well. You can set this up to do as many as you can fit in oven. By doing this no shaking where the product falls off the tube before baked. Just a warning, if doing 2 part kits keep some kind of record to identify tubes later. Belive me you will not regret it.:smile::smile::smile:
 
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Similar to John, I have a bunch of flat corner brackets and with nuts and bolts thru them. I get 4 per bracket and 20 tubes per tray easily. I wrap the tray and the brackets with foil to make clean up easier and keep the ground good, can use multiple times if you do not move the brackets. I got a bunch of hi temp plugs (corks) and use those to seal the tops. I cook them in a large toaster oven.
 
I just remembered there are a couple tutorials in the library on powdercoating. You could check them out. Similar to what I do. Don Ward posted one in there.

penturners.org/library/techniques/mann_powdercoating.pdf[/url]


penturners.org/library/techniques/smallscalepowdercoating.pdf[/url]
 
Your links are broke. Now I have to search for the information myself. Darn it. :)

Does the powder coating process generate a lot of bad smell? Can I do it in my basement?
 
brownsfn2 said:
Your links are broke. Now I have to search for the information myself. Darn it. :)

Does the powder coating process generate a lot of bad smell? Can I do it in my basement?
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I had a hard time finding the info too. Go to the Library, in the search box below the topics, type in "Powder Coating". You will see the links.
 
hcpens said:
John could you show a picture of your setup, I am a little slow in visualizing it.
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OK I am back. Thank God for my Chiropractor.


Here is a quick photo of what I was talking about. I forgot I too have switched to the high temp corks instead of the tin foil on the top any more. It has been awhile since I did much in my shop let alone any powder coating. The rack on the right has pop rivets in it instead of the bolts because I use that to powdercoat my cartridges which as the bullet in them already and I do it all at once. Thus the need for a thin item for the refill hole. These work out well. I have several made up so as some are cooking I am powdercoating others and the assembly line can continue. I do not usually do alot but you can very easily. Just my way of doing things.






 
brownsfn2 said:
Your links are broke. Now I have to search for the information myself. Darn it. :)

Does the powder coating process generate a lot of bad smell? Can I do it in my basement?
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My links are broke just like me in more ways than one:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

Yes they are in the library. Sorry about the links.
 
Okay, let me rephrase. I want to PC a BUNCH of tubes quickly, would the little Christmas ornament hooks conduct enough of the charge to powdercoat the brass tubes? I'd hang 25 or so from a toaster oven rack and do several batches. Would a set-up like that work?

I can clean up the insides with a big round file a lot quicker than putting foil inside each tube.
 
brownsfn2 said:
Your links are broke. Now I have to search for the information myself. Darn it. :)

Does the powder coating process generate a lot of bad smell? Can I do it in my basement?
Click to expand...


It does and it can be messy when you spray it. I do mine in my garage and lay a tarp down on the floor. I have a lazy susan setup so all I have to do is turn the table and I can get to all angles from one spot so I can focus the tarp in one area. It really is not that bad. The smell is when you cook them. I have a harbor freight powder coating system and in fact just bought another because they were getting rid of them. Not sure if they still carry the model or not any more. have not looked.

What I like about powdercoating is you can coat the tube in any color and texture you want. They have great selections out there. Great for watch part pens. Does not scratch and is tough as nails. Will be experimenting more now that I am back in the shop. I have a silver grey texture one that I want to use for watch parts. All in due time as they say. Have fun.
 
thewishman said:
Okay, let me rephrase. I want to PC a BUNCH of tubes quickly, would the little Christmas ornament hooks conduct enough of the charge to powdercoat the brass tubes? I'd hang 25 or so from a toaster oven rack and do several batches. Would a set-up like that work?

I can clean up the insides with a big round file a lot quicker than putting foil inside each tube.
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Those hooks are poly coated to prevent tarnish so not sure about that. As far as clean up you are absolutely wrong about the file. An ounce of prevention will be worth the effort in the long run trust me. That stuff is as hard as a rock. It is not like taking CA out of a tube.

Look at my setup. How much easier can it get?? Lay the tubes on the bolts, the tin foil on the bottom stays there and maybe once in awhile you need to freshen up if doing so many. Buy the heat corks and you are done. Clean inside of tubes and the longest part is waiting for the heat. If doing in a toaster oven you can only get so many in there. One day you have them all done. Once you make the jig you have it forever. Slow down time will pass you by.

One other thing, if you are going to hang the tubes you will be spraying that stuff in the air and it will get all over. At least with this it is concentrated in a downward motion and getting to all parts of the tube is easy. Think overspray from a paint can.
 
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Thanks John. I have the hi-temp silicone plugs. It has been a while since I bought the ornament hooks, just remembered them being easy to bend and got junk on my fingers when I used them.
 
For painting or powdercoating pen tubes, I use stainless "safety lock wire" that I picked up cheap at Harbor Freight some years back. I bend one end into a springy Z-shape that will hold the tube when pressed down inside without touching the ends of the tube. The other end I bend into a hook to hang from a rod in the oven.

Because the wire touches the tube only on the inside, it will not get stuck to the tube and mar the finish. It conducts electricity to the tubes for flocking.

Don't worry about powder getting inside the tube. It won't. the static charge migrates to the outside surface of the tube so that is the only place that the powder will adhere.

I hope that helps,
Eric
 
Very interesting thread, I bought a powder coat system back when the Aussie peso was still worth something, but never used it.

When you spray the powder is it possible to spray it in a large container like this, so you can reuse the over spray?

https://www.bigw.com.au/product/taurus-16-l-storage-organiser/p/WCC100000000230065/

How many different size plugs do you use for your tubes?
cant seem to find them in small quantitys with prices here in Aust.
 
John,

I was in a Harbor Freight store on Wednesday and looked at the powder coating units.

They still carry some type of one for $70.00 and if someone wants one an can get a 20% of coupon, they would run $56.00.
 
eharri446 said:
John,

I was in a Harbor Freight store on Wednesday and looked at the powder coating units.

They still carry some type of one for $70.00 and if someone wants one an can get a 20% of coupon, they would run $56.00.
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Oh I paid way less than that. It was something I was not sure I was going to do or get into but after I did a few I knew it was something simple. This was a few years ago though.

Not sure how Eric does his but I have reservations about getting inside and not contaminating the inside of the tube. If it is stuck on the metal and put in the oven it is cooking to it. Been there done that. Everyone develops their own system and method so good luck if you are attempting to do this.

One other thing I like to do is wipe the metal with acetone to get rid of any contaminates before spraying.

I agree it is not worth the effort to recapture. It is not like flocking.

Using an enclosed space could work if you could spray all around the item because you do need good coating. It will not run and fill in blank spots.
 
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This is my yet to be tested solution.

I wanted something that was low profile that could fit into an toaster oven so I used a cheese grader. No hole drilling, easily adjustable for number and sizes of tubes, and all metal. All I needed were nuts and bolts.

This was based on a great video by Seamus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-feQO6Ygv0
 

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Fireengines said:
This is my yet to be tested solution.

I wanted something that was low profile that could fit into an toaster oven so I used a cheese grader. No hole drilling, easily adjustable for number and sizes of tubes, and all metal. All I needed were nuts and bolts.

This was based on a great video by Seamus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-feQO6Ygv0
Click to expand...
I had forgotten all about this video!

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk
 
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