I'd like to do some powder coating for the durable finish, and it looks like it's possible to DIY, and not much harder (if at all) than spray painting with an airbrush. The problem is the high entry cost. What I'd like to do is modify my existing (cheap) airbrush for powder coating. I know the theory would be that the nozzle needs to give the powder a charge, and the part needs to have the opposite charge (by means of an electrode attached to the part). It seems like it would be too easy to attach an electrode to the nozzle of my airbrush and use it to powder coat a part. There doesn't seem to be much talk of DIY powder coating guns, so I'm wondering if there's an obstacle I've missed. Any advice (Even if it's just "Buy a powder coating gun")?
http://www.eastwood.com/hotcoat-deluxe-powder-coat-kit.html is a place in USA that sells kits... and just guns also.. but how are you planning to cure it? use a toaster oven? works for small parts but bigger ones...?
I can find a similar gun for around £50 including postage from the US, but I'd rather not import from the US, and I can't find anything similar in the UK. They seem to be around £150 for just the gun. Powder is fairly easy for me to find. As for the oven, my school has a smallish (maybe double the size of a toaster oven) oven, with a max temp of 200C (400F - the temperature most powder coats seem to need). If that's not good enough, I could use a heat gun. Size of the oven shouldn't be a problem as I'll only be doing small (190x105mm) parts. EDIT: Posted from my old account by accident. I know making new accounts is generally frowned upon on forums, but in most places I'm moving away from my various "Fredcompany" accounts to "Luxtylo", for design work at least.
