[sdiy] Of mistakes and powder coating

[RMC]

If you can find a company that does "Alochrom" surface treatment for
aluminium alloys, it gives a type of anodised finish which makes an
excellent keying surface for painting. Either that or use etching primer
which chemically attacks the surface of the aluminium to provide a suitable
keying surface.  Then you can paint it with normal paint.

you can get aluchrom in a variety ofcolours and the treated panels
themselves *can* look good enough not to need any further paiting - just add
labelling.  Needless to say you need to drill all the holes first etc. befor
you get it aluchromed.

Apart from spraying, you can put small panels on a spinning  table (maybe
knock something up to go in a drill chuck and attach using double-sided
sticky tape) - you then pour the paint into the middle of the spinning
surface and let it spread out, feeding the paint on to the centre drop by
drop.  In this case you might want to drill holes after the spinning, to
avoid build-up of paint at the hole circumferences.  This is a good way to
get thick coats uniformly applied.


Cheers

RMC, England





----- Original Message ----- 
From: "James Patchell" <patchell at cox.net>
To: <xyzzy at sysabend.org>; <synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl>
Sent: Sunday, December 26, 2004 5:43 PM
Subject: Re: [sdiy] Of mistakes and powder coating


>I had the paint and lettering on one panel just peel off in one big sheet 
>once.  This was spray enamel paint I am talking about here.  It seems that 
>I did something wrong when I cleaned the aluminum panel.  Well, what I did 
>was skip the final wipe down with denatured alcohol.  I thought the one 
>cycle through the dishwasher was going to be enough...
>
> Powder coating is a real durable coating.  However, I have no experience 
> with putting a clear coat on it.  My guess is that should work out pretty 
> good.  This is why I am pretty much sticking with Schaffer panels now. 
> Cheap, good looking, and no paint to mess with.  I do miss my red and 
> white panels, however... :-(
>
>
> At 03:19 AM 12/26/2004 -0800, Tom Arnold wrote:
>>So, the case I've been working on nights for the last month is ruined.
>>Well, the metal still exists ( a few minor dents from where I heaved it
>>across the garage last night, but those are easily fixable ) and all the
>>holes still exist, but the paint and lettering is all ruined.
>>
>>What I've learned.
>>
>>1. Many thin coats are better then even that one last thick coat you think
>>will be a good idea.  It wont be.
>>2. The BelDecal water transfer decals can look *DAMN GOOD*.  Here's what I
>>found, prep your surface, apply decals.  clear coat 3 or 4 times.  Buff 
>>with
>>0000 steelwool.  Clear coat some more. Buff some more.  2 or 3 rounds 
>>later
>>the decals are invisible in the clearcoat, just the printing is visible.
>>3. See 1.
>>4. See 1.
>>5. Never ever think that a case with a complex curve is a good idea.  No
>>matter how enamored you are with that pretty case, the nice flat aluminum
>>panel you can get from Schaffer in 7 days will give you that much more 
>>time
>>to do something else that doesnt involve breathing spraypaint fumes.
>>
>>So, this little rant leads to a question.
>>Has anyone dealt with Powder Coating?   Specifically doing a two-coat
>>process with clear over a colour.
>>
>>Monday I'm going to take my case to a powder coating place and have them
>>bead blast it shiney for me so I can start over.  My thought is to have 
>>them
>>powder coat it, then I'll apply the decals and have them clear coat it. 
>>The
>>labels should have no trouble with the temperature although to test this I
>>plan to bake one later today at 400F for 20 minutes just to see.
>>
>>Now to figure out why these VCO4d's I built a year ago dont work ( I dont
>>know why but after assembling them I never tested them ).
>>
>>--
>>  -----------------------------------------------------------------
>>  - Tom Arnold       -  Free Synth DIY webspace http://www.sdiy.org
>>  - SynthGeek        -
>>  - BBD Fanatic      -  "...is it a virus, a drug, or a religion?"
>>  - echo evho wjxo   -    Juanita Shrugs. "What's the difference?"
>>  --------------------
>
>         -Jim
> ***************************************************************
> http://www.oldcrows.net/~patchell
>
> ***************************************************************
>
>