The processes at Powder Coating are of the highest standard conforming to strict regulations. Below, are the stages each piece of aluminium goes through during the powder coating process:
1. RECEIVING
Material is received in raw mill finish.
2. PREPARATION
The basis of any good coating is preparation. The vast majority of powder coating failures can be traced back to a lack of a suitable preparation. Therefore we follow a seven-step testing and application process in the preparation treatment for all its aluminium products.
3. APPLICATION
The powder is applied with an electrostatic spray gun to a part that is at earth (or ground) potential.
Before the powder is sent to the gun it is fluidized to separate the individual grains of powder to improve the electrostatic charge applied to the powder and help the powder flow more easily to the gun. Because the powder particles are electrostatically charged, the powder wraps around the back of the earthed part/component which is being sprayed ensuring 100 per cent material coverage.
The powder will remain attached to the part as long as some of the electrostatic charge remains on the powder. To obtain the final solid, tough, abrasion resistant coating the powder coated items are placed in an oven and heated to temperatures that range from 160° to 210° degrees Celsius (depending on the powder).
4. OVEN
Under the influence of heat a thermosetting powder goes through four stages to full cure:
♠ Melt ♠ Flow ♠ Gel ♠ Cure
The final coating is continuous and will vary from high gloss to flat matt depending on the design of the powder by the supplier.
5. FINISH CHECKING AND INSPECTION
After material is unloaded from the oven, the finished goods go through various checking procedures to inspect any irregular finish
