[SEL] Powder Coating Engines

[Steve W.]

Not one of mine, but a few. I spent a few years in a powder/liquid shop.
Coated things with powder that even the manufacturers
were shocked by.  Anyway..
There are two big things with coating an engine. One is getting it
clean, that you can do by sandblasting it then baking it for an hour or
two then giving it another light blast. That will remove the original
paint, and the baking will outgas any oil/water/whatever in the cast
iron, the follow-up blasting is to clean anything that made it to the
surface off. ( this step is critical on ANY cast item that has been near
oil EVER).
The second one is deciding if you want an as cast finish OR do you want
a smooth finish. As cast you just final blast preheat and coat. For a
smooth finish you need to grind the cast smooth and fill pinholes/cracks
with brass before the final wipe down. Then preheat and coat.

I have seen a lot of plans for homemade ovens BUT you only need a well
insulated box large enough to cover the engine, a heat source capable of
350-400 degrees and a way to power the source. One of the neat things we
had in the shop was a  set of infrared heater units that worked pretty
well, they were a LOT like the propane powered wall mount heaters (just
electric), they heated the parts and not the air around them. If you
used a pair of them and rotated them, or the engine, to avoid
overheating spots you could get the engine up to temp and coat it easily
enough.

Just a possible idea.
 Build a well insulated shed (use steel studs, tin siding/interior,
10 -12" fiberglass insulation) Or find one of the outdoor freezer units
like they use at McDonalds, Dunkin Doughnuts and a bunch of other food
places and convert it. For heat a pair of the heater panels (strip the
safety stuff off and relocate it outside the shed since it is usually
plastic enclosed and that won't last long in a 350-400 degree box) Buy
an industrial thermostat with a timer. In the middle of the floor attach
a sturdy turntable (powered with an external motor kept outside the box)
Mount the heat panels on arms from the ceiling that can be adjusted
in/out.  That completes the oven. BUT it also makes a nice sandblast
cabinet as well (just cover the heat panels).

Steve Williams
Near Cooperstown NY


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Paul Maples" <pmaples at anaxis.net>
To: "Stationary Engine List" <sel at lists.stationary-engine.com>
Sent: Friday, June 25, 2004 9:19 AM
Subject: [SEL] Powder Coating Engines


> Hey Gang, things seem to be a little slow on the SEL right now and
since I
> have been wondering about this I thought I would throw it out to the
group.
> Has anyone powder coated an engine and if so how did it come out? I
know you
> have to have one heck of an oven to do this and I figured that
somewhere out
> in cyberspace someone has bound to have built a homemade one and
submitted
> his plans. Probably have to sell the wife and kids to fire it just
once but
> still would like to know the feasibility of such a project.
>
> Someone mentioned that this might have been discussed last year but I
don't
> remember seeing it but then again age is affecting my sight, hearing,
and
> reasoning ability so you will have to forgive me. If anyone has done
this
> let me hear about your results.
>
> I guess another option would be to get the parts ready and have
someone that
> has the setup do the powder coating, wonder what this would cost for a
> normal size 3 to 6 HP engine? Hey it don't cost a penny to wonder, at
least
> not just yet.
>
> Thanks
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> SEL mailing list
> SEL at lists.stationary-engine.com
> http://www.stationary-engine.com/mailman/listinfo/sel
>