Materials have to meet a few requirements for powder coating: they have to be able to hold an electrostatic charge, and withstand high curing temperatures.
Because of these requirements, aluminum, mild steel and stainless steel are the best candidates for powder coating. We can powder coat these materials in several different thicknesses.
*Hot Rolled A36 Mild Steel is the least favorable material to powder coat. It has a mill scale and it’s not completely removed in the blasting process and is visible after powder is completed.
For the fastest turnaround time, we recommend placing your powder-coated parts as a separate order from your non-powder coated parts. This will give you the best possible lead time for all your parts.
We are still cutting and shipping your orders at our typical break-neck speed, but keep in mind that powder coating will add 7-10 days to the production time. We know the final look of your parts will be worth the wait!
Axalta Black Magic/BK120
0-9% Gloss
Cardinal BK
12/(RAL 9011)
90% Gloss
Cardinal BK176
10% Gloss
Tiger Bengal White 149/11111/(RAL 9003)
90% Gloss
Cardinal
RD03/(RAL 3002)
90% Gloss
YL01/(RAL 1018)
90% Gloss
40 / 52900 (RAL 6001)
85% Gloss
All powder coated parts must be at least 1″ x 3″ when flat. The shortest dimension should be no smaller than 1″, and the whole square area of the part should be no less than 3 inches2.
Our minimum and maximum size limits for powder coating refer to the overall flat part size prior to any required bending services.
You can find the limits for all materials and post processing services here: Processing Minimum and Maximum Flat Part Sizes
There should be a hole or cutout .063” (1.60mm) or larger in each powder coated part so it can be hung. Any holes or cutouts part of the design should not be less than .040” (1.02mm). Holes smaller than .040” or 1.02mm may “fill” with powder during the coating process.
Minimum hole size is approximately 50% of the material thickness for laser cut materials. Confirm the minimum hole size for each material thickness by referencing the specifications listed in our Material Catalog.
We can’t plug tapped holes prior to powder coating, so keep in mind that any holes we tap for you will need to be chased with a tap to remove any build up between the threads.
Parts will be sandblasted prior to powder coating to ensure a successful finish.
The powder adds between .004” (0.102mm) and .010” (0.254mm) to the overall thickness of your final part. Be sure to account for this in any areas of your design with small holes or tight clearances.
At this time we do not offer tab removal on powder coated parts so micro joints/tabs will be visible through the powder coat. These are typically 0.015-0.030″ in width depending on the material and roughly .010″ in height.
In addition, we cannot provide single line etching on any of your powder coated parts as the powder will completely cover them.
Except for the wrinkle black finish, all powder coat colors will show fingerprints.
If after reading these guidelines you’ve found you need to make some changes to your part design, check out our tutorials for designing and preparing your files in Illustrator, Inkscape, and Autodesk Fusion.
