Powder Coat Removal??

randyjaco

randyjaco

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I have a cold saw that I am restoring. The blade guard on that saw is a somewhat delicate aluminum casting and is powder coated. The coating is in bad condition and needs to be removed. I have been using a putty knife and a sand blaster. It is a very slow process. I was wondering if anyone has found a better way to remove old powder coating?
 
I used a spray can of Aircraft Paint Remover, or a name similar. Bought it at an auto parts store. Spray, let it sit, scrape with plastic, rinse. Worked great.
 
I've removed powder coat by using carb cleaner or laquer thinner. The trick is to soak it into a rag, wrap it around the part, then seal it in a plastic bag. The bag prevents the solvent from evaporating. Let soak for an hour and the coating comes off like a grape peel.
 
SLK001 said:
I have found that leaving a powder coated object in the environment that it is supposed to survive in is the best way to get that crap to bubble. IMHO, powder coating isn't worth the effort to apply.

Have you tried a heat gun?
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I disagree. powder coating is pretty durable. Nothing is 100% except death.. I won't even add taxes, as some escape that...
 
When I had my plane's yokes redone at a commercial powder coat shop they said they use plastic blast media in their cabinets to remove powder coat, old or new coatings. Even stuff they just did when they had to redo it for whatever reason.
 
motormech1 said:
When I had my plane's yokes redone at a commercial powder coat shop they said they use plastic blast media in their cabinets to remove powder coat, old or new coatings. Even stuff they just did when they had to redo it for whatever reason.
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one of my model plane club guys, is an airline pilot, and he is rebuilding a Citabria, it was a crashed plane he bought that only had one flight on it.
He had the manufacturer redo the fuselage frame, and they powder coated it. If it's good enough for aviation, it quite good.
 
Like all finishes, the prep work is the key to success. The coating has to be able to grip the surface, and there can be no corrosion or contaminants under the coating.

There are different grades/quality of powder coat material. I don't know the details, only that some are more expensive and have better reputations for longevity.
 
Provincial said:
Like all finishes, the prep work is the key to success. The coating has to be able to grip the surface, and there can be no corrosion or contaminants under the coating.

There are different grades/quality of powder coat material. I don't know the details, only that some are more expensive and have better reputations for longevity.
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Yep, there UV resistant exterior grades and all kinds of powder coat. In the case of my yokes, and any other part that sees oily substances, it can be challenging to get a good prep because the heat will get oil to express out of the metal. Especially in cast like my yokes. They were cast magnesium and took the shop three tries to get a good finish due to bubbling. As far as aviation uses go, the accepted standard is to avoid it in any critical structural area as it can hide a crack. Typically a wet coating of an appropriate primer and paint would be used in that case. But back to the OP's question, if you have blasting capabilities, plastic media cuts the powder coat best. As the shop told me, plastic cuts plastic. And that jives with my experience trying to use other blast abrasives on it. If not, sanding or possibly chemical stripping. Although, I never had great results with chemicals personally. As always, YMMV.
 
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