How to Powder Coat Plastics (Nylon, ABS, Polycarbonate, Composites)

A. A product that would meet your requirements is SMC [sheet molding compound].

I hope this helps.

A. Yes,

I think SMC might also work, but when you say SMC.....does the SMC have a liquid "Conductive Primer" prior to the powder coat? I would also like to know if plastic parts are paintable via Powder-Coat. My response about using a conductive primer like an in-mold coating is theoretical and un-tested.

A. Dear Brian,

There is currently some successfully tested and proven methods of applying thermosetting powder coatings to certain plastics.

E.g., for ski bindings, handles for pots and pans. Usually the best results have been with Vinyls and Phenolic type materials.

Various products such as Staticfluid and/or waterbased primers are available for dip or spray application prior to powder painting.

A. Hi C.J. A fluidized bed requires a properly designed air stream coming up from the bottom to fluidize the material, picture quicksand which has just enough water flowing upward to keep the sand from compacting. User's Guide to Powder Coating [onAmazonaffil links] by Nicholas Liberto should prove helpful. Good luck.

A. Hi Brian,

I am an engineer with Grayboe; we injection mold light weight structural strength composite material into custom shapes and our material can be powder coated because of its high heat resistance.

A. Powder coating on plastics and such is not uncommon. I have a client who is powder coating fiberglass braces with polycarbonate inlay. There are many low cure (200-220 °F) powders out there today but high gloss is still a problem - for most.

The first determination is the temperature your substrate can withstand before causing problems. After that is taken care of we can find the right powder and process for your application. Contact Morton powder coating and Forest Paints (Eugene Or.) for more information on low cure powder coats.

"High Performance powder Coating"
by Bob Utech

on AbeBooks

or Amazon

(affil links)

A. David,

I am not aware of anyone presently powder coating plastic. It is feasible, but only with a grounded conductive casting (buck) behind the plastic material for electrostatic attraction. Powder must be low temperature cure (240 °F). For pretreatment details, check on this article: "Determining Plastics Surface Condition for Maximum Paint Performance".

A. It is possible to powder coat plastic, however the plastic grade must be specially formulated - it must have good conductivity (by adding conductive fillers to give volume resistivity < 10E4), be heat resistive and provide a good adhesion. Plastics are commercially available.

A. Yes, it is possible to powder coat plastic.

There are three routes:

1. Use a very high temperature plastic (nylons, polyamides) with standard thermoset powders. May require a prep coat or pre-heating.
2. Use a variety of lower temperature plastics with a low temperature thermoset powder.
3. Use a variety of lower temperature plastics with a UV cure powder.

A. Powder coating of plastics is possible, we have been doing it since 1993.

A. USE 2K PU BASE COAT AS PRIMER AND 2K ACRYLIC PU TOP COAT.

A. You'd better use CPO resin type primer.

But if you don't want use primer...

... use flame treatment or plasma treatment

A. Dear Jose,

The powder chemists are really doing some marvelous work in the labs. The problem is that what you require is still in the R & D stages. UV cured powder will be able to coat wood and plastic and there are some operations out there but at the moment it requires at lot of investment to install the plant and the colour and effects you obtain from std powder is not readily available.

A. Hi, Dennis. If your questions require more detail than you see here, or that people can help you with in public, we've suggested a couple of powder coating books.

It isn't clear to me whether you are from a jobshop seeking to do such processes, or whether you are an OEM seeking a powder coating service. If the latter case is applicable, you might also contact local powder coating jobshops. Good luck.

Regards,

A. Hi, depending on your substrate you might slightly heat it up to the point were a sprayable thermoplastic powder will adhere by melting on it. Finishing for better surface aspect can then occur in the oven. The polymer powder you need to use shall have some chemical affinity to your substrate and of course you need to select a polymer with low melting point. As I do not have details about your substrate this is all I can say at the moment.

A. Hi Jaipal. Powder coating on glass-filled nylon can be done by utilizing UV curing, preferably preceded by plasma etching for proper adhesion. Good videos are available from a number of powder coating shops and powder suppliers. The video below is a good intro in just 98 seconds.

Luck & Regards,