Powder Coating
Why choose us?
Powder coating is an environmentally friendly method of painting that requires no solvents and generates little or no hazardous material wastes. The end result is an attractive finish that is harder and more durable than conventional paint.
Powder coating is a hands-down winner when it comes to finishing fabricated metal products. It’s a cleaner, smoother, and more superior process than other finishing methods. Powder coating is an environmentally friendly, safe, and cost-effective finishing.
While we have a variety of stock colors available, we can also have custom colors made to your specifications. Federal standard color matching is also available.
- Environmentally Friendly
- Non Volatile Organic Compounds
- Cost Saving / Less Waste
- Superior End Result
Pre-Treating
Before products can be primed, they must go through a pre-treatment process. At Leading Edge we utilize one of two pre-treatment techniques depending on a project’s requirements.
The first method of pre-treatment we utilize is cleaning the metal with a zirconium wash. Cleaning parts with soap and water alone is not enough to prep the materials for proper powder adhesion. It also produces less sludge, is versatile, and is eco-friendly, making it the preferred choice over iron phosphate methods.
The second method we utilize is abrasive blasting. With blasting, high-pressure compressed air is used to project a medium onto the surface of the part to perform the desired cleaning, polishing, or finishing action. The amount of pressure can also be adjusted to accommodate the specific cleaning or finishing requirements.
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Priming
Powder coatings by nature are extremely durable, exceptionally resistant to corrosion, and able to withstand exposure to harsh UV rays. Even so, in some circumstances, a dual-layer is required to achieve optimal corrosion resistance and to meet specific appearance requirements. In these cases, we will utilize a zinc primer base coat for corrosion resistance and a topcoat to improve the aesthetic appearance.
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Coating
Powder coating is a dry finishing process used to apply a dry coating material. The dry powder coating is delivered to a spray gun tip that is fitted with an electrode to provide an electrostatic charge to the powder as it passes through a charged area at the gun tip. The charged powder particles are attracted to a grounded part and are held there by electrostatic attraction until melted and fused into a uniform coating in a curing oven.
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Curing
Powder coatings require a certain amount of heat applied for a specific time in order to produce the chemical reaction needed to cross-link the powder into a film. The powder will melt, flow into a level film, and then reach full cure.
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Next Step > Inspection
