To Powder Coat?

I'm finally finishing up my new brutus 10 style brew-stand after many weeks work. It's built from 2" square mild steel because stainless prices are insane, and I'm trying to decide how to paint it. I used hi-temp grill paint on my last one and was constantly repainting the thing (seriously I had to repaint the it like every other batch to keep it from looking like ****). I'm looking for something that's low maintenance & will last awhile.

I'm considering getting it professionally powder coated but have been reading mixed reviews. I understand theirs a special hi-temp powder you need. Anyone here have a powder coated brew-stand they have been using for awhile & care to weigh in on it's durability?

 

I had mine powder coated with high-temp coating. The top level where the kettles sit is wearing off and gets some light rusting. I wipe it down and most of it goes away. At some point, I'll need to paint the top side. My suggestion is to just stay with the high temp paint as the powder coating will wear off as well.

 

Normal powder coatings usually cure around 300-400F, that's the temp the individual grains melt and fuse together, but propane burns up to 2000F in air. However throw in some interesting chemistry and some high-temp powder coatings can withstand up to 1000-1200F. The outside of the frame can be painted with BBQ paint, i'd leave the metal that is exposed to flame alone. My stand is all mild steel except for the bits in the flame and i used SS for that, maybe about 10ft so cost wasn't too bad.

nice metal work by the way, looks great.

 

Yeah, that stand is going to look NICE! Cool Design!

The guy who is building my stand is in the powder coating business. He said that he would throw my stand in with whatever color he is doing at the time for free, but said that normal powder will burn off at about 300F. He said that he also does powder coating on headers with a ceramic based powder thats good to above 2200F. He said that the headers on a dyno machine get to glowing red, but when cooled down, the powder looks like new. Maybe look into that.

 

i used a high temp paint for my stand (500 degree paint on bottom stand and 2000 degree paint on heat sheilds). I have run six or seven batches and it still looks freshly painted.

 

I'm a coater on the side and standard powder will last in the 500+ range. High temp powders are available but ineffective at the temps you'll see. Ceramic isn't a powder at all, it's a liquid that's cured with heat. Your best bet is to coat areas not in direct contact with flame with powder and either use ceramic or nothing in the flames path.

 

Big Bob, Very nice stand, aesthetically pleasing.
I agree with Smashing based on my experience. Burnt the crap out of the first stand I had powder coated. (apologies to RG)

 

I think I'm gonna go with the hi-temp powder coating, but not until I build some stainless steel inserts to keep the flames away from the stand, as suggested by snake10.

 

As requested I'll keep the pics coming as the build continues to progress. Most of the welding is done, I still need to get some misc fittings from home depot to mount the burners.



Heres the mockup with some bungee cords.

 

Very impressive! Thanks for the pics!

Are you really going without any cross members at the bottom?

Cheers!

 

The first pic was before they were installed. If you look closely at the second you can see them behind the wood mounting bar.

 

One thing that would look cool (not necessarily cost effective, but may be worth looking into) would be to have it plated, hot dip galvanized or possibly anodized.

 

Screw the powder coating. Just go down to Autozone or whatever your nearest auto parts store is and get a couple cans of header paint. It'll hold up to way higher temps than what you'll be producing, and will look perfectly fine.

Plus, it'll cost you about 1% the price of high temp powder coat.

 

Nice rig! Any problems with the jet burners? seems that some people on here love them some dont. What is just below the elbow joint leading to the burner? Is it a regulator? Can you provide details?

 

Thanks! I've been using the jet burners for almost 2 years & love them.

Thats part of the asco valve that is used for temperature control.

 

looking good. looking forward to seeing the progress.

 

Brewed on her for the first time. Looks pretty hot don't it?

 

I just noticed- are you using the frame to pipe the gas?

 

Yup, thanks for noticing!

 

Galvanize will definitely NOT work.. it'll melt/burn with toxic fumes. Some plating may hold up.. and unless it's aluminum.. I don't think there is an anodize..

Heck, I'd paint with header paint as mentioned.. and what wears on the surface, I'd try to coat with cooking oil and let it season over a few boils.. just like a bbq surface.. or an iron frying pan.. read.. BLACK Unless the surface is not covered with a pan of liquid.. I doubt it would burn off. Cheap/easy/effective. :rockin:

BTW, looks like beautiful workmanship.. congratulations on what looks like a job WELL DONE.

 

Is it just free - flowing in the tubing or do you have a pipe wedged in there too?

 

Think im gonna have to give that a try

 

Nope, no pipe wedged in there just free flowing. Looks good, but you just gotta be meticulous in your welds.