People who've had their stands powercoated (or not just paint): need advice.

[Ohio-Ed]

Very nice. I'm building a stand and still face the Powdercoat / Paint question.

How much prep work did you have to do to the stand before they took it? How much prep did they do?

Ed

 

[jcaudill]

They bead blasted it before they coated it so all you really need to do is just the normal finish work like grinding welds, etc. then hand it off to them! The bulk of the work comes after the stand is coated - just knocking off the dull finish as it comes out of oven to expose the shine.

 

[Ohio-Ed]

Did they need to see your stand to give you an estimate, or did you just describe it to them?

 

[jcaudill]

I just gave them the dimensions and showed them a picture - that was good enough for estimate purposes.

 

[mmurray]

Where is this kind of work done? Body Shop? Engine Pro Shop?

Powder Coat vs. Ceramicoat... how big of a price difference?

 

[Beecho]

I used Black Muffler paint on my stand. It's been 2 yrs since I've painted it and have brewed countless batches. The paint holds up extremely well and has not burned off yet. I highly recommend looking into using it.

 

[doctorsbro]

They bead blasted it before they coated it so all you really need to do is just the normal finish work like grinding welds, etc. then hand it off to them! The bulk of the work comes after the stand is coated - just knocking off the dull finish as it comes out of oven to expose the shine.

Did you get normal powdercoat? There shouldnt be any reason to buff or polish any powdercoating.... if it comes out dull they used the rong stuff or asnt cured at a high enough temp.....

 

[pickles]

He said it is a ceramic coating called Cermachrome.

 

[jcaudill]

Right - ceramic. Normally when they apply this to car parts they're able to put them through a tumbler and they polish brilliantly this way. Obviously a brewstand is a bit too big so I had to simulate that as best as possible

It cost about 100 bucks more than a high-temp powdercoat but can take 3 times as much heat so crossing my fingers the problems people have with their powdercoatings melting is solved for a small additional investment.

To answer who does these coatings: same people as powdercoaters normally but not every one will do ceramic and certainly not necessarily this cermachrome finish which is unique because it fully cures at 500 degrees.

 

[doctorsbro]

oops sorry i should have read the whole thread lol, the ceramic coating will hold up to the heat, i have ceramic coated headers and i imagine they can get in the range of 1000-1500 degrees, ive seen turbo engines with theyre headers glowing red and have the ceramic coating hold up well.

 

[Smashing]

I'm a powder coater. Ceramic is the way to go for direct contact with a heat source. Regular powder is great for the stand but ceramic is what you need for the business end of things. High temp coatings are better than regular powder but they tend to scratch easier so moving kettles around will wear the coating down in a hurry. Best bets are to use stainless/aluminum or ceramic.
BTW: ceramic is applied in liquid form and cured with heat then polished. Some powder guys do it - many don't since it's a different setup.