Powder Coating Services
Our dedicated team provides powder coating services to ensure we finish your metal parts to the highest quality. With a wide range of colours, gloss levels and textures, powder coating your products can ensure that their finish is durable and that they really stand out from the crowd.
What is powder coating?
Powder coating is the finishing process of coating a metal with a polyester or epoxy powder. Operators apply this powder electrostatically and then cure it in an oven to provide a durable finish.
Operators spray the powder through an electrostatic gun, giving it a negative charge. The negatively charged powder then adheres to the grounded metal part. Once transferred to a curing oven the heat creates thermal bonds between the particles of powder which results in a smooth, hard finish.
Colours and finishes
A huge range of colours, gloss levels and textures are available with a powder coat finish, in fact any colour is possible.
We keep a range of the more standard colours in stock at all times but have access to less common colours and special mixes through our relationship with the powder manufacturers.
The powder coating process at Unifabs
Using the latest in powder coating technology, our Gema Powder Coating Plant is one of the most advanced in the country. Its in-line pre-treatment plant thoroughly cleans the components prior to coating to maintain the best possible and most durable finish.
The process includes a 3-stage degrease phosphate pre-treatment before passing through a drying oven. After this thorough cleaning cycle, the parts pass by a part identification scanner which sets the robotic spray arms to the optimum height and speed. To ensure full coverage, we also have a pre and post manual touch-up booth before the parts head into the double-pass gas-fired curing oven.
Fast and cost effective powder coating services
Boasting a 10-minute colour change and a 1500mm/min track speed, we can process a high volume of parts with consistent quality in a short period of time. And with the ability to recycle 95% of the powder used in the process, we are able to pass on the cost benefits to our customers.
Materials
- Mild Steel
- Stainless Steel
- Aluminium
- Pre-Galv
- Zintec
Capabilities
Max size
Powder coating plant
2400mm max part length
Max size
Powder coating booth
3400mm x 3000mm x 3000mm
Technology
- Gema Powder Coating Plant
- Manual Powder Coating Booth
Our Powder Coating capabilities
Gema Powder Coating Plant
Boasting an advanced fast colour change system, MagicControl 4.0, Gema’s pioneering interface for smart factory automation, and the latest OptiFlow powder pump technology, Unifabs powder coating plant is one of the most advanced in the country.
Manual Powder Coating Booth
As well as the automated line, we have a manual booth which can handle parts that are too large for the automated line and enables us to coat parts up to 3.4m x 3.0m x 3.0m.
Everything you need to know about Powder Coating
Here is an overview of questions that we are most commonly asked.
Want to learn more?
Metal is the most commonly powder coated material. A key requirement in powder coating is a material's ability to withstand high temperatures; some non-metallics are just not suited to withstanding the heat required without melting or burning. If they can withstand the heat, non-metalics pose another issue, they aren’t conductive. This means the powder will not be able to form a bond and will slip off. By pre-heating the material in advance of coating, the powder will melt on contact and ‘stick’ to the surface. This however is a difficult process as it can become too runny and affect the durability of the finish. At Unifabs we offer powder coating of mild steel, stainless steel, aluminium, pre-galv, and zintec.
Theoretically any colour is possible, however due to the production process, colours are usually produced in large batches of standard colours. Custom colours require a special production run as the colour is determined by the mixing of raw materials prior to the process of hot extrusion which allows resins to combine with the other raw materials. At Unifabs we carry a standard range of colours, but more specialist finishes are available on request.
Powder coating creates a hard finish that is typically tougher than traditional paint and more resistant to chipping and scratching. Unlike wet paint, as no liquid carrier is required, thicker coats can be achieved without running or sagging, whereas liquid paint will often require multiple colour coats and a top coat. A huge range of colours, gloss levels and textures are available with a powder coat finish. It is more difficult and time consuming to colour match powders in comparison to mixing wet paint but custom colours are possible. Textured finishes are easier to achieve with powder coating whereas high gloss finishes are easier with wet paint.
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