using clear powder coat after polish?

[hybred]

i've done some polishing.. wish i knew this site was here a long time ago.. learned the hardway. anyhow, i am getting into powdercoating but still there's nothing like polished aluminum. using i have high gloss clear powdercoat and want to experiment coating some polished aluminum to keep it's luster. will this distort the finnish in any way? i've heard of people using clear coat paint to do this but i've never tried it in fear it would ruin the finnish. any suggestions?

[Fireblade]

It can be done with great success, but one thing to watch for. Like any casting, it traps air inside, so you preheat the part to let trapped gas escape. The clear coat will trap air and show up as bubbles in the finish if you do not release the trapped air first. So PREHEAT the part to get rid of the majority of air, then let cool, coat and cure. Should turn out really well. Some parts are more prone to gas release than others, you can kind of tell when buffing the part. If you come in contact with porosity it is usually a good sign of what to expect from the cured piece.

[hybred]

yes, the part i am doing next is alum. and i would pre-heat it first. but was wondering if when pre-heating the part it would screw up the polish finnish when the contaminents are realeased as the pores open? maybe i just need to spay it with clear instead? seems alot easier?

[Fireblade]

When you preheat, it drives air and contaminents to the surface, wipe it clean with whatever cleaner you use for regular powder coating. The finish may change slightly, but you'll not have to repolish again either. You choice.

[skiddz]

I tried clear coating both polished aluminum and steel with VHT's clear coat (sold here) and was not satisfied with the results.. The atomization from the can was poor and the luster of the shine was diminished a bit on both metals.

for giggles, I tried the heat curing method outlined on the can. The aluminum part took on a yellow tinge and the steel part ended up looking similar to black chrome. (A pretty cool look, but not what I was going for) I'm not entirely sure if the part blued due to the heat, the clear discolored or a combination of both.

Both parts went back to the bead blaster, were re-sanded, repolished and given a good coat of wax..

I'm slowly setting up my PC stuff as well. I'll certainly be trying some clean PC over polished aluminum in the near future...

[polishinginc]

I only use zoopseal, once you coat the part and you've followed the proper steps then your surface finish will be the same as it was when you finished buffing the part.

[skiddz]

I would love to use Zoopseal, but the price is a bit prohibitive for us hobby polishers, especially if we're doing small parts and don't need to mix much more than a couple tablespoons of the stuff..

[polishinginc]

I agree with that problem Skiddz, I've talked to the owner's of Zoopseal a few times about this particular problem.
For some odd reason they wont make a smaller quantity kit, but they suggest that you mix small ammounts in moderation. Not everyone is going to find 70 square feet of use for their zoopseal so its wastefull to only use 20 dollars worth of it and the 110 is left on a shelf or in the refridgerator.

[mcaswell]

Someone must be listening over there, because they just introduced a smaller size. See http://www.caswellplating.com/buffs/zoopseal.html

clear coat look's bad on polish.... and that price for the smaller zoop is a no go.... but i use a high grade carbuna wax the clear coat tuns over time and clouds the part ....