Orange Peel

[griffsfsr]

Hello, I have been trying to get powder coating down for a while but I am having trouble getting the cured powder to have a smooth finish. Every time there is a orange peel effect or it is to light. There has never been a happy medium on the part. It will go straight from a rough service from shooting the powder to lightly, to being orange peeled with no good spots in between. I am really wondering what I am doing wrong. I had one person tell me I was applying to heavily so I applied lighter and lighter one several pieces and the orange peel was present until it turned rough from being to light.
I have tried coating both aluminum and steel with and without preheating with no difference in results. I have baked at temperatures above 400F to 350F with varied bake times from 15 minutes to 45 minutes and still have had no luck.
My current coating process is to sandblast the part then preheat if it is aluminum. If it is steel I usually don't bother preheating all though I did on the last piece and still had orange peel. After preheating I wipe the part down with acetone wait for it to evaporate and then apply the powder which was caswell's magic black. I then backed at 350F for 35 minutes total time in the oven. I had no luck with good results it still had the orange peel. So I am looking for any help or assistants you may be able to give me. It would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Chris

[Fireblade]

Most powders do have an inherent orange peel due to the nature of the product, but you can always influence this either way of course. The orange peel you are speaking about, without seeing, could be normal depending on your opinion of how bad it is. I have never used the black sold here by Caswell, so I cannot tell you any experience with it.

give caswell a call that can help you out with any of there products ... i got them on speed dail .....

[griffsfsr]

Thank you all very much for the replies. I am sorry I did not reply back sooner I was busy touring D.C. this weekend. The orange peel is not terrible I was just wondering why my powder did not cure smooth. Or how I could make it smooth. I have had professional done parts before and they have a smoother finish than mine. I will also give caswell a call. Thankyou,
Chris G.

[Hemi-T]

I've had powder orange peel from too short of a cure time. Be sure to cure for the full time, or even a little extra time. Give the powder plenty of time to flow out. Your first instinct is to remove the part as soon as the powder has melted, but resist the urge and let it go full time. It worked for me.

Hemi-T

[griffsfsr]

Thank you all very much for your help and response. I greatly appreciate it.

Chris G.