Newbie here

[harleyman]

Hi all. I've been reading this forum for about 2 weeks to get a feel of powder coating. This is something I've wanted to try for a while and finally started studying up on it on this forum. I think I've gained some useful information to get started. I just placed my order for the hobby gun. One question I've got is about the teflon plugs. Do you guys use them or just tape? This is the first of many questions I know I will have once I get started.

[bzer1]

The plugs are actually silicone, I use them and tape. You always want to avoid getting powder into threads and areas where powder just doesn't belong. Chasing threads can be a real pain and will add unnecessary lobor to a job. Also taping off areas like gasket surfaces and grounding points is very important, because if you need to remove the powder from those areas it's very easy to ruin a job if you slip while scraping the cured coating. I do alot of work for hot rod shops and when they receive a finished part like a manifold they expect to not have to do anything but install it. My customers know that this will be the case everytime. Anyone can just blow powder on a part and bake it but customers appreciate when you go the extra mile...even if they have to pay for it.

[Banditperformance]

Aluminul foil also works great for masking. Either tape it on with the high temp tape, or roll it up to stuff in bolt holes and the like

[harleyman]

Thanks for the tips. I know I will have a lot of questions. I'm glad you guys are patient with us newbies. Thanks again