IR lights vs. ovens

[Ozz]

Greetings all! This is my first post and I'm just a new guy looking to learn the trade to keep along my side business.

I've been a metal polisher on the side for years and recently branched out into powdercoating; though I've been relying on my friend's professional shop as a means to source out the work. I am moving out of state soon and will lose my ability to use that resource, so I want to see what I can do about doing it on my own.

I mainly restore/refinish the same types of parts. Nothing larger than, say, an intake manifold.

One major concern before I even begin to learn how to do it all, is what I will need for space in which to do it!

1) How good is an IR light when compared to an oven? I see some of the smaller IR lights require curing section by section; I'm not too interested in doing it that way. I see larger, dual light setups listed as "able to cure a 36"x36" area at once" - would this mean I hang my parts within such a range, put the lamp on them, and that's it? Or would I have to turn them around to do the back too? I assume an oven cooks evenly around the perimeter of every part, but the IR light doesn't seem as obvious.

2) Do IR lights cure more slowly than an oven would? I'm sure there are varying factors but let's say a tabletop or small standup oven no bigger than 4' at any measurement.

Anything else I ought to know regarding the curing portion of powdercoating? I plan to be doing ~40 parts a month and I don't need to do them all at once. But I would like to do half a dozen small ones at a time anyway. Space will be an issue as I'll need to build a little shop to accommodate everything, so I'm ultimately looking for the "best way to go about it in a little package" as I can find.

Thanks!

[CarWiz]

Go with an oven. IR heats the surface of an item, not the air around it. What air does get heated is the result of heat loss from the object you're trying to heat. It's also very difficult to control the heat without the equipment or constant monitoring. For thick or heavy objects, the powder could reach cure temperature long before the object's surface and you'll get poor adhesion. There is some reflected radiation but IR heating is primarily line-of-sight so yes, constant rotation would probably be necessary. And, you'd probably need a cabinet or booth any way just to keep cooling air drafts off the item.

[Ozz]

Originally Posted by CarWiz

Go with an oven. IR heats the surface of an item, not the air around it. What air does get heated is the result of heat loss from the object you're trying to heat. It's also very difficult to control the heat without the equipment or constant monitoring. For thick or heavy objects, the powder could reach cure temperature long before the object's surface and you'll get poor adhesion. There is some reflected radiation but IR heating is primarily line-of-sight so yes, constant rotation would probably be necessary. And, you'd probably need a cabinet or booth any way just to keep cooling air drafts off the item.

That's what I suspected, thanks for the response! Now to search for the best fit for an oven for myself

[Ozz]

... just subscribing for myself