Monday, June 11th, 2012

Several furniture and cabinetry manufacturers have had success with wood powder coating MDF.  Pigmented powder applications to MDF have been developed and used more extensively than coating of natural wood, or clear coating of MDF.  Establishing a new system may require significant research and production trials to achieve desired process efficiency and final product quality. Powder coatings has a high transfer efficiency, reduced (or no) emissions, one-step, one-coat process, elimination of edge banding, significant reduction of exhaust and oven ventilation air,Read More …

Process steps for wood powder coating applications follow: Preconditioning: The substrate is evenly heated in infra red(IR) and/or convection ovens to achieve required conductivity,and release gasses. Typically, the substrate surface temperature is equalized at 200-220° F before entering the spray booth,although some have had success at lower temperatures. Woodmoisture must remain equalized across the surface at about 4 to 6% or higher to maintain conductivity for powder adherance.Since heat evaporates moisture, careful controls on preheating are necessary. Application: After preheating,Read More …

Some woods and wood products such as MDF have sufficient and consistent moisture content to provide conductivity and can be coated directly. To enhance electrostatic attraction, wood can be pretreated with a spray solution that provides a conductive surface.The part is then preheated to a desired coating temperature, which softens or partially melts the powder when it is applied and helps the powder adhere to the part where it melts a little on impact.A uniform board surface temperature allows forRead More …

Over the last twenty years, powder coating has revolutionized the finishing industry by providing a superior, durable, environmentally friendly finish, particularly for metal products such as appliances, automotive parts, sporting goods and countless other products.However with the development of powder coatings that can be applied and cured at low temperatures,the market has opened to heat sensitive substrates such as plastics and wood. Radiation curing (UV or electron beam) allows the curing of powder on heat sensitive substrates by reducing theRead More …