The Significance of Sandblasting Pre-Powder Coating

Blog Layout

Why Sandblasting is Essential Before Powder Coating

Tom Sawyer • 20 December 2022

Powder coating has steadily become more and more popular due to its wide range of applications. However, it's important to understand how the powder coating process should be carried out to ensure the best results. Before using powder coating, it's always important to ensure the surface has been prepared. One of the essential steps to take before applying powder coating is to sandblast the metal. Sandblasting is an abrasive technique that is used to prime the metal surface so that powder coating will correctly adhere to it. By sandblasting the metal first, you can make sure the final result looks good and lasts for longer.

What Is Sandblasting?

Sandblasting prepares the surface before powder coating so that it's clean and smooth, ready for the powder coating to be applied. It uses compressed air and sand particles, which are blasted through a hose to have an abrasive effect on the surface that's being worked on. Sometimes other abrasive materials might be used to produce the same results, including metal grit, glass beads, or other options. The fine particles of sand will blast away anything that might get in the way of the powder coating and prevent it from adhering to the surface properly. A piece of metal could start off rusty and dirty, but become much cleaner and ready for powder coating after it has been sandblasted.

The smooth and clean surface that is created by sandblasting is then primed and ready for powder coating or any other coating that you might want to apply. Sandblasting can also simply be a way to improve the appearance of metal, without applying a coating. However, it's an essential step before applying both liquid and powder coatings. Sandblasting helps the coating to last longer and can prevent a lot of problems that come from a low-quality application.

The Benefits of Sandblasting

Ultimately, sandblasting delivers multiple benefits if you're planning to use powder coating to finish any surface.

It's effective – it's fast and will efficiently clean and prepare your products
Removes rust and dirt – clean up older items by giving them a blast before powder coating
Environmentally safe – no toxic gasses in the air, and safety equipment is used to protect workers
Improves powder coating adherence – make sure all powder coating sticks and provides a smooth finish by preparing the surface first

Why Sandblasting Is Always Important

It's always a good idea to use sandblasting before you apply powder coating or liquid coating. Without it, you won't get such good adherence to the surface of the material. But what if your material isn't dirty or rusty? Even if it's brand new and shiny, it can still benefit from sandblasting. Sandblasting creates tiny scratches that help the powder coating to bond better with the surface of the material. You will get results that don't have such a high quality if you don't sandblast your surface first. Sandblasting will give a better appearance that will last longer without any problems.

Sandblasting can also be used to remove old coating if an item needs to get a fresh coating. It's obviously important to remove the old coating first, instead of just applying a new coating on top of it, and sandblasting is the most efficient way of doing it. Sandblasting will strip away all of the old coating to leave a clean surface that's ready for a brand new coating. It can also be useful to polish metal elements, even if your final goal isn't to powder coat them. Polishing the metal can give it a new shine and make it look great.

The Consequences of Not Sandblasting

Sandblasting before powder coating isn't just a useful thing to do. Many in the industry will tell you that it's a necessity and that you don't want to apply a powder coating without it. But what exactly will happen if you don't use sandblasting and powder coating together? It might not be the end of the world, but you could definitely end up wasting money by having to apply a new powder coat sooner than you want.

Without sandblasting, your powder coating results won't look or feel exactly as you want them to. A poorer standard of adherence also means that the coating could start to crack, peel or show other signs of damage long before it really should. So it really is essential to use sandblasting services to prime your surfaces before you have them powder coated.

Call Coast 2 Coast for Your Sandblasting Needs

Coast 2 Coast provides you with both sandblasting and powder coating in Marlboro. There's no need to use two separate providers for these services because we recognize that they go hand-in-hand. It just makes sense to provide sandblasting services alongside our powder coating services, so that our customers can get everything that they need in one place. We also offer ceramic coating (cerakoting) for any projects that might require high-performance applications with extreme durability.

In addition to sandblasting, we use other media to tackle projects with different needs. If you have materials that are more durable or, on the other end of the spectrum, more delicate, we can use other abrasive materials to clean them up and prepare them for powder coating. We're experts who can determine the best media to use, no matter what your project requirements are. We always take good care of your items to get the results that you want without causing any unnecessary damage.

When your items have been sandblasted, we'll take care of powder coating too. We can work on all kinds of projects, from vehicles to furniture. Our customized colors mean you can ensure your items come out of the process looking exactly as you want them. Take a look at our color chart to see just some of the colors available for powder coating.

Call us now to find out more about our sandblasting and powder coating services, whether you need one or both of them. Call or email to inquire and discover how we can help you.

< Older Post Newer Post >