Powder coating for heat-sensitive substrates: How it works
Get to know the process of powder-coating MDF
There are several steps between loading your conveyor belt with MDF, and unloading your fully-coated piece.
But before coating can happen, the first step is to shape, cut, route, and sand the MDF into the required form. Uralac®-based powder coatings are easy to process, and often only need one layer, so you can choose almost any shape.
The next preparation step is to climatize the MDF to achieve a stable moisture percentage. This will make the process more consistent through different weather conditions and variations in MDF from different suppliers. The ideal moisture is typically 4-8%.
Loading
Pre-heating
Spraying
Powder is applied with standard corona spray guns. An active counter electrode is used to ensure an even layer.
Curing
The coating is cured – typically at 130ºC for three minutes, depending on the substrate and powder used. Heating-up time is between 2 and 5 minutes.
The infrared oven enables quick heat-up and curing without overheating the MDF. 130ºC is low enough not to damage most types of MDF.
Unloading, packing & shipping
After cooling down, the conveyor belt can be unloaded. The cooled-down MDF has a fully cured coating and is ready to be packed and shipped.
