Summary for reflective glass beads Discussion
Reflective glass beads for powder coating are the focus of this thread, where Ken A asked where to buy a bead additive that would make steel sign frames reflective at night, similar to road-marking paint. The editor notes the RFQ is outdated, but technical replies are still welcome. In a later question, Barry Smith asked whether a micro reflective bead additive can be used with powder coating. The only answer shown points to "Reflective Glass Beads on Amazon" from Ted Mooney, P.E., but no technical explanation is included in the excerpt. Because the thread excerpt does not provide a detailed process recommendation, the practical takeaway is limited to the existence of reflective glass bead products rather than a confirmed powder-coating method or performance result.
RFQ:Good Day,
Please advise where we can buy reflective glass bead additive to use in our powder coating process to achieve a reflective metal sign frame that will show up at night. This will be similar the reflective paint on the roads. Thanking you all in advance for your prompt help.
Ken A, pres. [surname deleted for privacy by Editor]
steel sign frames – Saint Petersburg, Florida, USA
2004
Ed. note: This RFQ is outdated, but technical replies are welcome, and readers are encouraged to post their own RFQs. But no public commercial suggestions please ( huh? why?).
Q. Is there a micro reflective bead additive that you can use with powder coating ?
Barry Smith
– Willoughby Ohio
July 14, 2014
A. Hi Barry. Beads have to stick approximately halfway out for best performance. Too small and most of them will be “buried” and wasted, reducing the quality of the powder coating without contributing anything; too large and there will be too much leverage against them and they won’t be sufficiently “glued” to stay in place .
I’m no expert on this but my understanding is that the beads used on streets are an assortment of sizes rolled into the wet paint, whereas with powder coating you’d probably want the beads to be a fairly uniform 60 – 120 microns; I believe there is an “airport quality” bead that is sifted to a rounder and more uniform mesh size, but it’s probably too big for the usual thermoset powder coatings; it may be perfect for thick thermoplastic powder coatings. I don’t think any additive except the beads themselves is required, but then again, that’s only a guess 🙂
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com – Pine Beach, New Jersey
Need quick confidential answers? $25
Need project assistance? $100/hr.
July 2014