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Aqua blasting prior to powder coating

January 6, 2021

Q. Hi All,

I'm planning to open a small powder coating shop, mainly for powder coating alloy wheels.
I bought Aqua blasting cabinet and I would like to use it to etch the surface of alloy wheels before powder coating.
I have done some testing and with the course non metallic abrasives I can produce blasting profile of around 30 µm.
Is that is enough for powder coating?
I'm chemically stripping the existing coating before vapour blasting, so aqua blasting will used only for cleaning and profiling metals.
I would be glad to see some answers.

Piotr Zawadzki
- Warsaw Ursynow, Poland

A. Hi. That sounds okay as a step in the process, but is probably not an adequate substitute for chromate conversion coating.

Luck & Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
January 2021

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