[TheForge] RE: Unique (?) coating for steel and iron...

[Bob Ehrenberger]

Bruce,

It sounds like what you want is powder coat.  I've never used it but it
looks like a plastic coating to me.

Robert Ehrenberger
Shelbyville, Mo.

From: "Bruce Freeman" <FREEMAB@pt.fdah.com>
To: <theforge@mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Monday, April 12, 2004 10:27 AM
Subject: [TheForge] Unique (?) coating for steel and iron...


> I've been sitting on this idea a few weeks in hopes of being able to
> test it thoroughly.  Lack of time has precluded that.
>
> Here's the background:  While welding a polyethylene doohicky, using
a
> polyethylene coffee can lid as my "stick" and an old cast iron spoon
ash
> my iron, I noticed what a nice coating of polyethylene I got on the
> iron.  Aha!  A water-impervious coating for iron, cheap as recycled
> garbage...
>
> Well, it turns out that polyethylene melts at about 380 F, and burns
> not much higher than that.  So, while, in principle, it could be
used
> fairly nicely, it's not to practical.  You're have to tow the line
> between something moving slower than molasses, and something burning
> like napalm.  If you could apply the polyethylene to the iron under
> strict (~400 F) temperature control, this would probably work.
>
> However, while contemplating this, it occurred to me that hot-melt
glue
> is nothing more than low-MP polyethylene, or high-MP paraffin wax,
with
> a MP of~200 F or less.  So I tried applying this to a recent project
and
> it seems to have worked quite well.
>
> So there you go.  Get your metal to ~250 in an oven and rub the
> hot-melt glue stick directly on the thing. Smooth with a cloth or
brush
> (vegetable fiber - not bristle or synthetic).
>
> Next I have to test how effective it is.  Or wait for one of you
guys
> to test it and let me know.
>
> Bruce
> NJ