We've found a way to powder coat wood products!

Big question now, what other unanticipated surfaces will it work with?

June 18, 2001

Until recently, conventional wisdom said that wood products could not be successfully powder-coated. We've found a way to revise that theory.

Recently the industrial processes team was asked to find a way to powder coat Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF) boards as a way to replace a client's manual process of laminating the MDF with Formica. The client wanted not only to automate their process, but also to reduce health and environmental risks. The problem arises in powder coating MDF. Unlike metal surfaces, which are generally associated with powder coating, wood is not conductive. Since powder coating relies on a grounded object to attract the negatively charged particles, the lack of conductivity on wood poses a challenge to coating application. The curing process frequently results in a picture framing effect and a geometric destabilization of the MDF. Additionally, no coating has yet proven as durable as Formica.

The client asked that we attempt to produce a quality sample board that could be used for consideration of the automation decision. We also wanted to develop a good understanding of the curing process needed for the powder. The client supplied MDF boards for the testing along with the desired powder coating and two different prep solutions. The prep solutions were salt solutions, one based in distilled water, the other in isopropyl alcohol. The idea was that the application of the salts to the surface of the MDF board would draw moisture from the atmosphere to give the MDF board a conductive surface. We wanted to test for which solution produced a better coating.

The results of testing at Advanced Energy's test facility showed that certain types of MDF can be coated quickly and easily with no surface preparation. We developed a method of pre-coating, and a curing process that used just the right combination of surface heat and residence time. The result was a product with a high quality, durable finish. This has significant impacts for any industry that is now using a laminate to coat MDF. Powder Coating has tremendous environmental reductions, in addition to the drastic reduction in processing time and labor requirements.

The industrial process team was able to produce a sample board that met the client's needs. But the real story here is that we were able to powder coat a substance that is typically not powder coated.

What products are you currently using some other process to coat? Give us a call and let's talk about how we can investigate the possibilities for your process. Contact Ewan Pritchard at (919) 857-9028 or epritchard@advancedenergy.org/ .