Never Drop Powder Coating Hanger
by talk2bruce in Workshop > Metalworking
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Never Drop Powder Coating Hanger
As I was powder coating my THINK sign, I dropped it when putting it in the oven to cure and then dropped it again when taking it out of the oven. It was ruined! I had to sand blast the powder coating off and start all over again.
The problem was not that I'm clumsy but rather with the metal hanger I was using to hang my work. I was using a piece of wire in the shape of an "S" (see second photo). It's very difficult to grip and securely hold a straight length of wire with thick leather gloves (the oven is hot when you put your work in and the powder coated metal is 350 degrees F when it comes out of the oven). It's especially difficult when your work is heavy (the THINK sign weighs a couple of pounds).
To solve the problem, I developed a hanger that is very easy to hold securely (see first photo). The secret is to create a horizontal loop in the wire that will rest on the on the top of your fingers when moving your work (see third and fourth photos).
The Never Drop Powder Coating Hanger is very easy to make: all you need is a wire coat hanger, a thick bolt (I used a 3/8th bolt - see fifth photo), wire cutters, steel wool, and a vise.
To make it:
I made it at TechShop.
The problem was not that I'm clumsy but rather with the metal hanger I was using to hang my work. I was using a piece of wire in the shape of an "S" (see second photo). It's very difficult to grip and securely hold a straight length of wire with thick leather gloves (the oven is hot when you put your work in and the powder coated metal is 350 degrees F when it comes out of the oven). It's especially difficult when your work is heavy (the THINK sign weighs a couple of pounds).
To solve the problem, I developed a hanger that is very easy to hold securely (see first photo). The secret is to create a horizontal loop in the wire that will rest on the on the top of your fingers when moving your work (see third and fourth photos).
The Never Drop Powder Coating Hanger is very easy to make: all you need is a wire coat hanger, a thick bolt (I used a 3/8th bolt - see fifth photo), wire cutters, steel wool, and a vise.
To make it:
- Cut a long straight length of wire from the hanger - the long straight part on the bottom of the hanger is perfect (see sixth photo). If the wire hanger isn't shiny, use steel wool to remove the coating - this will make sure that the hanger conducts electricity for the powder coating process.
- Put the bolt in a vise and bend the middle of the wire into a loop (see seventh photo).
- Now bend the wires at right angles to the loop, cut the ends to be a good length for you piece to fit in the oven and bend the ends so it looks like the first photo and will hang from the top of the oven and hold the piece as shown in the eigth and ninth photos.
I made it at TechShop.