Baking paint?

[ragingfish]

If you remember well, back in November/December I painted my interior trim pieces cobalt blue metallic to match my exterior. Since then I've only had one increasingly problematic issue - my door handles. So since I've had some downtime, I pulled my door handles (AGAIN!) and repainted them. I remember reading SOMEWHERE about baking painted parts in an old toaster oven to basically solidify the coats and eliminate issues with chipping. I want to do this, since the door handles are the most handled part in the car, and are most prone to chipping.

Anyone able to provide any advice on temperatures and/or times for baking paints? I've seen 125° on the web in some places, and I've seen 325° in others.

Also, are there any inherent risks with baking paints out of a rattle can? Risks such as explosion, fire, or toxic fumes? Or is the paint out of a rattle can as "heat stable" as traditional paints...

Finally, I would think ideally I should bake between after having put all the color coats down, so then I could wet sand, and then proceed with clear coats (and then bake after each individual clear coat) to provide maximum durability for wetsanding. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance for your responses peeps.

[Toyz]

I honestly not sure about the proper temps, but with that many heat cycles you are looking at possibly making your handles very brittle. I would get a pair set for your baking endeavors.

[ragingfish]

anybody else have any insight on this?

[Lampoon]

I think baking metal would work for some plastic type paints such as the
Siliconized polyester baked-on enamel paint but I would wager those plastic trim pieces would melt.
Just put a ton of clear on it....?

If your talking about powder coating ...thats 160 to 210 degrees.

To find out more about powder coating and its applications, contact The Powder Coating Institute at 1-800-988-COAT.


here are a few companies that may have an answer for you.

http://www.thomasnet.com/products/painting-services-plastic-95989182-1.html

[simplyred]

I think baking metal would work for some plastic type paints such as the
Siliconized polyester baked-on enamel paint but I would wager those plastic trim pieces would melt.
Just put a ton of clear on it....?

Thats what I was thinking.. I would load on the clear in good coats of course but that would def help with the wear and tear. Also giving the clear a good amount of time inbetween coats to cure and a good amount of time after the last coat to cure!