Our “Specialty” line of powder products consist of powder coatings that have been prepared by the traditional extrusion/milling process and then modified, or augmented, by the addition of special pigment particulates to the powder coating “base powder” prior to packaging. These particulates can consist of varying sizes and shapes of actual aluminium, copper, and bronze (for example) metallic pigments, or of glass or micas that have been artificially coloured to look like metallic pigments: pigments that would not survive the extrusion/milling process. The simple mixing and homogenization of these metallic pigments is called “dry blending”, and yields economical Specialty products which have a few negative aspects on application to parts or substrate. First, vibrating box feeders tend to cause the more dense pigment particulates to settle in the box, concentrating the metallic in the bottom half of the box. As a result, fluidized bed feeders are almost always required. On application, the individual pigment particles may charge differently than the powder coating component, actually separating from the product during application, giving rise to “shadowing” or “striping” of the metallic colour. Due to charging behavior, electrostatic pigment accumulation on the gun tip may occur, and this can lead to spitting of pigment aggregates onto the substrate. The separation of pigment particulates from the base powder also means that reclaiming overspray is unpredictable and colour variations are to be expected if the reclaim is used.

To combat many of these issues an additional, special process we inhibit softens the powder coating base allowing metallic particulates to be impacted, or stuck, on the base powder. This “bonding” process fuses most of the pigment particulates to the base powder, creating a product that is less prone to the separation or charging issues of dry blends, and one that is much more predictable upon reclaim.