MDF Powder Coating
Why?
Many office furniture makers are moving away from standard shapes such as squares and rectangles to more rounded corners and contoured edges, with interior circles and ellipses to allow for computer cords to drop through. They are also offering seamless desktop coatings and a variety of colors and effects.
Powder coating can accommodate these shapes, while other lamination techniques that rely on edge-banding methods cannot. And, powder application is a one-step finishing process, not requiring successive coats or long drying times.
In addition, powder coating can save many sanding procedures between coats, resulting in operational efficiency and cost savings over liquid coating.
Until reason years it was commonly viewed that powder coating of MDF boards was not feasible for mass production.
But this is now a perception of the past as dramatic improvements of the low cure technology combined with state-of-the-art application techniques are making MDF powder coating today a reality. accessible to the entire furniture industry.
powder coating on MDF is now seen as an preferred choice over other alternatives such as laminate veneers and liquid paint
the benefits include
improve humidity resistance
complete freedom of design
ease of application
and additionally it is environmentally friendly
all of these advantages combined to make powder coating is the ideal coating solution for MDF lets understand how powder coatings apply on MDF
powder coating application takes place the MDF board has now been giving is final shape through cutting, routing or drilling.
The boards may need proper sanding and cleaning plus a final check of the boards moisture content is recommended to secure a consistent application over time
The MDF board are then hung on the conveyor line vertically with proper distance maintains between the boards
longer or wider boards are usually hung horizontally to ensure equal coating coverage across the surface
Once the boards are properly hung they move along the conveyor system through different stages which include
board preheating
powder coating application
and powder curing
let’s take a closer look at each of the stages
the boards first pass through the preheating oven where are they are subject to approximately 60 seconds of surface heating
with temperatures of up to 70°C depending on thickness and size of the boars
Preheating is a key step in the process the temperature brings out the moisture to the surface of the board which makes the MDF board conductive enough to ensure the powder will stick to the board
after the preheating the boards then passes through an application booth where the powder was applied on the MDF board
These are non-conductive booths with Corona guns and counter electro panels on either sides which insure an even application of powder coating on the board surface and edges.
Once the powder is applied, the board passes through the curing oven.
Thanks to the low curing properties of the powder coating the integrity and properties of MDF board are not effected.
The powder is now cured.
the boards then usually pass through a cooling zone
all will be left on conveyor lines on cool down after which they can be offloaded from the conveyor and pass the queue see control lab.
the board now looks great
in case you want to give you a furniture superior appearance or performance you may consider using powder in combination with powder or wet systems as primer or topcoat