Big Fluid beds?

Going to make around 20 big fluid beds. These will be 24" long by 3" wide and 4" deep. The sides will be make from plywood and I have some of the membrane that I will glue in the bottom. But trying to figure out if one air source will work with this big of a bed? Or should I plan on adding 2 per side to make sure theres enough volume of air to move the paint?
My oven is 20" wide and making up hangers that will hold 18" of jigs in them. That way I can fill say 50 of these racks heat them all up. Take out a rack and dip in the fluid bed, then sit it back in the oven. Thus being able to power coat hundreds of jigs in the same time it now takes to do a few dozen.
Pete

Pete the larger fluid beds have a vibrating shaker as well as air pressure. It will take couple of pounds of paint to work in it Im thinking, the one that CSI offers takes 5 pounds to make it work right. Best of luck with it.

Sounds like a project for sure, good luck and yes you better have a lot of powder paint, LOL!

Thanks for that info, may have to rethink this and just spray them. But I was figuring on a lb of powder for each. But doing jigs up to 3 oz this would be fast and cut down on labor. The shaker is easy, but will make one and try it before building all of them.
Where my son works they have a fluid bed 12ft long x 4ft wide it holds I think he told me 2 55 gallon barrels of powder.
Again thanks for the heads up.
Pete

2 - 55 gallon of powder would paint #of jigs :dono LOTS :biggrin

Good grief that would be just huge, but I guess painting lots of larger items that would be the way to go. Also if your doing a lot of huge jig heads like 3 Oz I would look for a better way, maybe just a little smaller than you have in mind would be good? I sure don't know as I just use the single dip.

Gonna take a lot of powder and you're gonna have a lot of eyes to clean out before curing!! Good luck can't wait to see what you come up with!!

All I can say is.....WOW!

Pete. Let me know how they turn out. I may be interested in a couple. I have played around with that idea, but have not followed up on it.

I've never used a fluid bed, but I pour a lot of lead.

For or my big jigs, 2-24oz, I vynil paint, and then vynil clear dip. The vynil skins over after about 2 mins and is able to be handled after 30 mins for the clear coat.

No no heat other than a heat lamp for post cure. Full hardness in 6 hours.

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Originally Posted by Clear Solution

I've never used a fluid bed, but I pour a lot of lead.

For or my big jigs, 2-24oz, I vynil paint, and then vynil clear dip. The vynil skins over after about 2 mins and is able to be handled after 30 mins for the clear coat.

No no heat other than a heat lamp for post cure. Full hardness in 6 hours.

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Okay so tell me something, what method do you use to clear the eyes? I have seen a couple ways that I didn't care for all that much. I use vinyl, but not all that much and if you use it on something with a swivel, like a Roadrunner head there is no way I know of to keep the vinyl out of that! Still a very hard good finish for sure!

Plus for good colors you have to make 3 dips right?

Skip

Skip I'm going to try some of the power paint tape for the eyes. But don't think it going to work. Also have some samples of the same stuff we use in our molds for the weed guards when pouring. But in a smaller size that will fit into the eye of the hooks.
Looking more like a paint booth will be built and spray them. Then the eyes does not get covered with paint. I now use hemostats to hold the hook eye and dip each jig this way. But man its slow when your doing a few hundred 1 oz and bigger jigs at a time. Have enough of the fluid bed membrane to be able to use it and try to see what works best on each way. Should have 50 Sq ft more of it by next year. :cheers2
Pete

I am sure that is slow and my way is not fast either, but I don't have to clean my stats which I like. I just take a knife and cut down tooth picks to sharpen the point and make the points longer so they will fit in any jig head eye. Then after I dip the jig I just stick the tooth pick through the eye to ale paint out, then I actually whip each side of the eyes on the tooth pick, LOL! I have some tooth pick that are already 10 years old, LOL! I only get a new one for that color if I break the point off. Then usually most don't close up again during the cure, but if one or two do close I have a cheap thin needle bodkin I heat with a bic after I clamp it in the vise and just before tying it. I am so use to this I just couldn't get use to the stat holding the eye and then I really didn't care for how much paint got on the stats so fast.

Don't blame you for looking at a better way to paint a lot faster, it sure would help when you have a lot of one color to do, but then clean up to change colors may also be an issue huh? I many you can't have a different bed for each color like I do for the cups I have. I tried cleaning one and found that not so easy to do so gave up on that and just buy new cups each time I buy new colors, LOL! I probably have something over 60 cups, maybe as many as 80, just don't know right now.

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Originally Posted by skiptomylu

I am sure that is slow and my way is not fast either, but I don't have to clean my stats which I like. I just take a knife and cut down tooth picks to sharpen the point and make the points longer so they will fit in any jig head eye. Then after I dip the jig I just stick the tooth pick through the eye to ale paint out, then I actually whip each side of the eyes on the tooth pick, LOL! I have some tooth pick that are already 10 years old, LOL! I only get a new one for that color if I break the point off. Then usually most don't close up again during the cure, but if one or two do close I have a cheap thin needle bodkin I heat with a bic after I clamp it in the vise and just before tying it. I am so use to this I just couldn't get use to the stat holding the eye and then I really didn't care for how much paint got on the stats so fast.

Don't blame you for looking at a better way to paint a lot faster, it sure would help when you have a lot of one color to do, but then clean up to change colors may also be an issue huh? I many you can't have a different bed for each color like I do for the cups I have. I tried cleaning one and found that not so easy to do so gave up on that and just buy new cups each time I buy new colors, LOL! I probably have something over 60 cups, maybe as many as 80, just don't know right now.

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Sounds like me, I have a cup for each color and then have 2 sizes for each color. As the big jigs I use 3 or 4" pipe for those and 2" for the smaller ones.
If I do go with the big fluid beds. I will have one for each color, and be able to run them when I need it. No way would I try to clean out power to swap colors.
Pete

A buddy of mine has one of these that he uses mostly for car rims but has done springs, off road fenders, different brackets, etc and swears by it, IMO uses a lot of material but it is easy to make a reclaim system. Harbor freight and a few other companies have a similar gun.
Eastwood Dual Voltage Powder Gun Starter Kit
hang em, set your clips, spray em, cure em.