Contract powder coating of MDF panels and components has become reality with the introduction of a full-scale, completely automatic powder coating for wood installation by MDF Specialised Coatings, at Dinnington, Sheffield.
It offers a major new facility for furniture and woodworking manufacturers who are increasingly likely to require swift powder coating of MDF panels or components. Many of the most likely applications have already been identified: shopfitting, office furniture, doors, nursery furniture, shelving, wall panels and kitchen components are expected to be among the most popular.
MDF Specialised Coatings is able to provide both textured and smooth powder coatings from any of the major powder suppliers.
It also expects to make increasingly extensive use of new flame-retardant powders, as well as the new BioCote anti-bacteria powder coating. This is formulated to inhibit the growth of potentially lethal bacteria and will be of key importance to companies supplying products to vulnerable areas, such as healthcare institutions and public dining areas.
Long experience
The newly-established company – part of the Batchglow Group, which has long experience of powder coating through its finishing of metal products – now has a state-of-the-art powder coating plant designed to handle a variety of MDF workpieces on a continuous throughput basis.
The new development has been carefully timed. Tom Bulmer, chairman of the Batchglow Group, said: ‘We looked at doing this three years ago but it was too early. Powders were still being developed and there was a lack of specialised machinery. That’s all changed. Both powders and plant are excellent. And there’s an appetite among manufacturers to use powder coated products.’
Powder coating has been recognised as a real alternative to conventional wet or foil finishes, and one which offers a number of key advantages.
MDF Specialised Coatings can offer more than finishing, said Mr Bulmer. It can provide a ‘one stop shop’ capable of sourcing, machining, preparing and powder coating MDF panels. The new plant will handle panels up to 3050x1250mm.
Provided by Eurotech Finishing Systems, the MDF Specialised Coatings’ plant, designed for low bake powders, comprises overhead conveyor with hangers, double-pass convector heating tunnel for pre-conditioning of MDF (flame-retardant boards need no pre-heating due to their composition), infrared flash-off zone, electrostatic spraying using reciprocating triple-gun set-ups conforming automatically to sizes of panels, gas-fired infrared curing, and a cooling zone.
Panels are loaded on to the system at a point alongside the company’s MDF panel and components store, conveyed through all the finishing stages – at a speed of around 7ft per minute – and returned virtually to the head of the line for unloading.
Built-in adaptability
The £300,000 plant is designed to handle both long and short runs and has built-in adaptability. At the automatic spraying section, side panels can be removed to allow manual spraying, useful for short runs and for very complex profiles and shapes.
The curing section can be adjusted to deal satisfactorily with panels which vary in thickness due to complex profiles. MDF Specialised Coatings says that powder coating, already extensively used for television stands, office furniture, picture frames and children’s furniture, is winning increasing interest among furniture and woodworking manufacturers and specifiers and designers. The attractions, says the company include ‘excellent environmental credentials’ as the method is completely solvent-free and complies with latest VOC legislation. A single coating is also enough to provide a hard, durable surface that is scratch, impact and abrasion-resistant.
The company maintains that the smooth, even appearance of the finished article is another plus. Powder coating also obviates the need for denibbing and the stacking between coats required by a conventional multi-coat wet paint system. Full coating of panels is normally completed in an hour.
This finishing system can also cope with complex designs and powder coats come in an increasingly wide range of colours, metallic and other speciality finishes.
