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There are 2 things that we can do in the shop to clean an aluminum part:

• Scrubbing
• Wash it (depends on part)
• Acetone Wipe
• Acetone Scrub
Outgassing

When and why you should use these cleaning processes is detailed below.

Scrubbing

Whenever a Aluminum part is done being manufactured and getting ready for powder coating the first step is to scrub it.

Scrubbing makes the part as smooth as possible and gets rid of any imperfections soo the powder coat can stick as well as possible.

To scrub take a green scouring pad and start scrubbing hard back and forth on the part( Make sure to put a good amount of pressure because other whys it won't really get into the aluminum.

You can also take an orbital sander and put a circular pad on it and do the same process. (Its much quicker)

• Make sure not to wear white pants or shirts
• Try not to breath in all of the aluminum and pad dust
• WASH your hands afterwards (Your hands will be covered in dust)

Washing your part

Whenever you are done scrubbing washing your part can help make sure its clean and let the acetone scrub go way quicker.

( If really backed up with parts not completely necessary to wash before Acetone)

For small parts just take a bunch of them and go into the marketing room sink and just give them a good rinse for about 30 sec each while scrubbing with a paper towel.

For large parts ask Ms. Rhea to let you through the Ag. room to use the hose out back. On the large parts make sure to wash and clean each side. Should take longer at like 4-5 min.

Make sure to dry your part thoroughly before Acetone scrubbing

Acetone Scrub

The sooner a part gets powder coated after manufacturing, the better due to aluminum oxidation.

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To do so, we can scrub the part down with acetone using steel wool or a finishing pad shop towels to strip off the oxide. Fold the shop towels a couple times and thenput your hand with the towel onto the opeening of the acetone can and pour a little out. ( Just a quick tip to 90° and back)

A few reminders when cleaning a part with acetone:

• Make sure you are in a well ventilated area
• Use gloves!

Outgassing

Outgassing is the process of removing embedded or trapped gasses on the faces of your aluminum part. It sounds more complicated than it actually is - in reality, all we are doing is baking the part.

The reason outgassing is important is because most of our parts are coated with coolant due to machining the part on the router or the mill. This coolant or oil can get embedded into the part and add irregularities into your powder coat layer.

To outgas, we can place the part in the oven at 400 degrees and bake for 20 minutes before powder coating to release any gasses trapped in by the coolant that coated the part during manufacturing.

Setup Checklist

•  Confirm that there is nothing in the oven
•  Move the internal oven rack to a place where you can easily reach it when hot
•  Turn on the oven to 400 degrees

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