Vapor Honing Powder Coated items

@Team_Metal_Shop I have several powder coated stainless steel tumblers that I need to remove the powder coating from and am curious if there is any issue with using the Vapor Honing machine to do this. I have used a sand blasting rig to do this in the past but I’m assuming the Vapor Honing machine would be just as effective (and probably faster than my small media blasting rig). I also have some old, rusty tools I would like to clean up but I assume something like that would be less of an issue.

powder coat can be removed on the vapor hone, but it will be a slow process. Dry blasting it would be faster but still slow. Professional shops I’ve used burn it off. For things where it’s not critical you can use the kiln to burn it off if it’s polyester coat, 600-700 will probably do it. If you’re unsure burning off powder coat should be done outside since some is PVC based.

the rusty tools will clean up well in it.

Most SS tumblers are sealed, heating them up this high may make them pop apart. Not sure but a possibility. Has anyone ever heated one that high?

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So they’re supposed to be vacuum walled which wouldn’t be a problem as long as you don’t soften the metal, but cheaper ones may just be an air gap and that could be problematic.

If they are good, they are vacuum insulated. So there shouldn’t be any issues with the vacuum expanding to the point of creating pressure.

What I would wonder about is how they are sealed, and if that method holds up to the heat? Epoxy, no. Welded, usually no issue unless differential expansion applies too much stress. Soldered? What type of solder?

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They are vacuum insulated but I’m not sure how well they would hold up under 600 degrees or so. If I can’t get the coating off efficiently, it’s not a tragedy. It would just be nice to re-use them for other projects if possible. I’m going to try to clean up the old tools I have next week. Some of them are probably going on 80 years old or more…should be interesting…