The basic rule of our trade fits in one sentence: to be powder coated, a part must conduct electricity and withstand the heat of the oven. Wood and plastic fail both tests. For a few years now, however, manufacturers have been getting around the obstacle.
Two routes: cure cooler or cure with light
The first route is thermal. AkzoNobel's Interpon W range includes a version that cures between 120 and 135 °C in a few minutes, for MDF, wood or composites. The second is ultraviolet curing: the powder is melted at low temperature, then a UV lamp cures it in a few seconds. The American manufacturer Keyland Polymer reports melting at 130 °C for one to two minutes before the pass under the lamp.
A real case: 3D printing
In December 2025, the magazine Additive Manufacturing featured a California shop that coats 3D printed nylon parts this way: about 104 °C, eight minutes in total, about a hundred parts per hour. These figures are the company's own, on a brand new line, but they show that the process has left the laboratory.
The current limits
A plastic does not conduct electricity: it needs a primer or a prior treatment for the powder to stick to it, Keyland Polymer notes. UV light only cures what it shines on, which complicates hollow shapes, and some pigments block it, as Powder Coated Tough details. Finally, these processes require specialized equipment: infrared ovens, UV lamps, lines designed for one type of part.
And at our shop?
Let's be clear: at the shop, we coat metal. Our oven and our powders are made for steel, aluminum, stainless steel, cast iron and galvanized steel. If you have a plastic or wood part to coat, we will point you to another solution. We are following these processes closely, however, since composite materials are gaining ground in automotive and sports.
In summary
- Some powders now cure between 120 and 135 °C, low enough for MDF and some composites.
- UV powders melt at low temperature, then cure in a few seconds under a lamp.
- The process is already used for 3D printed parts, with specialized equipment.
- At the shop, we coat metal.
