[1]Powder coating has become increasingly popular as a way to provide a durable, colorful protective finish on everything from bicycle frames to dishwasher racks. The process of using an electrostatic charge to attract a dry powder to the object to be coated, then baking it on, has turned into a business that sees more than $6 billion spent per year worldwide.
It’s easy to see why the automotive aftermarket has embraced it so whole-heartedly, too – compared to “wet” paint technology, powder coating is far more environmentally friendly, with no solvents to evaporate and the potential for overspray to be collected and recycled.
Steering component manufacturer Flaming River [2] has recently jumped on the powder coat wagon, expanding their Berea, Ohio facility to include the ability to do custom finishes on a wide variety of their parts. Steering columns, boxes, racks, column mounts, and steering wheel adapters are just a few of the candidates for a special hue.
Flaming River offers a literal rainbow of colors to choose from, and to help match your car’s color scheme, they have a RAL (the international standard for paint and coating hues) color book available for reference (part number FRPC100) as well as a complete list of available colors on their website [3].
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