Unique Masking Technique Makes Hot Parts Look Hotter
In the coating industry, masking has become a fundamental part of the design process. This is especially true for one small job shop in Ohio. Joe Lillicrap went from being a flight crew scheduler to making his own schedule about two years ago when the airline reduced its workforce, and Lillicrap lost his job. He was at a trade show when he first saw a powder coated chopper frame in early 2001, and the concept piqued his interest. "But when you are making a living and the money is rolling in, there is not as much incentive to start a business from scratch," he says. It wasn't until he lost his job at the airline that he decided to enter the coating industry, and Wicked Designs was born. Located in Huber Heights, Ohio, Lillicrap specializes in a propriety powder coating application technique that utilizes masking to create unique designs.
With the help of his maskant supplier, EPSI, Menomonee Falls, Wis., and a trial-and-error approach, Lillicrap says he has the perfect recipe to create some "wicked designs." He says the biggest challenge when designing graphics is that the piece is always hot. He says that sometimes he incorporates a cool-down cycle, but with EPSI's A12 type of tape, which is designed to work on top of powder coating, often times the part is still hot. "And when coating is hot - whether you are coating it for the first time or reheating it - it is very susceptible and delicate." This could be the reason, he says, that many people do not succeed when trying to replicate his proprietary coating process. "If you do not do it correctly," he says, "you end up ruining your finish by burning the masking into the existing coating." He does divulge that in addition to the A-12 tape, he also uses EPSI's A35, K12 and K22 models. "These work the best for my powder coating applications," he says.