Design guidelines for powder coated parts
Following a few basic design guidelines will help ensure your parts coat properly and pass SendCutSend review.
Sizing & hole requirements
Sizing limits apply to flat parts before bending
| Min part size (flat) | 1″ x 3″ (≥ 3 in² surface area) |
| Max part size (flat) | 30″ x 36″ |
| Required hanging hole | ≥ .063″ (1.60 mm) |
| Min hole / cutout size | ≥ .040″ (1.02 mm) |
| Min hole (laser cut) | ≈ 50% of material thickness |
- Holes smaller than .040″ may fill during coating
- Tapped holes are not plugged before coating; expect to chase threads after
- Verify min hole sizes for your material in the Material Catalog
- Need to check sizes for other services? See our Processing Min/Max Size Charts
What to expect with powder coated parts
- Coating thickness: Adds .002″–.005″ per side (.004″–.010″ total). Account for this in areas with tight clearances or small holes.
- Tabs / micro joints: Not removed prior to coating. Visible through powder coat. Typically .015″–.030″ wide, ~.010″ tall.
- Etching — Single line etching will not be visible. Powder coat fully covers etched lines.
- Surface prep — Parts may be media blasted prior to coating.
- Fingerprints — Most colors will show fingerprints. Wrinkle black is the exception.
- Colors — Standard colors only. No custom color matching.
Additional powder coating resources
If you’re designing parts for powder coating, these resources may help:
Pre-flight checklist
- File is in a format that we accept (2D: .dxf, .dwg, .ai, .eps; 3D: .step or .stp)
- All holes and cutouts are at least 50% material thickness for laser cut parts
- All holes and cutouts are no less than 0.070” for most waterjet cut parts
- All holes and cutouts are no less than 0.125” for all CNC routed parts
- File is built at a 1:1 scale, preferably in inch or mm units
- 2D files: all objects on the same layer, text converted to outlines, no open contours, all shapes united or merged, floating interiors bridged or stencilized
- 3D files: single solid sheet metal body, uniform thickness with a face at every edge, modeled at stock thickness with matching bend specs
- All stray points, duplicate lines, empty objects and text areas have been removed