Powder Coating Cost Per Piece

Cost & profit per piece

Powder (material)·

Pretreatment / blasting·

Labor (hang, spray, unhang, mask, pack)·

Oven energy + compressed air·

Consumables (hooks, masking, filters)·

Overhead allocation·

Reject / rework uplift·

TRUE COST PER PIECE·

Price you'd need to hit your target margin.

Enter your selling price below to see if you're profitable.

Powder (material)

Surface area per piece Estimate. A 12"×12" flat plate, both sides ≈ 2 sq ft.

ft²

Film thickness

mils

Powder price

$/lb

Powder specific gravity On the data sheet. Most are 1.3–1.8. Use 1.5 if unsure.

Transfer efficiency How much sticks vs. blows past. 60% manual gun is realistic; reclaim systems higher.

Labor, the big one

Hands-on minutes per piece Hang + blast/wipe + spray + unhang + mask + unmask + pack. Time yourself on 10 real pieces.

min

Loaded labor rate Wage + payroll tax + benefits. If it's you two, use what your time is worth.

$/hr

Pretreatment / blasting

Blast media + chemicals per piece Media wears out, degreaser/phosphate gets used up. Rough per-piece.

Oven energy + air

Oven power draw

Cure time (at temp)

min

Pieces cured per batch Energy is per batch. More pieces per load = cheaper each.

Electricity rate

$/kWh

Compressed air per piece Compressor runtime cost. Small but real.

Consumables

Hooks/racks, masking, filters per piece Hooks are reusable, so amortize them. Plugs, caps, high-temp tape are not.

Overhead

Monthly fixed costs Rent (net of sublet), equipment, insurance, utilities base. Not labor, it's counted above.

Pieces coated per month Be honest: actual, not capacity.

Rejects & rework

Reject / re-do rate Runs, fisheyes, thin spots that get stripped and redone. Even 5% adds up.

Your price & target

What you charge per piece

Target profit margin

Powder coverage math: theoretical ft²/lb = 192.3 ÷ (SG × mils), then reduced by transfer efficiency. This calculator runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.