Powdercoat experiences??
 

I've got an aluminum Jamis frame I'm building up and I am seriously considering getting it powdercoated while I've got it all apart...I've searched these forums and it seems that a lot of people have been very satisfied with the results of their powdercoats...I'm just getting one color, solid black, and I'm having a local sign shop make up some copies of the "Jamis" decals [just downtube and seattube] in white or silver, and the coater is also going to spray a wet clear-coat over the decals after I install them...What does everyone think?..I think I got a good price: 105 dollars for bead-blasting the old finish, coating, and clear-coat.

I would love to see some pics of other peoples projects so I can get a better idea of what it might look like...It looks like the pics in all the old threads have been deleted so, does anyone have any pics that they can post?..Thanks.

-Boomer

I don't have pics, but recently had an old steel frame powdercoated, and very happy with the results. The powdercoating is not bullet-proof though, as I did manage to put a small chip in it. Make sure they mask all of the threads etc properly. They oversprayed a bit into my bb shell and had to remove the powdercoat after it had baked on.

Go for it. Much better than paint unless you want high-zoot graphics.

Hrm, I don't have any closeups on this computer, but I have been happy with the 3 bikes that I have had powder-coated. Black is good because I found that lighter colours (my Ciocc is pigeon-blue) show scuffs much easier. It doesn't scratch at all, just scuffs. Wax it as soon as you get it done and be sure to have them cover up any threading....my Colnago's BB thread had to be re-raced as it got some of the coating in there.

Some neat stuff on this site:

http://www.spectrumpowderworks.com/

Awesome...Thanks for the responses...And good tip on the masking, I'll do that...I've been to the spectrum powderworks website, and they do have some cool stuff on there, but it's all a little too gaudy for my tastes plus I would like to see some powdercoated bikes completely built up...don't know why.

Does anybody have pics?

Here is my Trek 460 that just came back from powdercoat. I sold it today on eBay. The guys did an excellent job of modifying it and powdercoating but I decided to go a different route.

http://i1.ebayimg.com/03/i/05/b7/aa/2c_1.JPG

Edit: by the way, the whole job cost $85 with stripping, modification, and powdercoat...

Frame looks great, what kind of mods did they do?

I've had good experiences with powdercoats. When I lived in Michigan, a friend worked at an industrial-finishing place and painted three frames for me, all for free. Great hook-up. Quotes from places around here, for stripping+painting usually run around $90; quotes for just painting (if you've stripped the frame yourself) are around $50.
In my experience, the stuff's not bulletproof and can be cracked, but is generally pretty durable. I've got it on aluminum and steel bikes.

This was going to be my single speed so I had them remove the derailleur hanger and the downtube shifter bosses. Pretty easy stuff but they came out looking great. The nicest part of the whole thing was the paint. The frameset had a lot of surface rust under the original paint and after stripping and powder it came back nice and smooooth. Beautiful work.

Tried three times with my aluminum Trek. Coating still look terrible in my opinion. Using white, Already have decals just waiting. Just waiting for a good power coat job.

I'm going through my first experience with powdercoating with a company here in Portland - Class Act Paint and Powder. They do a lot of contract work for big manufacturers. Good work but not stellar - a completely different approach than with the other paint shop I'm dealing with. Will get the frame back next week and post photos soon.

55/Rad

Is this the infamous 17 month frame project? I hope it works out. I have several old frames in garage that I'm looking to have powdercoated.

Tim

No - that is the Tete custom job. The powdercoat is for the 7 year old steel Lemond that I'm giving away. 2 bikes, 2 different goals, 2 completely different experiences.

55/Rad

I hope this work out well.

Tim

I'm looking to do the same and called on place around here.

He quoted me $30-75 for sandblasting but about $100 to sand and paint. He said he charges two hundred for a motorcycle.

Do you think you could get your chainrings powdercoated? I would really like some orange chainrings for the Orbea?

mscycler

75 sounds high for sand/beadblasting only...The guy I'm going to is only charging his minimum charge, 35, per step...i.e. 35 for blasting, 35 for coating and 35 for clear coat...

I'm actually thinking about skipping the clear coat and going with a matte black finish...does anyone have any experiences with matte finish in powder?..does it have a slight "sheen" like with wet paint?..That's the look I want...Stealthy

-Boomer

Yep, sure can! Anodizing would be another option, and would be easier - since you'd need to mask the teeth for a powdercoat.

My experience wtih power coating has been positive. the only precautuion that I woul add is to get the base material as close to the fininal finish condition as you can as the powder coat can, and often will, show material imperfections through the finish. Bob