tcb

Common knowledge says powder coating is too thick and goopy for lugs, but every once in a while I hear someone say that the RIGHT powder coater can masterfully apply a thinner coat and can leave your frame and it's perfect lug shorelines looking good.

Is this true? Anyone have experience with this? Can you recommend someone specifically? Does a convention powder coating really look that awful? Pics of powder coated lugged steel, anyone?

unterhausen

I don't think it's that bad. Just don't do white

Six jours

These are powdercoated by a place that claims to "specialize" in bikes.









The silver bike came out looking great, although it's starting to rust in a few places despite having been coated less than 2 years ago. The black bike has a very thick powder coat, which would upset me if I'd put any effort into profiling the lugs. And the powder on the blue bike is so thin that the bare steel shows through in a few places, although it never rusted for some reason.

The only real advice I can give is A) if you've put every effort into making lugs perfect, paint it, B) don't worry about powdercoat being so thick as to look ridiculous -- most riders I talk to don't know the difference between a coated and painted frame, C) the metallic colors almost always look better than the plain gloss ones, and D) coated frames are definately more susceptible to rust.

joseph senger

i agree with with six jours on his alphabetical points. And i want to point out that his examples of powder are the exception. Now if you have a bike that needs more body work than you want to invest after blasting it, the flow out of powder coating can be very beneficial in making an ok frame look like it has had its body work done. Powder is also more susceptible to rusting underneath the shell it forms, whereas paint shows its rust earlier, and makes remediation more timely and less work.

NoReg

That paint sounds bad for follow up sales...

tcb

Thanks for the input!

Six Jours, those pics are really helpful. The silver powder job looks great, but I wouldn't be too happy with the black on my frame... All three powder jobs were done at the same place, huh?

I didn't know about the rust under powder situation, that's something new to consider.

In my particular case, I'm looking to have a frame I build at a framebuilding course painted. I've spent a pretty ridiculous amount of time thinning the lugs just right, though I'm now noticing my shorelines are not absolutely perfect everywhere...

Anyway, I want this bike to look it's best, but I also plan on really using it and that includes locking it to a pole a few times a week - I'm afraid paint won't stand up to that kind of abuse like I'd hope. It seems like powder can be a toss-up as far as thickness goes... Which is worse, possibly goopy lugs and less resistance to rust, or lots of dings?

Six jours

Yeah, a place in SoCal. Big place, probably each frame was done by a different person.

Powder can be a useful mistake hider. A great painter can make an average frame look really good too, though.

I'm at the point where I use powder for everything but my most "special" frames. And frankly, I almost hate to ride those special bikes because I've got so much invested in the paint. Powder can be very liberating in that sense. And if you end up getting bored with the color, or putting some dings into it, or even deciding that you want that braze-on in a slightly different place, it's no more than a hundred bucks out of pocket.

rodar y rodar

How`s that? Do you have so many done at the same place that they redo a whole frame for you on the cheap, or can they reshoot just the area that you worked on? If you wanted to, say move a bridge or add pump pegs or some such, could you spot strip the area easilly without any special equipment or hard to mess with chemicals? Just curious.

Six jours

Most places that I am familiar with charge less than $100 to powdercoat a frame and fork. I've never heard of recoating just one area and kind of doubt it works.

rodar y rodar

Thanks, 6J. I didn`t think it could be touched up, but wasn`t sure.

bobbycorno

If you want to see what's possible with powder check these folks:
https://www.spectrumpowderworks.com/spectrumindex.php

Abso-frigging-lutely AMAZING!

SP
Bend, OR

tcb

Bump

Anyone else have experience with powder coating a lugged frame?

Any recommendations in the NYC area?

southpawboston

i've had two frames powdercoated by the same one-man operation outside of boston: one in french blue, another in black. the quality of the blue powdercoat surpassed all my expectations-- the lug shorelines weren't softened at all, and the color came out very consistent throughout-- no bare patches. the black frame came out very thick, to the point where it appeared "dipped". i was worried because the lugs appeared to almost blend into the tubing, and after expressing my dismay about the thickness, he explained that dark colors always do that with powdercoating, and that lighter colors go on thinner. he also explained that it's essential to do a two-step powdercoating process, whereby a primer coat is first applied, and the color coat is then applied while the primer coat is still warm and tacky. he explained that most of the cheaper powdercoaters skip the primer step, which causes the color coat to more readily lift from the metal, allowing rust to form.

as it turned out, i was able to hand paint the lug shorelines, and i'm actually quite happy with the details and how the black frame turned out in the end. each powdercoating job me $96 including all paint stripping and media blasting. the latter two alone were worth the money.

and to follow up on six jours' comment about powder making a rough frame look nice, this is exactly what i'm shooting for with my next frame, a french lugged reynolds frame with absolutely horrendous lugwork and brazing. my hope is that the powder fills in all the gaps and irregularities and smooths things out a bit.

Six jours

"...he explained that dark colors always do that with powdercoating, and that lighter colors go on thinner..."

Good to know. Matches my experience exactly.

Butterthebean

Wow...that does look dipped. The french blue looks awesome. Nice job on painting the lug lines. What's that headbadge you put on there?

southpawboston

the frame's a mid-80s shogun that originally had a decal headbadge. i found this 70s shogun badge on the 'bay. did a little paint fill, added faux rivet heads and slapped 'er on:

kjc9640

You have some really good looking bikes their. I am going to have my 82 Raleigh powder coated and I want to keep the head badge intact. How would you suggest I remove it and then put it back on. It is attached with 3 rivets.

Kimmo

Sublimation powdercoating is pretty funky...