Topic: Best advice on repainting a frame? plus a few related questions.

[Terry in Australia]

So, is a "Mil", a "Millimeter" mate? I've yet to see powdercoat 2-3 Millimeters thick? And "Micron" is still common parlance here in Oz when talking about the thickness of paint. Cheers, Terry.

[Bru-tom]

after googling the "mil":  A mil equals 1/1000 of an inch

more here: http://www.autopia.org/forum/topic/122930-paint-thickness-gauge-ptg/

micron is used where the most accuracy is required.

[Terry in Australia]

Ah, that makes sense mate, I painted cars for many years, and while "Micron" is common in Automotive paint discussion, I'd never heard of a "Mil" before. Cheers, Terry.

[Powderman]

So, is a "Mil", a "Millimeter" mate? I've yet to see powdercoat 2-3 Millimeters thick? And "Micron" is still common parlance here in Oz when talking about the thickness of paint. Cheers, Terry.

How many microns are you talking about for paint? As mentioned a mil is .001. 3 mil, or .003" of powder would be 685microns. Are microns there the same as they are in the rest of the world?

[greenjeans]

I've powdercoated at least 5 frames over the years.  A good powdercoater will have many different "blacks" to choose from.   I've always done a shade that is between gloss and satin - closer to satin.   I've yet to have any problems with the finish.  Purists have yet to be able to tell the difference on my restos.   I always tell the powdercoater that is is going to be a "show" bike and I usually clean up the welds and splatter a little before handing it off.
I should also add that I leave a 12 pack of fancy beer for the guys doing the work.  Bribery goes a long way.

Now, I have seen some truly horrific powdercoating jobs - as with anything, it comes down to the preparation and the skill of the person doing the coating.   

Also - they say you can not polish powdercoat.   You can, but it is a bit harder than paint.

[Powderman]

I've powdercoated at least 5 frames over the years.  A good powdercoater will have many different "blacks" to choose from.   I've always done a shade that is between gloss and satin - closer to satin.   I've yet to have any problems with the finish.  Purists have yet to be able to tell the difference on my restos.   I always tell the powdercoater that is is going to be a "show" bike and I usually clean up the welds and splatter a little before handing it off.
I should also add that I leave a 12 pack of fancy beer for the guys doing the work.  Bribery goes a long way.

Now, I have seen some truly horrific powdercoating jobs - as with anything, it comes down to the preparation and the skill of the person doing the coating.   

Also - they say you can not polish powdercoat.   You can, but it is a bit harder than paint.

Actually I have found it to be no harder than polishing paint. It's done the exact same way, sanding till you get to 2000grit and then buffing and polishing.
Paccar black is a 55% gloss  black and what is standard in the automotive business for frames and chassis parts .

[Terry in Australia]

Are microns there the same as they are in the rest of the world?

Ha ha, "Microns" aren't an "American origin" unit of measurement mate, so hopefully they are the same for the rest of the world. (Including America............)

[Powderman]

I've powdercoated at least 5 frames over the years.  A good powdercoater will have many different "blacks" to choose from.   I've always done a shade that is between gloss and satin - closer to satin.   I've yet to have any problems with the finish.  Purists have yet to be able to tell the difference on my restos.   I always tell the powdercoater that is is going to be a "show" bike and I usually clean up the welds and splatter a little before handing it off.
I should also add that I leave a 12 pack of fancy beer for the guys doing the work.  Bribery goes a long way.

Now, I have seen some truly horrific powdercoating jobs - as with anything, it comes down to the preparation and the skill of the person doing the coating.   

Also - they say you can not polish powdercoat.   You can, but it is a bit harder than paint.

Actually I have found it to be no harder than polishing paint. It's done the exact same way, sanding till you get to 2000grit and then buffing and polishing.
Paccar black is a 55% gloss  black and what is standard in the automotive business for frames and chassis parts .

So my question remains, if your automotive paint jobs are measured in microns , how many microns thick is one?

[Bru-tom]

that question seems a little demeaning to me. because if you dont know how thick standard paint should be, youre fooling a lot of people    there is a simple conversion from the unit of measurement we use to yours. I am no professional spray painter and that is jargon to me still. But i am no idiot when it comes to spray painting. The thickness does not matter to me when i paint nor do i have a device to measure it. When i bought paint for my tank, the dude says ave should be around 30 micron for primer depending on how many coats you give it, the base and clear another 80-90 odd. So total will be around 110-120 microns, also depends how many clear coats you apply. Which converted is about  4 1/2 to 5 of your mils.

but you already know this

[Peter K]

Terry, Fantastic pictures, looks really good.

In the end think that I will paint it rather than powder coat. I suppose that the mils will be whatever they work out to when I've finished. I don't have all the parts here until June so unless I get too impatient won't do it until then. Chances are that I will be too impatient, but can't do anything anyway for the next month or so, but will let you know.
I was surprised that most people didn't say remove the plate and put it back afterwards.

[Terry in Australia]

G'Day Peter, no worries, the reason I haven't suggested to remove the VIN tag is that it used to be illegal to remove a VIN tag and may still be in Victoria as this was commonly done when vehicles were stolen and "Rebirthed". (a VIN tag off a stolen vehicle was removed and replaced with one from a written off vehicle)

I don't know if that's still the case though, so it's probably best to call Vicroads before you do so. Cheers, Terry.