Topic: Powdercoat or Paint?

[katmol]

I'm getting ready to start pulling the bike apart to build the Tracy body project. What's the best thing to do for refinishing the frame, powdercoat or paint? I've heard that with powdercoat you don't get a good "black" black finish, that it looks dark grey in the sun. Is this true?

[Steel Dragon Performance]

Hi, I have a powder coat kit from eastwood , there gloss black is nice and black, it looks wet.   If you over bake it, It  gets a haze that may be the gray.  Also a very hard finish.

[eshumaker]

Powdercoating is always my preference, as it's really even (when done correctly) and very hard/durable. Unfortunately, I usually can't afford to send it out for powder, so I paint. You can do really good paint at home, but as I'm not a painter, mine usually looks just like you would expect.

[736cc]

Powdercoat if not carefully prepped can cause lotsa parts not re-fitting due to the thickness of the coating (ie: swingarm to frame, threaded parts) plus the vin number can get obscured ez. Scribe the numbers berforehand, some folks mask them off (which looks not so hot when done.
I like 90% gloss black paint, just like oem. You can rattle can w/ very good results if on a buget. Too glossy looks incorrect. Surface prep and priming important, sandblast does a great strip.

[mcuozzo]

A high gloss or mirror black will look black, even in the sun.  It's the other blacks - like 50% gloss, some satins and some flats that look grey in the sun.  I've got a small powder coating setup at home and I've done a ton of black pieces. 

Powdercoating is more durable and UV resistant than paint (make sure you use the right powder coat, ie. an epoxy based powder coat is no good for the sun ask your powder coater he'll know).  I just got a quote of $225 for a frame, which doesn't seem too bad.  I was looking at using POR15 and by the time you get the base, the primer and the topcoat your at $100.  Plus I don't have any supplies like brushes etc.

Paint is more easily touched up.  But really if you have to touch up powder coat, just use a paint to match.

And yeah when you get your frame powder coated you have to plug\mask anything you don't want coated.  Like ground points, any threaded hole or anything where clearances are tight.  You can sand off powder coat and tap out the threads, but who wants more work.

Good luck and post before and after pics of your frame...

Matt

[Stev-o]

A high gloss or mirror black will look black, even in the sun.  It's the other blacks - like 50% gloss, some satins and some flats that look grey in the sun.  I've got a small powder coating setup at home and I've done a ton of black pieces. 

Powdercoating is more durable and UV resistant than paint (make sure you use the right powder coat, ie. an epoxy based powder coat is no good for the sun ask your powder coater he'll know).  I just got a quote of $225 for a frame, which doesn't seem too bad.  I was looking at using POR15 and by the time you get the base, the primer and the topcoat your at $100.  Plus I don't have any supplies like brushes etc.

Paint is more easily touched up.  But really if you have to touch up powder coat, just use a paint to match.

And yeah when you get your frame powder coated you have to plug\mask anything you don't want coated.  Like ground points, any threaded hole or anything where clearances are tight.  You can sand off powder coat and tap out the threads, but who wants more work.

Good luck and post before and after pics of your frame...

Matt

I've seen some powdercoat jobs that are not smooth, has like an orange peel finish, what causes that?

[swellguy]

If you are wanting a black frame, powdercoat over paint any day. The finish is far more durable, gloss black can look like glass and tremclad gloss black cut with about 25% mineral spirits will match just fine. There have also been many advances in high temp expoy filler material so a number of joints and surfaces can be filled smooth for an even better finish.
Of course it's more expensive than rattle can paint but I think the price is well worth the product.
Perhaps the biggest limitation to powdercoating will be the availability of selection or if you want to anything crazy like wild candy color over metalflake. But there are metalflake powdercoat finishes as well.
These days, depending on how large your community is, you'd likely find a competitive price from an experienced firm.

[mcuozzo]

Orange peel in powder coat is caused by the same things as with regular paint...improper prep of the part, improper application of the powder (or paint) or poor quality of the powder (or paint).

The part needs to be absolutely clean, than blasted, then treated (either with a cleaning agent or a prep coating such as iron phosphate) and then properly coated and cured. 

If the part is not clean, powder behaves just like paint, it won't stick as well to the dirty areas.  That can cause orange peel.

Properly coating it means evenly covering the part with the right thickness of powder.  Uneven coating can cause orange peel.  Two thin creates bare spots, too thick could cause orange peel but usually creates other problems. 

When curing the part you need to heat the part gradually to melt the powder, give it enough time to flow out and get smooth, than cure it at the right time and temperature (of the part, not of the oven).  Heating it too quickly and/or not giving it enough time to flow out could cause orange peel.  Curing for too short a time means the powder will not be durable, too long and it usually hazes over (for a gloss powder) or causes the color to darken.

Phew, after writing all that it's a miracle any part comes out right.  It takes time and skill to get a perfectly coated part, but it's easier than painting.  I can get pretty good results on powder coated parts, I can't paint for s**t.

And I would say at this point there isn't a color/texture that can't be duplicated with powder coating.  There are some amazing powder coaters out there.  And if you really want to see something awesome, google dye sublimation powder coating.  Basically its any image - flames, camouflage, a mural or a nature scene embedded into powder coating through the use of pressure/heat.  It's way expensive right now, but it will come down in price once they realize the market.  Might be the death of painting, since it is much more environmentally friendly.  Found a decent link...http://www.podcollc.com/dye-sublimation.html

Sorry for taking this sort of off topic...

Matt

[stueveone]

I love powdercoating. I used to own a shop where we did both paint and powdercoat. For the amount of time it took to just prime a frame, you could powdercoat and bake with it being ready to assemble as soon as it cools down. And it's a much more resilient finish. One thing, though, it is not well suited for racing, as cracks don't show up under powder like they do with paint. So unless you somehow ride your bike hard enough on the street where you're checking your frame for cracks every other week, then powdercoating is the way to go.