Powder Coating Frame (Bath - Bristol Area)

jimmer111

As above really, anyone got any recommendations for powder coaters in the Bristol Bath area? I am aware of Argos cylces but they are very expensive compared to quotes from local powder coaters. Before i pick one of the quotes i was wondering if anyone can recommend someone. The frame is a cove hustler full suspension frame for what it is worth....

Cheers James

pimpin gimp

Google powder coasters in nailsea, I forget their name but there is an excellent company there.

cooldad

I would have it painted, not powder coated.

Dick Scruttock

Have it powder coated its a far more durable finish.

redvee

pimpin gimp wrote:

Google powder coasters in nailsea, I forget their name but there is an excellent company there.

ABC Enamelling

Clank

Rick Draper wrote:

Have it powder coated its a far more durable finish.

Professionally speaking, no, it isn't. My explanation piece is lurking in a thread in the 'workshop' section. Powder coating is cheap and it's cheerful, but there are more durable finishes.

Dick Scruttock

Clank wrote:

Rick Draper wrote:

Have it powder coated its a far more durable finish.

Professionally speaking, no, it isn't. My explanation piece is lurking in a thread in the 'workshop' section. Powder coating is cheap and it's cheerful, but there are more durable finishes.

In comparison to regular wet paint its far more durable. I don't read other explanations and only speak from my own experience.

carbonkid

Rick Draper wrote:

Clank wrote:

Rick Draper wrote:

Have it powder coated its a far more durable finish.

Professionally speaking, no, it isn't. My explanation piece is lurking in a thread in the 'workshop' section. Powder coating is cheap and it's cheerful, but there are more durable finishes.

yes it is cheaper and more durable than wet spray and if you can find a good powdercoater they can create some amazing finishes, thats why it is used for car wheels even companies like aston martin

Clank

You've both been misinformed. Rimstock (who supply much of AM's wheel requirement) paint AM's wheels, as they do for JLR, Nissan......(I've played with some AM wheels, BTW). It's a more durable finish and is available in far more finishes than powder coating. Where do you get your data from??

Here's my previous spiel on the subject:

Here's some details, gleaned from about 15,000 hrs of aggressive part testing in a related industries, which should give a better picture.

There is very little chemical adhesion between polyester powder and metal substrates. What you mostly have is a microscopic interlock beteen the plastic and the metal surfaces. Now, I don't know if you've seen metal surfaces under a microscope but there is little in the way of surface roughness. Either way, the powder grips the metal. A slight knock can (and will) dislodge the plastic from the metal surface (without breaking the plastic, so it still looks good, givng the impression that it's doing it's job), causing micocavities between the plastic and the metal where moisture will form. Add to this that the plastics are often hydroscopic and more moisture can react with the surface. This moisure leads to corrosion, which lifts further plastic and the problem just runs away with itself. It's a plastic coating - there is no repair strategy apart from blast off and start again, by which time, the underlying substrate is usually significantly damaged. Aluminium can still suffer too, and there is even less grab between the plastic and the metal in these cases.

Primers used in paint form a chemical bond (or should do) with the metal surface - the two combine so one shouldn't be able to lift away from the other, without taking some of the metal with it. The paint then (or should) bond with the primer. Two layers, chemically attached to each other and to the underlying surface. If done right it can have better wear properties than just powder coat, and better impact performance too. This is why the paint is still on my car, when the powder coating has long since flaked off in sheets.

It is the speed of the powder coat process which industry likes, because that process speed makes it a lower cost alternative. If you get someone to quote for respraying a bare bike frame, then get a quote for getting it powder coated, you'll notice the difference. However, a lot of industry also realises that paint is a superior finish and will use is despite the time/cost disadvantage. That, and you can paint bigger parts (oilrigs etc).

If you want further evidence - talk to anyone involved in exterior finishes in the auto OEMs (not accessories, they're generally pretty clueless). Anyone involved in metal finishes in the aero industy will tell you the same. Same with petro-chem; bike building; yellow goods (JCB are happy to talk about such things), white goods. You'll get the same answer as the one I've just given.

It could be argued that the exception to this is if the plastic coating is based on true adhesive chemistries - epoxy for instance. These give a very, very tough surface (but at serious cost penalty), but this is NOT a powder coating process - it's a paint process.

That's it, in a nutshell.

Jimmy182

Absolute nonsense your talking there.

cooldad

I believe he makes sense.

Clank

Jimmy182 wrote:

Absolute nonsense your talking there.

How could anyone doubt such a finely detailed arguement as this. Well, I've changed my opinion and I'll go tell my customers that, in light of this exciting evidence, I was wrong. How could I have been so wrong????

Jimmy182

Clank wrote:

Jimmy182 wrote:

Absolute nonsense your talking there.

How could anyone doubt such a finely detailed arguement as this. Well, I've changed my opinion and I'll go tell my customers that, in light of this exciting evidence, I was wrong. How could I have been so wrong????

Your that wrong I can't even be 4rsed going in to it again. Just because you've writen a few paragraphs on it doesn't make you right.

jimmer111

Thanks for all the replies guys.

I think the cost v durability argument still makes powder coating the better finish, it might not be the toughest finish but it is certainly considerably cheaper than spray painting.

In my experience when powder coating gets stone damaged it has chipped off (kind of like enamel) rather than delaminated as suggested in the above. Either way it has always been durable and as said is cheap!

Clank

Jimmy182 wrote:

Your that wrong I can't even be 4rsed going in to it again. Just because you've writen a few paragraphs on it doesn't make you right.

Hang on. 'Again'. Where is this information of which you speak? T'ain't in this thread, is it? Calling something 'nonsence' is hardly a vaild presentation of fact, or opinion for that matter.

.....and at this point I'm calling 'troll'.

Jimmy182

Clank wrote:

Jimmy182 wrote:

Your that wrong I can't even be 4rsed going in to it again. Just because you've writen a few paragraphs on it doesn't make you right.

Hang on. 'Again'. Where is this information of which you speak? T'ain't in this thread, is it? Calling something 'nonsence' is hardly a vaild presentation of fact, or opinion for that matter.

.....and at this point I'm calling 'troll'.

Not trolling at all just a simple google search of paint vs powder coating tells you everything you need to know. Got to page 3 on google and not one says paint over powder coating for strength and durability. Couldn't be arsed after page 3.

bennett_346

So reading through 3 pages of google search results makes you more correct than someone with "15,000 hrs of aggressive part testing in a related industries"?

Jimmy182

bennett_346 wrote:

So reading through 3 pages of google search results makes you more correct than someone with "15,000 hrs of aggressive part testing in a related industries"?

Yeah pretty much.

Newfish

Did you get this sorted with what you want? There is a company called Cycles Maximus who build bikes (rickshaws) in bath, they might be able to help.