Powder Coating

[trbig]

I'm thinking about powder coating an XJ frame... along with lots of other bits. Anybody have a bare frame (XJ) that they can measure the longest points on for me? Top of the neck to the swing arm mount probably. I have an asphalt oven at work that I think MIGHT work for something that big.

Has anyone ever tried out this unit from Harbor freight?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=94244



They don't have many color options there, but Ebay has all you'd want.. including the black

http://cgi.ebay.com/1LB-Black-Extra-...3286.m20.l1116



And especially the gold...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Shimmer-Gold-pea...1%7C240%3A1318


I have powder coated fishing lures for years, and after it is cured, the stuff is dang near indestructable. My wife's uncle used to fish competitively and I used to make a couple types of lures for him. When I told him these wouldn't ever chip, he laughed at me and told me that I must not realize how much rocks he fishes in. I told him that if he ever got one to chip.. I wanted to see it. He even stood there one day with one tied on his string.. smacking it on the asphalt.. trying to chip it. I'm still waiting to see a chipped one.

So.. short story long.. I think this would be perfect for keeping a frame looking good. Especially that cross over under the front of your motor right behind the front wheel. I don't know how many times I've touched that back up with black paint. It just gets sandblasted back off.


Thoughts?


Tod

[Yahman]

Powder coating is the only way to go for a frame. It's also good for all of those small, high wear items.

[JWSanders]

Every one of the larger powder coating ovens I've seen are mainly made of sheet metal. Ive always thought it shouldn't be too difficult to make up a galvanized box of some sort and fill it with the guts of an old oven, complete with temperature control and such. I would think it could even be made collapsible, so as to take up less storage space when not in use.

That being said, the infrared lamps they sell at Caswell Plating are a pretty decent solution for not a lot (comparatively) of dough.

[boyat68]

trbig:

How in the dickens would you move something that large to the asphalt oven after coating without messing up the powder? (touching, carrying) I would think that you would have to do the coating very near as the static charge would bleed off after a while and the powder turn loose.

[xs11lover]

A guy down the street from me, was trying to sell me a pig roast oven. I'd bet that would work great. It was as tall as a heating oil tank, and so long I could have took a nap in it. How much heat do you need to powder coat?

[Wildkat]

How much heat do you need to powder coat?

I believe it's around 400F...

How hot does the pig oven get? Any idea?

[planedick]

Heat first

Then powdercoat and cool. It won't fall off. Don't powdercoat then heat.

[trbig]

That's how I do my lures.. heat them and swish them through the powder coat. It melts what stuck to it.. flows a bit and cools quickly... but I think a frame has enough metal in it that it wouldn't cool so quickly that you couldn't get sprayed what you wanted. After it cools and hardens this first time it is VERY brittle until you cure it in the oven.

boyat68, the oven has slots at the top. I'd have to rig up some kind of hanger attached through the neck and somewhere on the back of the frame.

One thing I am wondering about though... I read somewhere of them having a threshold heat of @ 800 degrees. If this is the heat that it can take after curing, you could put it anywhere on the engine.. head and cylinders. I had thought to just paint those...


Tod

[nubee]

Hey Trbig,

I found a company (HPC) that claims they can put a heat proof coating on a used set of headers almost as easily as they can new.

How about this coating for your frame?

Caveat emptor?

Thought you might be interested

[trbig]

I'm still going to try to get my next set of headers nickle plated. I've got a company here that does industrial stuff and he wants to do set for free for me to see how they turn out. I just don't have a set that are bad enough to strip off the chrome yet for the process. But... I just acquired something that may need the pipes blackened on.... Continued in another post.. lol.


Tod

[Incubus]

I have that powder coater and I think it is great. Since I only have a toaster oven I can only do small parts, but that includes brake disks, triple trees, brake reservoirs and calipers, etc. I don't have anything big enough to heat a frame.

My best results have been when I heated the part, powder coated it, then heated it again for 8 to 10 minutes, depending on the specs of the powder (at 350 to 400 degrees, again depending on the specific powder coat) and finally letting the parts cure for about 24 hours. I haven't managed to chip anything yet. Tough stuff. Early in my powder coating endeavors I had some issues with the powder adhering in spots. I cured that with better prep. Prep is very important. I strip all old paint and then bathe the parts in acetone before heating. Handle the bathed parts with rubber or latex gloves, though, because even the oil from your skin can weaken the bond between plastic coating and part.

Patrick

[Incubus]

This is how my triple tree on my 1970 Honda CB750 looked after I powder coated it. The before picture was chipped and faded 40-year-old paint....

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p...1/HPIM1775.jpg

[Wildkat]

Question...

John and I were talking about this the other day... If you powder coat the rear wheel... does the temperature of the curing process get extreme enough to mess up the rear bearing?
If the powder coating only takes a few minutes to cure... will it be okay?

I'd hate to do this only to find out that I would be in the "looking for the extremely hard to find rear bearing, might as well be a unicorn" group....

[webbcraft2150]

I happen to have a XJ frame, will get back to ya.

[trbig]

Hopefully that XJ frame isn't sitting under a bike that some guy is coming to get today??

As for the bearing and heat. I just can't see 400 degrees for 10 minutes ruining any steel needle bearings. Bubble out a little grease from it.. possibly. Need a re-packing afterwards.. definately. But I'm willing to bet that there's plenty of members here that have little to no grease left in their rear bearings, and they continue to work right up until the moment they weld themselves together.. which is going to be CONSIDERABLY higher heat than 400 degrees.

Tod