Powder coating colours

[mack]

Some of you may be interested in this.

http://www.prismaticpowders.com/

[mack]

colours

look at transparent gold and super chrome. May be the ticket for guys who are working on touching up a midnight or others who are sick of polishing the aluminum covers etc.

[crazy steve]

Hate to be a wet blanket, but....

Powder, just like paint and plating, has it's pluses and minuses. But if you're trying to substitute it for plating, it's going to come off second best. While it's more durable than paint in terms of chipping, it does 'micro scratch' much easier than paint, and needs some 'tooth' on the applied surface to promote adhesion. Which is why the OEM 'polish' on these bikes was really a lightly-buffed sanded finish, not a true polish; otherwise you'll have trouble with peeling. And the one big downside to powder is if you do manage to damage the finish, it's nearly always impossible to touch-up so you can't see the repair.

I've tried several of the so-called 'chrome' powders, and have given them up as a bad job. The best of them look like polished aluminum with a milky clear coat, most need a clear coat for 'protection' (otherwise they scratch very easily) which further dulls them. The 'transparent' coatings work well on machined surfaces, but not so good on polished. Again, they'll dull the finish and you'll probably have issues with peeling if the part is really polished.

There's a local coater who does really nice work and specializes in bikes. He powdercoats fenders and tanks, but applies a hardened urethane clear over the powder on fenders, tanks, and other 'visible' trim items to deal with the scratching issue.

Don't get the idea I dislike powder, because I don't; I love the stuff. But it really has it's limits, and as long as you understand those it's absolutely great to use. It's really just paint that won't chip, with all of paints limitations and a few more thrown in....

[mack]

Noted

Noted Steve. The motor on my LH was powder coated high gloss black, and your right, it has chipped in a couple spots but only on the fin edges that should have been sanded down to the aluminum if I'd restored to the original. For the high gloss a protective coat was applied and that was one of the reasons I didn't sand the fins. I didn't want to break the seal.
As for the super chrome, I want to try it on a couple hard to get at spots , like the crank case breather top and the plastic starter cover.
I have a few old carb tops and a spare set of air box sides that I may try the gold on just to compare. I've noticed that what I did with the gold/brass combo has been affected by fuel. The actual gold is intact but the clear coat is tarnished in a few spots. The powder coating seems to hold up against fuel just fine. Not to sure how the tire rims would look but it's so much work taping them off that I'd do some small pieces in gold first to see how it looks before I wasted a lot of time on a set of rims.

[cajun31]

Hey Mack

I was thinking the same thing myself. That transparent gold looks good and with a couple of good coats of clear urethane it might prove to be very durable. The edges of the rim spokes would be the problem area I believe. I was thinking a good cleaning polishing of them before the powder and clear would keep them looking good when finished. It might even make it easier to clean the brake dust off. I know you can relate to that problem with the midnights.

[mack]

Clear coat

Hi Cajun; I was actually thinking that after baking the paint on, that if the edges were left without being taped off again that the clear coat would protect those surfaces as well so they would always look clean and polished. WTF, worth a try!

[Arthur_of_Hex]

We use only prismatic powders at our bike shop, with very good results. I agree completely with everything said so far. Lots of pos neg aspects. Our last build we used a heavy clear over a glossy metallic and it came out amazing! This February I fully restored my girlfriend's intruder using only misty black cherry from prismatic and ink black. We love working with powder, it's definitely a good choice.

[cajun31]

I do believe it is worth a try. I am thinking it would look great and with the clear coat be a bit more durable.

[Arthur_of_Hex]

This winter I'll be powder coating everything that will fit in our oven. I'll post as the build moves along.

[cajun31]

looking forward

to you updates on this.

[Arthur_of_Hex]

I have about 350 or so pics from the frame off intruder I did this past winter/spring. If you're interested in the nuts and bolts of powder.

[mrhammer2u]

Is there a better option?

What about the appliance paint from Rustoleum. It's an epoxy that's supposed to dry pretty hard. DIY as well. I want to get my wheels done and going through my options. Obviously not as many color choices though.....

So far I've only tested some spare parts with it. It does dry to a harder finish than reg rattle can but still knicks when dinged too hard.

[Arthur_of_Hex]

What about the appliance paint from Rustoleum. It's an epoxy that's supposed to dry pretty hard. DIY as well. I want to get my wheels done and going through my options. Obviously not as many color choices though.....

So far I've only tested some spare parts with it. It does dry to a harder finish than reg rattle can but still knicks when dinged too hard.

Perhaps, we powder most wheels that need to be done, keyword most. If you can get the surface you want with the rattle then I say go for it. We get great results with wheels and powder, and the powder is pretty resilient.

[crazy steve]

Unless you're planning on replacing all the bearings in the front wheel, powder really isn't an option. The cure heat will kill the grease in the sealed bearings. The rear wheel presents the additional problem of the non-removable rubber drivetrain 'shock absorbers' pressed into the hub, and again, the cure heat won't do these any good.

I generally just rattle-can the wheels, using paint that's easily touched-up. I also try to keep the paint as thin as possible to help with chipping... and you will get chips...

[Arthur_of_Hex]

I agree Steve, we strip bearings, seals and everything else when we powder. It also does help that we have a supplier of all parts needed, in a warehouse that's less than 3 miles away. If it's in the catalog, it's down the street