powder coating vs painting
- Thread starter bode61
- Start date
I had my featherbed frame and swing arm powder coated a few years back and I am more than happy. The black of that time was not too glossy so I had a clear powdercoat on top of the black. I paid $210 for everything. Sounded a bit expensive but it has held up to everything including wet Bonneville salt.
jim_n_dayton
New Member
Where I work, we get this question alot. We offer customer finishs on our products and we do offer both. Though we do paint in house, to keep cost down, as we found to get more people wanting to match colors of cars or bikes to the product. We also found no matter who we sent it to for powder more often the not we would have to send it back a few times. Some times the finish just wasn't the same from part to part, thin here, heavy there, orange peel and all. I know with our painting in house we catch this also and fix it before it goes to the next step. I guess we just have not found the right powder company yet.
Now my frame, and parts will be paint. Again to easy as I can do it here at work and save money vs. send out for powder.
Now my frame, and parts will be paint. Again to easy as I can do it here at work and save money vs. send out for powder.
SquadraCorse
Coast to Coast
Powdercoating is good especially for wheels, as it doesn't chip nearly as easily as a typical spray paint. Since it's so thick it hides a lot of imperfections in the metal and you don't have to sand/fill/sand/fill/sand/wet sand/paint. Then start over when you get a run. I find that the pricing varies quite a bit between places. I did a fixed gear bike not to long ago and it was 120 bucks for the frame and cranks. I had another one coated at a different place and it was 150 for just the frame. For your bike i'd expect to pay just under 200 for the frame and maybe 50 each for the wheels. But it also depends on what color you want. If it's black or something they have lots of it will be cheaper than if they have to order powder for your specific job.
boomshakalaka
Over 1,000 Posts
I went with powder, Im picking it up from JRK tonight. So I cant tell you how it performs, but Id suggest powder just because it is known to be more durable. Thats why I chose it. As for price, like squadra said, it depends. The powder I used for my frame/swing arm, joe and sean said it was best with a clear coat, so obv thats gonna cost a bit more. Also there were some really cool powders that he had swatches of, but it would have cost considerably more because he would have had to special order them and the powder itself costs more.
Also Id look to have someone that deals with cars/motorcycles a decent amount do your powder work. There are other shops that do it in the chicago area, but their main business is doing lawn furniture and shelving and whatever. A guy that deals with bikes and cars a lot will not forget to tape off/plug mating surfaces and whatnot. Also I feel they generally will have a higher standard for their finishes, instead of some guy who is used to laying powder on street sign poles or whatever.
Also Id look to have someone that deals with cars/motorcycles a decent amount do your powder work. There are other shops that do it in the chicago area, but their main business is doing lawn furniture and shelving and whatever. A guy that deals with bikes and cars a lot will not forget to tape off/plug mating surfaces and whatnot. Also I feel they generally will have a higher standard for their finishes, instead of some guy who is used to laying powder on street sign poles or whatever.
Thanks for the info. I went to a local Powder Coating shop today that was recommended by another biker shop. They had several bikes being done and they do a lot of bike work. Pricing looked really good so when I get my cb400 torn down I will go the powder coat route. I think the hardest part will be deciding on going stealth with black or flashy with color.
Thanks again for the advice.
bode
Thanks again for the advice.
bode
