Powder coating - Aurum / Vaz / Armourtex / Respray gallery

I did a spray.bike frame 3 years ago; holding up okay but chips on DT and under chainstays are kinda inevitable, even with clear coat.

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/287444/

And let's be right @i_am_lono, yours is a fantastic achievement!

Do you have any idea how many hours you put in to it?

Thanks pal; hard to say exactly how long it took as I was fitting it in around other stuff. A couple of days perhaps? Sanding and applying/removing vinyl was probably the most work; actual spraying was quite quick. Main thing I learnt was patience! Just had a peek at your blue and white beaut: good work there, glad the brakes fit in the end as they look peachy.

Thanks! I had a pretty similar experience - preparation is both the most time consuming and also the most important for a good finish. Making the vinyls by hand was surprisingly slow, even with printed stentils and the relatively simple shapes I went for.

I found sanding to be a right pain, because it's acrylic rather than enamel, it clogged up the sandpaper immediately, in the end I went for more of a flat-it-with-a-pristine-cloth and accept the slightly dappled texture as a sweet feature.

cheers for the info, Im still undecided but at least their local to me.

Oh, I totally forgot earlier. I got a much better quote from the Hackney Peddler before they convinced me not to coat the frame at all. They have someone who powders frames for their stock and I think they're happy to tag yours along if you ask. Flip-side, you'd have know and be specific about what you want.

I got ESP in Maryhill to strip/powder coat a steel tourer for me a couple of years ago-£40- wasn't perfect but not too bad either. Mibbe worth a shout for a Pomp?

Was looking at spray.bike myself but don't have a heated space to do it and have questions about the durability of it also so think either ESP or Henderson's in Edinburgh...

@mdpye and @i_am_lono I'd seen your CP threads, both good results.

I think though that really I was looking for someone to say that Spray.bike had created a much more durable finish that regular rattle can to make me go that way so I'll go for powder I reckon.

My plan was to do this at the start of March when I have to have a couple weeks off the bike as I'm getting my balls disconnected so handing it off to someone else to do the work is probably a better idea than trying to do it myself during my recovery time when I'm meant to sit on me arse.

I've heard mixed things of ESP. Almost like they had a change of ownership or management and it went from great workmanship and a friendly attitude to so so workmanship and them being a total pain to deal with virtually overnight.

P&J are pretty close by for me anyway as I'm southside and I've used them before so will probably go there. The only complaint I've had of them is that the blasting media they use must be pretty abrasive. I doubt it'd cause any integrity issues but definitely leaves a 'texture' on the metal that I don't think would be conducive to ever being finished in any way other than powdercoat. A small price to pay I guess.

I guess they could be better at masking too actually but between my tools and the toolkit at work I have every reamer and facer you could ever want I think so it's not such an issue

They did my winter hack bike flat black about 5 years ago and until I destroyed the frame last month, the finish was solid.

I think I fancy something bright this time though so I'll need to see what the options at P&J are like, will try ESP if P&J don't have what I'm after.

I'm also owed a paintjob from a guy in Edinburgh (not Hendersons) but might keep that for the frame I build myself.

It's differently durable to a rattle can. Or at least forgiving. Because it's acrylic it tends to gouge or deform rather than chip or peel like rattles can. But a proper powder coat acts the same only much tougher.

That said, I'm impressed with how easy it was to get the kind of finish I did. I'll probably do it again at some point, for frames that are not worth the price of a professional respray. When it scuffs up, do it again...

Didn’t know where to put this link, some PR for @hoops work:

https://youtu.be/CJN-kIrZYY0

Better fit in here? https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/214794/?offset=2050#comment14605197

Done ;)

Does anyone know anywhere that will strip and polish an aluminium frame?

I would also be very keen to know.

Does anyone know a place in London that would powder coat a full carbon fork in black? The fork has a green paintjob that does not fit with my build.

Powder coating.. carbon?

Apparently it can be done, good luck finding someone that'll guarantee results though.

My bad meant wetspray. Got quoted £100 from Armourtex which costs more than the fork haha Does anyone know any fork painters?

Mario Vaz

Lightly rub it down, get a can of black spray paint, have at it, slowly building up layers. Cheapest option.

Anyone have an insane knowledge/good resource for RAL colors?

I'm looking for a teal like this - but gloss without metallic

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5021 (Water Blue) is probably about as close as you'll get with RAL.

Or 5024 Pastelblau is lighter and greyer, or in my extended RAL swatch there’s a RAL 220 70 35 which is the most teal-like I can see.

Does anyone have any experience with BA Powder coating in Stratford? Are they any good, is £90 a fair price these days?