Powder coating - Aurum / Vaz / Armourtex / Respray gallery

+1 for Steve

Soda blasting would be a good option for thin wall tubes.

There you go, lots of media materials.

Many times lots. Apparently walnut shells are another option for really delicate stuff. Presumably only for use by people who don't have a nut allergy.

My thoughts also go to the fact that 853 when this was made is quite different the huge fat 853 tubes with thin side that are used now.

Oversize 853 Pro Team is definitely thinner than vanilla 853.

Powdercoaters who know how to do a bike frame well are fairly hard to find, as most powdercoaters are more used to doing more agricultural/furniture type stuff that doesn’t really have a lot of specific masking requirements like dropouts and the like on bike frames that have close tolerance requirements for fitting parts.... so coaters who know what they’re doing with bike frames are few and far between!
It took me best part of a year to find someone in Bristol that would adhere to my specific masking requests with frames. It was especially important for my needs as I was painting graphics and then clear coating with wet paint on top of the powder, so paint build up was a real issue in low tolerance spots like dropouts and BB faces.

Have never met Steve from Aurum, but chatted with they Stayer guys a fair bit, and he deffo seems like the only man for the job in London! He’s the only powdercoater I’m aware of in the UK that has successfully done a two colour fade with powder - something I couldn’t get anyone in the South West to do.

His pricing seems very reasonable too.... powder is waaaay less labour intensive than full wet paint, but doing it well requires more attention to detail, which equates to more time, and with all types of finishing, you very much get what you pay for, so if you want o good finish, avoid the cheapest option at all costs!

And re: powder over raw steel - yes, it is way more durable than wet paint over raw steel, and will hold up pretty well, but no clear coat on raw steel process that I’ve come across (and I’ve done a lot of R&D on this!) will fully protect the steel from rust ingress... it will happen eventually, even with powder.

Saying that it will take an awful long time for any rust ingress to get to the stage where it’s gonna effect the integrity of the frame..... it’s purely surface rust, so if you don’t really give a shit about how it looks, I wouldn’t worry about it too much!

I have a steel GT edge frame with a raw steel and clear powder finish that I’ve had as my shopper bike for almost 3 years now, and is now covered in rust ‘worms’.... it’s nothing a light media blast and re-coat wouldn’t get rid of.

There are many, many different types of media that can be used for blasting.

Different types of media have different pros/cons.... you can select softer/harder media for the substrate just the same as you get coarser/finer grades of sandpaper/wet and dry. It works the same as sandpaper grades - the softer/finer the media (soda blasting is very soft and gentle for example), the longer it will take to get down to the substrate, but it is a lot less harsh on more delicate substrates.

A good media blaster will know what type of media to use depending on what the substrate is, and what the existing coating that needs to be removed. A frame that’s made of good quality thin butted tubing (853/spirit etc), but has a Powdercoat finish can be particularly tricky to deal with, as using a soft media will take forever to remove the Powdercoat, but using a harder media can damage the steel if they’re not careful. It’s a fine line.

Sometimes chemical dipping is the best option to remove certain types of coating from more delicate frames without the risk of damaging the substrate..... it’s a horrible process both for the user and the environment though, so I have always used dipping as a last option.

Info blast! Thanks mate.

Hope the new job is treating you laaarvely

Who do you use in/near Bristol?

I’ve got a 853 frame that needs a new coat.

@hoops great replys, very useful to know, thank you.

I used to use a company called RPA engineering, but the particular guy who worked there that I built a relationship with and did things just how I wanted them done fell out with the owner and moved on to other things a while back. I’ve not used them since he left.

Have you ever used EQC in Cardiff?

They’re the company who paint Bromptons or certainly use to.

Nope.

I know Temple Cycles have all their bikes done by a firm in Cardiff, probably the same place. I would imagine somewhere like that will only deal with large runs though. Doubt they’d be interested in a single frame job.

You never know until you ask.

Got my 15 year old Airborne frame + Straggler forks sprayed by Aurum just before Xmas. RAL 5011 with a gloss clearcoat. Really pleased with the result and turnaround was about a week.

from this:

to this:

Looked good before, looks great now. Is it a 26er? Any pics of it built?

It's a 700c frame but I had it running 650b last year (https://www.lfgss.com/comments/15314612/)

Commuter build coming soon... 650b tan walls, silver guards and finishing kit.

Anyone posted/couriered direct to Aurum and had returned. Clever Mike is my closest LBS with a link but its still a 2hr round trip on the tube to get to them - I'd like to go through them as they could chase the BB threads and fit a headset in the process but I guess they are busy and I havn't heard back.

Did you email them? They are very responsive over email in my experience.

Cheers - clever mike came back and Steve is doing a pickup from there wednesday.

Whats the go to touch up paint? Humbrol, Revell or what else should I be looking for?

Also, anywhere in London that sells them?

Humbrol enamel for old frames last time I researched . Used to ba a model shop on Holloway rd (365 ?) and one in Holborn too “model zone” I thinks - you’ll get it all online tho these days obvs

Has anyone had success contacting Steve at Aurum recently?

I've tried emailing and phoning but no luck so far.

Not directly, but I went through Clever Mike in Hornsey. 2 wk turn around ;-)