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Unread 05-02-2008, 08:07 AM
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Smithers Smithers is offline
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SOME OTHER TIPS AND ADVICE ON POWDERCOATING

They will typically shoot different colors on different days when they get enough objects brought to them to shoot a batch of things black, gloss black, yellow, blue, silver... those are typically the most common colors it seems. If you drop something off at the coaters the first thing they do is ask you, "how soon do you need it?". If you say "tomorrow!" the price will be high cause they have to drop what they are doing and work on your piece. But if you say, "eeeeeh whenever you can get to it as long as I can pick it up by next weekend." The price will be much much lower. If you want a color that they don't usually use then they have to order a box of powder JUST for your part. The powder will cost like $80 usually and your first part will be $80 +the work so like $120 maybe. Then the next part in that color that you need done will be like $30. A car rim or motorcycle rim will be $50 at the most in a common color (the colors mentioned above). A big truck rim will be more maybe... or the same price if they know you by then. They shoot common colors almost daily for other people as well. Make it an easy/commong color and things get done quickly and less expensive.

Keep in mind that you should inspect every single piece you pick up before you pay for it. They can easily redo the part in order to make things right. When I see the coating sagging cause it's too thick I just tell em it's messed up and they redo it without a problem. Sometimes their employees go so fast that they don't notice something like that. They have to sandblast everything before it's coated so if they miss a part or they don't notice that there is still some sand on the surface when they are coating it then it will be blemished. The guy that takes your money and sees you at the door probably won't be the same guy that actually does the blasting or coating. In San Diego I'm sure they have some pretty big coating outfits that have 6-7+ employees easily. Powdercoat USA is the place I go and they work overnight during busy times... there really is that much work coming in from local companies that produce parts and going to the powdercoaters is the final stage of production.

So that being said just taking in one or four motorcycles parts to these guys is nothing, spare change for them. They love cash. It's rare that I spend more than $100 when I pick something up.

Gloss black- great for fuel lines, looks very shiny and nice on small parts.
Regular black- good for large items and things you don't want to "bling".
Krinkle Coat Texture black- even stronger than regular black as it is thicker, actually harder for mud and dirt to stick to.

They can do gloss and flat and krinkle texture in any color of course. They can even powdercoat clear and tinted clear colors.. of course anything but clear will be custom colors. The coating process involves baking the coating on after it's applied. The ovens they use are huge and typically are 150-180 degress. This WILL NOT affect the rigidity or other properties of any metal such as OZ wheels, frames or any other alloy that will be on any automobile or motorcycle. I've had discussions with powdercoaters on this topic.

Powdercoating is the best thing ever. You don't even have to prep parts when you bring them in. They blast them and will cover any areas you tell them, even plug holes or tubes that you need protected from the process. You will have to take the bearings out of wheels and remove any oil from the parts but that's about it. Just make sure they write down a good description of all the parts you bring in on the invoice. Oh and make sure they write down the NUMBER of parts you bring in to them. It's really really easy for them to lose your little parts in the shop. I have them do fuel lines, tiny bolt heads (I drill holes in a 2x4 and but use it for a holder for bolts for them) wheels, trailer frames, bumpers, all sorts of things. The size of stuff you can have done is limited by how big their ovens are.
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