Tube painting order?

(ant) may have said:

my less intuitive, but equally unimpressive, tip is this: spray the tough bits first.

I'd start with the inner surfaces of the stays and dropouts, then the other joints, but every
painter has their own style. If you paint things very much, this kind of concern becomes intuitive.
If you don't, then you're probably going to get a run or a sag somewhere, but unless you're talking
about a showpiece, that's really a minor thing. For me, bike paint exists first to prevent
corrosion, and third to look pretty. (Second place is available for lease.) (And anyone who tries to
peddle a powder-coated frame to me is going to get the drawbacks of that [censored] explained to them in
no uncertain or insufficiently illustrated or demonstrated terms.)

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(And anyone who

Quoted message said:

tries to peddle a powder-coated frame to me is going to get the drawbacks of that [censored] explained
to them in no uncertain or insufficiently illustrated or demonstrated terms.)

Just curious, but what are the drawbacks? I've only ever heard good things about powder coating.

Rob Strickland

Werehatrack said:

look pretty. (Second place is available for lease.) (And anyone who tries to peddle a
powder-coated frame to me is going to get the drawbacks of that [censored] explained to them in no
uncertain or insufficiently illustrated or demonstrated terms.)

I wouldn't try to sell you on the powdercoating idea...but would you care to elaborate, maybe a
little more gently than you suggest you might otherwise, what's wrong with it?

I'm scarcely familiar with it other than understanding that it's a pretty tough result, and was
considering it for a couple military surplus ammo boxes I'm using for toolboxes in my truck...

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Rick Onanian

Rick Onanian may have said:

Werehatrack said:

look pretty. (Second place is available for lease.) (And anyone who tries to peddle a
powder-coated frame to me is going to get the drawbacks of that [censored] explained to them in no
uncertain or insufficiently illustrated or demonstrated terms.)

I wouldn't try to sell you on the powdercoating idea...but would you care to elaborate, maybe a
little more gently than you suggest you might otherwise, what's wrong with it?

First, with certain exceptions, it's essentially nonrepairable. Got a chip in a hard powder coat?
Might as well strip it all and recoat. Second, the nonresilient (i.e., "not rubbery"😉 versions tend
to bond to the surface of the metal very poorly; flexure of the item (if any is present) will then
cause fractures and large amounts of coat release, letting moisture in which rapidly spreads
everywhere due to capillary action; instant rust. Resilient versions bond fairly well if the surface
is prepped properly (with, guess what...paint!) but all of the ones I've seen will peel off easily
if applied to bare metal. I've either had to fix, make excuses to a customer for, or reject a
product for all of these problems and more, and I have yet to see an application where a hard powder
coat could equal a good coat of paint for durability and adhesion. General Motors has spent quite a
lot of time and money evaluating powder coats for automotive use...and they use paint dip and spray
methods instead. (To the best of my knowledge, no carmaker uses powdercoat for any exterior surface,
though they might for some small components.)

The single and only reason that powdercoat exists is that manufacturers wanted a way to get around
EPA limits on VOC emissions which didn't require an air scrubber. That's straight from a
salescritter for the equipment that applies it.

Quoted message said:

I'm scarcely familiar with it other than understanding that it's a pretty tough result, and was
considering it for a couple military surplus ammo boxes I'm using for toolboxes in my truck...

The resilient, rubbery stuff, applied over a suitable paint, is a decent protective cushioning
layer. That's the version which is designed more to act as a formed-in-place glove than a one-coat
solution. The powdercoats to avoid are the hard plastic versions; their durability is low in my
experience. They chip easily.

The resilient coats also aren't perfect, apparently; one of the local spray-on-bedliner places has
been getting reports that the resilient stuff may have moisture retention problems. So far, it looks
like it's still better than a removable liner in that area, since the moisture has a harder time
getting under it to begin with. If I had a pickup that needed a bed liner, and I had to choose
between spray-on, removable, or none, I'm not really sure which way I'd go.

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Donald Gillies said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

things about powder coating.

Basically its like the frame is coated in rubber. that's fine if you rubber is pretty inert,
cannot be sanded or sandblasted, and you probably cannot replace a tube, fix a lug, even replace a
chainstay, or add / subtract braze-ons, etc, once it is powder coated.

Well, if you can commit, it must be so tough that it's impossible to blemish. Maybe I will see about
getting those toolboxes done.

Quoted message said:

- Don Gillies San Diego, CA

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Rick Onanian