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December 16, 2005
Painting Bikes
Tonight three of us painted bikes. I got to try powder-coating and I thought it was a really interesting process! No fumes, hardly no mess. AND, it was fast! It was a great experience and now I understand this process. Here it is for all those who are interested in learning about this technology:
1. prep the bikes:
Remove all decals and grease and sand any rough spots
Tape with high-temp tape, put corks in holes
Hang the bikes on a rack so they don't touch each other
Powerwash with water and steam
Dry the bikes
Preheat the bikes so the paint goes on thicker
2. Powder Coat the bikes:
Put the paint rods in the colored paint powder and tie the bag around them.
Hook up an electric jumper to the rack that the bikes are hanging on
Start the sprayer and 'spray' the bikes. The paint powder magically flows around the frames using static electricity.
Bake the bikes for 20 minutes at 415 degrees or so
let them cool
3. take them home
cool huh? Very interesting painting process. Now I have to find out how this process was discovered and came into use. It produces a beautiful and very tough finish.
Posted by carl1236 at December 16, 2005 09:31 PM | Bicycles
Comments
I'm not sure my bike would fit in my oven...hmm.
Where did you do this? How much did it cost? I'd be interested in trying this if it's reasonably cheap.
Posted by: Dan at December 17, 2005 12:17 PM
We made arrangements with a company to let us do this using their facilities, but mainly for the purpose of recycling old bikes into new-looking bikes for rental, sale or whatever to help with fundraising to support our programs. You can help me with the process again during the second week in January if you want. Color selection is limited to 1 right now: blue. But it's a nice blue.
Posted by: John at December 17, 2005 09:52 PM