I just called the local powder coater to get my bike frame and fork done, he said it would almost be $200. That sounds a little steep, what do you guys think? He said the price was high because it would take 5 lbs. of powder to do it. What have you guys paid to get it done? Thanks for any help, Dave.
Price of powder coating?
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Yeah! There is a guy here in town that will do a whole bike for $100. So $200 seems a bit much.
Around here it generally runs 100 to 150 depending on how much blasting is involved to remove the old paint/coating. Most powder coaters will not coat unless they blast the parts themselves, insuring a good clean surface. Blasting regular paint goes pretty quick, but if it was powder coated, it takes considerably longer to get it down to bare metal.
That's the usual prices out by me, although there are a few boutique places that cater to the H-D set that charge about double. Best deals seem to be from the more industrial guys, just be very clear about what needs to be kept bare (inside seattube, any threads, etc...) or otherwise you'll have to do a lot of post-powder prep.
I want to have a few done but every time I looked into it for car stuff I left shaking my head. There is a guy by me that advertises on craigslist. He has a bunch of old bikes in his ads, one thing I find strange I saw In His album most of the bikes were coated with the bearing cups in place.
A guy near me did a frame for me for 50.00. He does pretty fair work.
You get what you pay for.
I would expect to get fork and more done for 200.00 It should be perfect with custom colors too. I always ask mself, Do I really need powder coating.. I just paint most of my bikes myself.
Good Luck
You get what you pay for.
I would expect to get fork and more done for 200.00 It should be perfect with custom colors too. I always ask mself, Do I really need powder coating.. I just paint most of my bikes myself.
Good Luck
I paid about $165 for the frame and chain guard, no forks, (ended up not using the chain guard) for a 2 color powder coat. (metallic silver base and candy teal top coat) It was cheaper because I stripped the frame so he only had to do a minimal amount of sand blasting on it. That was for a Schwinn Fastback frame.
Bonehead Performance in Warminster, PA http://boneheadperformance.com/
Bonehead Performance in Warminster, PA http://boneheadperformance.com/
I have a little knowledge on this subject since all but two of the bikes I have built have been powder coated and have tried several different powder coaters and ended up going back to the first.
A lot goes into getting it done right.
1. Color and Type of powder.
So as someone else mentioned you get what you pay for, I tried several different shops trying to find quality at a lower price and I ended up going back to the first guy I was recommend. The reason is the quality of work and finish, if he is not happy with the final product he will redo it at his cost. The biggest challenge with that is you do not know what it will turn out like until after it cures. Most shop will try and give you crap work and tell you that its normal.
5 lbs of powder is very high, most frames can be done with about 1lb it really depends on the equipment and nozzel size. $200 also seems high but I'm not sure what kind of shop you called. Shops willing to redo work until its right charge a little more in case they have to. I prefer that than to show up and be charged more because they had to redo it. It also creates an incentive for them to do it right the first time so they make some extra.
finally my thought on prep work:
Heavy gauge steel bike can be blasted but you have to be careful with the blast media and air pressure because they can be very hard on frames. Only frame I think this method works well on are worksman because they are so tough.
Thin wall steel frames should have original finish burned off and then a light blasting to prep the surface which takes off the burned finish.
Aluminum or 4130 Chromoly should be stripped in acid, washed and a very light blasting to prep the metal.
here are a few examples of finishes I have had done.
Single Stage - green was easy - yellow was tough was redone once - orange easy
Single stage with Clear - this one was redone once
2 stage dormant - This took a lot of work to get it done and most parts were done more than once.
A lot goes into getting it done right.
1. Color and Type of powder.
- Basic RAL color are less expensive
- Exotic single stage colors can be expensive
- 2 stage or dormant colors are the most expensive
- Adding clear adds cost
- Some have home made set-up and do it out of there garage - usually cheapest
- High grade digital industrial units - you pay for this technology
- Size of oven - cheap to heat up a small frame sized oven / expensive to heat up a 10x20 ft oven that is cost of energy
- Industrial vs Job Shop - It actually cost industrial shops more money to do small jobs because they have to interrupt larger production runs. They make money on volume and depending on nature of product quality does not have to be perfect
- I have found that industrial shops that do not typically do small project have poor quality - orange peel / too thick / too thin / do not know how properly mask /parts returned with blast media inside.
- job shop that tailor to cars and motorcycles have pride in workmanship and in my experience provide the best quality
- Lead times industrial shops can take months to do your work - they do it when they slow down job shops typically a week or so.
So as someone else mentioned you get what you pay for, I tried several different shops trying to find quality at a lower price and I ended up going back to the first guy I was recommend. The reason is the quality of work and finish, if he is not happy with the final product he will redo it at his cost. The biggest challenge with that is you do not know what it will turn out like until after it cures. Most shop will try and give you crap work and tell you that its normal.
5 lbs of powder is very high, most frames can be done with about 1lb it really depends on the equipment and nozzel size. $200 also seems high but I'm not sure what kind of shop you called. Shops willing to redo work until its right charge a little more in case they have to. I prefer that than to show up and be charged more because they had to redo it. It also creates an incentive for them to do it right the first time so they make some extra.
finally my thought on prep work:
Heavy gauge steel bike can be blasted but you have to be careful with the blast media and air pressure because they can be very hard on frames. Only frame I think this method works well on are worksman because they are so tough.
Thin wall steel frames should have original finish burned off and then a light blasting to prep the surface which takes off the burned finish.
Aluminum or 4130 Chromoly should be stripped in acid, washed and a very light blasting to prep the metal.
here are a few examples of finishes I have had done.
Single Stage - green was easy - yellow was tough was redone once - orange easy
Single stage with Clear - this one was redone once
2 stage dormant - This took a lot of work to get it done and most parts were done more than once.
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I have 3 places I go to.
One is cheap, about 70, but quick and decent
One about 85, and it's stunning (but far away and odd hours, doesn't mesh with my work schedule)
One is 95, great job, but lacks in the color samples department. They did my worksman frame/fork, including blasting/stripping.
One is cheap, about 70, but quick and decent
One about 85, and it's stunning (but far away and odd hours, doesn't mesh with my work schedule)
One is 95, great job, but lacks in the color samples department. They did my worksman frame/fork, including blasting/stripping.
Love that purple! 
Like Cee Bee and Migz said type of shop matters big ones don't seem to want the bother around me about $170 for one I did but then found a Chicago bike shop that's run by some cool folks that are interested in our ratrods and have even let us have a show there. They charge $100 for blast and color at the powder coater that they use for ther own line of frames. http://www.heritagebicycles.com I built my own frame oven and recently bought a good gun. Powder is about $10 the picture is the one by Heritage I did the black parts with Harbor Freight gun and toaster oven.
Migz.... That is a great post. Great Photos of your bikes too. Thanks for sharing.
Let me add one thing on Powder coating. Once I had some car wheels that needed to be done. This was about ten years ago. I did one wheel it cost me fifty dollars. They did start to finish. Then I returned with four wheels he charged me one hundred dollars. The shop explained to me that if they do more pieces in the same color it is easier and cheaper for everyone. Do more in the same color
Think about that.
Let me add one thing on Powder coating. Once I had some car wheels that needed to be done. This was about ten years ago. I did one wheel it cost me fifty dollars. They did start to finish. Then I returned with four wheels he charged me one hundred dollars. The shop explained to me that if they do more pieces in the same color it is easier and cheaper for everyone. Do more in the same color
Think about that.
Most shops will take the PC that you give them if its not a stock color. There are a few really good on-line companies that offer all sorts of colors, sheens, etc.. If doing a frame, forks, etc. Its best to buy 2 lbs to be safe.
It's pretty much been covered at this point, but I'll add some.
As others have said, you get what you yada yada, what kind of shop, all true.
It also depends on how many stages. I've got a guy that does one stage (one layer), and a frame is usually $65. But for my wife's bike? Went to a more professional guy, and I went all out. Three stage, silver base, pearlescent powder that's different colors in the light, and "illusion" top coat. Price tag: $300.
Most of the time, the $65 back yard guy is fine for me, but if you ever want show level quality, you've gotta pay for it.
As others have said, you get what you yada yada, what kind of shop, all true.
It also depends on how many stages. I've got a guy that does one stage (one layer), and a frame is usually $65. But for my wife's bike? Went to a more professional guy, and I went all out. Three stage, silver base, pearlescent powder that's different colors in the light, and "illusion" top coat. Price tag: $300.
Most of the time, the $65 back yard guy is fine for me, but if you ever want show level quality, you've gotta pay for it.
Good advice! A local builder sent off a custom frame to have the rear triangle chromed. It was chromed, but so were the attached axle/nuts used as a shipping spacer...
:banghead:
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