Today I went and talked to modern heat treating in erie, pa. what ever you do DO NOT powdercoat your frame it WILL lose the temper. the process goes like this.... the frame is heated to around 1000 degrees to normalize it, then it is placed in a solution to prepare it for tempering, it is then heated up to 350 degrees and then "aged" for the resulting t-6 temper to the alum. heating this tempered frame to the 425 degrees required for powdercoating will destroy the temper and you will have a pretty, but useless frame.
the anodizer also got a visit from me today. I must "paint" all steel pieces on the frame with some stuff which they gave me in a small bottle, if i miss any threads or any parts of the fasteners they will be destroyed by the acids used in the process. I give them the frame perfectly clean, ready to process and "something under $200" and they give me back a frame all pretty and spend some time removing the "paint" stuff. One note: the appearance of the anodizing is directly controlled by the finish underneath as anodizing will not cover anything up (hide).
Hope this clears up the questions.
Powdercoating c-dale frames, please read!
Powercoated Frame
I pick up my frame tomorrow. Not sure how hot they baked it but I'll be sure to ask. I'll post finding tomorrow. Hoping I wont have to buy a new frame!
Powdercoating Frame
How will I know if its to soft. Any test?? Or just gauge by bake temperature?
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cannondale27
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- Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2021 10:41 pm
Another factor to consider is will it affect the straightness?I remember at the tour they said they actually had to compensate for this during their frame building.I believe it was tempered twice also.Rumor is that Honda is having some major problems making their alum frame quad frames straight.(probably one good reason all ours were Handbuilt)