Powdercoating c-dale frames, please read!
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2003 6:52 pm
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.
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.