Powdercoating, DIY

[AlfromNH]

The community workshop "hackerspace" I belong to has the means for powdercoating. I took a short class that demonstrated the process, and yesterday took my control perches in. I stripped them with coal slag in the media blaster, then powder coated them. They came out really nice!

I didn't take any "before" pictures, but here's the same clutch perch on the bike as I bought it:

[Barry]

Nice job.

That sounds like a useful facility.


A long time ago I had a go at powder coating at work and I guess it could be done on a small scale at home. All you need is an old oven and the electrostatic coating gun. I can't remember whether it was the powder that got the charge or the work piece only that a static charge was involved in attracting the powder to the work.  

[AlfromNH]

The gun is charged, and the workpiece is grounded, so the powder is attracted to the work piece. After you coat it, you bake it for 20 minutes and it's done.

I coated the throttle perch, then realized I forgot to mask the threaded holes. Since I hadn't baked the part, I simply blew the powder off it, masked the holes, and re-sprayed.

It's a very cool process, now I'm looking for more parts to treat...  

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

Dismantle that starter and do it!  (kidding - although the starter could probably use a refurb)

That is a very neat facility you have!  Classes too!  That is something worth living for.

[montmil]

These days, even Harbor Freight offers complete DIY powder coating equipment and a selection of basic colors.

[AlfromNH]

The gun I used is from Eastman, but the powder is from HF.

I'm wondering how to "refresh" the plastic switch housings...

[Luca]

Mother's "Back to Black" does a pretty good job at cleaning up old, faded plastic.

Not sure if it would work on plastic, but gently wiping rubber parts with power steering fluid will freshen them up.

Oh yeah, and the perches look great!

[AlfromNH]

Thanks, I'll check out the Mother's stuff

[suecanada]

Saw a review of "Wipe New" As-Seen-on-TV product and the motorcycle owner was really pleased with the renewal powers it gave...I remember now...the review was in the BMW ON News magazine. I see that Giant Tiger here has Wipe New and I'm going to try it on all the oxidized parts on both van and bikes.