Masking Up Wheels For Powder Coating

[szrdave]

I dropped my wheels off at the powder coaters on Saturday (Premier wheels in Surrey, recommended by my local bike shop), and when I asked the guy there what they would do about masking off the bearing and disc mounting surfaces he said it's not something they'd normally do as the tape won't survive 190°C.

He agreed they could put some cardboard inside the bearing housing to protect them from the worst of the powder, and suggested cleaning up the other surfaces with some sandpaper.

After getting lost a number of times trying to find the place and my phone playing up so I couldn't use google maps I was happy enough to leave the wheels with them, but I've been thinking about it and I'm really not happy about cleaning up machines surfaces with sandpaper. Particularly the disc mounting faces.

I'm going to give them a call back Monday am and ask them to mask these surfaces up or I'll take the wheels somewhere else, but I'd like ot have an idea of the options open to them before I call.

I guess the powder isn't going to travel much once it's on, so the options to me would be:

1. Wipe the bearing/disc mounting faces clean after applying the powder, then bake
   
2. Mask the surfaces up, apply powder, remove tape to leave clean surface, then bake
   
3. Mask the surfaces up, apply powder, bake. Tape singes/peels off but it's done its job by this point
   

Can anyone with experience of powdercoating wheels comment on the above?

[Superdunc]

Had a pair of wheels done last week. They didn't do a great job to be honest, but did mask up bits you mention with a High temp masking tape which worked perfectly.

[szrdave]

I just googled 'high temp masking tape', and RS do a roll for about £3.

I'll speak to Premier Wheels tomorrow, and if they can't do I'll see if they can blast them and I'll take the tape over next weekend and mask them myself.

This might even be preferable, I guess they're more used to car wheels so if I do it myself at least I'll know it's done right. There are also some pretty decent country lanes that way too

[sonic]

They do need taping and even masking tape will do a half decent job if they don't have the correct tape.Are they blasting them too as if they are you need to put bungs or old bolts in the disc bolt holes.

[Hendo]

Id be running a flipping mile.

Get your wheels back and send them to Triple S. Ive used their postal service for wheels etc.

You'll pay for it, but boy you'll be a happy customer.

http://www.triple-s.co.uk/

[lorenzo]

To be honest, you don't even have to go to specialist places like triple S to get a reasonable job done. The place I take them to does a pretty good job, they do a variety of things from railings to classic car parts, they mask everything off without batting an eyelid.

[szrdave]

I had originally planned to send them to Triple S, but the postage costs and hassle of packing them and getting them to the post office put me off.

The fact these guys don't have high temp masking tape in stock is a bit of a worry, but they've got the wheels now And to be fair to them as I said above, I think they mainly do car wheels.

[BudgetBoy]

If they are powder coaters of wheels then IMO they should have silicone bungs that fit the holes such as disk bolts ect. Seems like a cop out mate. Sounds like they are trying to do as little as possible for maximum payout..

[Gobert23]

There's plenty of different masking tapes that are suited to going in the oven and, yes, they should be used for masking up when powder coating.

If you're very quick, then it's possible to clean some surfaces up with a fresh blade (I used to use a Stanely type blade on engine covers, rocker covers and the like, when people wanted the casting to be polished back)

Not masking or preppin' is just laziness (imho)... and you'll never get the finish right if you start messing around once the powder's back to room temperature.

G

[bazzer107]

If they are powder coaters of wheels then IMO they should have silicone bungs that fit the holes such as disk bolts ect. Seems like a cop out mate. Sounds like they are trying to do as little as possible for maximum payout..

What Budget Boy has said, silicone bungs and silicone masking tape and you can also use old bolts fitted into threads.

Had a swingarm done, where I used a bolt, nut and washer to seal off the bearings as can be seen below.

[Evilchicken0]

You need to mask the disc surfaces too. Powder coat can make the disc run out of true but they'll also move the disc positions in the caliper.

I wouldn't trust somebody who doesn't know what they're doing and they seem like a chimp.

Get your wheels back, bubble wrap and cut a box to suit them, then post them.

[szrdave]

Well I spoke to the powder coaters first thing this morning, "hang on I'll check....yeah, we always mask up disc and bearing surfaces".

Hopefully it was just Saturday staff not knowing about prepping bike wheels. I'm picking them up on Saturday anyway, fingers crossed they do a decent job!