chrome powder coat

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brxpb

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Has anyone had anything chrome powder coated, it looks very good on the sellers web pages, but then it would, wouldn't it, I like the look of it but It'd be nice to hear a first hand review.
 
My brother has a powder coat system, and we tried the 'chrome', and it looks OK, more like a shiny/lustrous silver, but not a chrome. Ask the vendor for a sample, I would bet they have a plug or a washer with the finish on it they could send you.
 
I've been powdercoating my own parts for years and have done a number of pieces in "chrome".

The finish really isn't chrome like, more like a polished aluminum look. The lustre is brilliant as-coated, but it will oxidize if not clear coated. The application of clear coat dulls the brightness some.

It's still a nice finish as long as you aren't expecting a true chrome effect.
 
Powder coat can't be done in chrome, it's a type of paint. Metallic particles can be added, just like in regular spray painting. For certain parts, like exhaust pipes, plasma spray is a much better, more durable alternative.

Baked enamel was the old system for hard paint finishes. The paint went on and was baked hard in an oven. Powder coat puts the heat in the spray and binds the paint to the metal part. Plasma spray actually melts the metal in the spray and binds it to the part. Some alloy parts may not do well with plasma, since it goes on so hot. Certain alloys, especially thin stock parts may even be harmed by powder coating.
 
I had my triple trees 'chrome' powder coated. Then they put a clear on it. It matches the original paint pretty good. It's certainly not chrome looking though by any means.

chrome powder coat
 
Cheers for the replies, It does look nice but not outstanding enough to warrant the fact that I have to mail the yokes away to have this done, and then not being 100% sure of it getting done properly, where as I have a metal finishers just 4 mile away who will do them in silver and have them back to me within four days for £30, so I might just go down this route. On a seperate note I always said to myself that I would neither powder coat or stove enamel anything again, most frames come from the factory painted, and if you welded a new lug or modified your frame you just spray it back up after and it looks like factory standard, it's a different ball game with powder coat. I don't see why it's so favoured over normal paint.
 
I had to weld on a broken wing for the front fuel tank mount after my P/C. I just used some black rustolium with a small brush to touch it up. Granted it's not in a visible place, but it didn't look bad. Don't know what I do to bikes, but paint just doesn't last long on mine.
 
According to my powdercoater, chrome powdercoat is for indoor applications only, like furniture. Sun degrades it, even when clearcoated.

Find somebody with a chrome paint system, I just had a bunch of parts chrome and black chrome painted. Pretty impressive results. No, it isn't chrome, but close.

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Clear coat will definitely change the color when applied to powder coat. I had a set of wheels powder coated silver, when they put the clear coat over it, the silver turned to gray. And removing powder coat is much more difficult than removing paint.
 
When clearcoated it becomes a very close gray/silver to the original painted parts like the fender stays and airbox front cover. I did this too, like DogT, and it has held up well.

On a side note, I had a problem with powdercoat on a trailer hitch where it peeled off in sheets with rust underneath. I took it to be sandblasted and then they used a 2-part epoxy primer with a polyurethane black paint and it has been fine ever since. They said it was a poor application for powdercoat. It's a bad environment with all the salt spray during our winters and they did many many of these trailer hitches. I could not believe all the surface rust underneath even the good looking parts of the powdercoat and it pretty much turned me away from using it in the future.
 
Guy that did my powder coat did a lot of work for DOD. They required a phosphate treatment on the bare metal before the powder to prevent rusting under the coat. He did the same for my parts.
 
I had the same done on my project. I am in Arizona the guy looked at me funny, but i am a belt and suspenders kind of guy with this.

DogT said:
Guy that did my powder coat did a lot of work for DOD. They required a phosphate treatment on the bare metal before the powder to prevent rusting under the coat. He did the same for my parts.
Click to expand...
 
The phosphate is an oxide similar to rust only not recombinant with iron, so it doesn't continue to deteriorate the base metal. It's like an electrochemical primer that binds with the base. If you've ever seen black drywall screws, you've seen phosphate coating.
 
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