Powder coat recommendation?

[Banjers51]

Anyone have a recommendation, or better yet good experience with someone who does powder coating in Massachusetts and/or Connecticut? I'm looking for a durable finish for a commuter frame, single color (probably white), in other words I don't need anything fancy. Thanks in advance for any ideas/leads.

Banjers51
"Putcher fangers on the strangs" E.Scruggs

[rhmiller]

I like the powder coat finish on my frame. I didn't know this at the time, but powder coating fills in some of the "unevenness" in the frame. Now the serial number on my steel lugged De Rosa is now unreadable.

It's otherwise a nice finish.


Ralph

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . then be careful. My cross frame was powder coated black when I got it. I put decals on it, then wanted to get a powdercoated clear coat and the shop guy wouldn't do it. He said they have to put the whole thing in an autoclave to cure the paint--350 degrees and it would melt the decals. So we did polyurethane and it work great.

BBD

[Peter P.]

In Connecticut, I would go here:

http://www.plastonics.com/

Although I didn't do business with them, I ALMOST did. Here's my story:

I was going to get a set of Kreitler roller frames powdercoated and found Plastonics in the yellow pages. I walked in the door and no one was in the receptionist area. I holler "Hello!" and this guy pokes his head out of an office and says he'll be right there.

He comes out, takes me to a room with color chips hanging on the walls and many samples of powdercoated items from car springs to engine parts to custom chopper bits.

He explains their cleaning/coating/baking processes and how they have to write up a process sheet, all very professional. Then when he gives me a price, I was somewhat surprised at how high it was. He explained it's because it's a one-off item and of course, if I was doing 100 of them the price would come way down.

Then he takes me into HIS office and says he often steers smaller jobs to his competitors; perhaps one of them can help me out. He calls two of them but no luck. I start asking him what it would cost to do a bike frame; his price was very close to Spectrum Powder Works.

http://www.spectrumpowderworks.com/

Turns out this guy was the vice-president of Plastonics!

I was just damn impressed with his customer service skills. So if you want to get your frame powdercoated in CT, I would recommend Plastonics. They're very easy to find, just off I-91 near the Brainard Rd. exit in Hartford.

However, I would also suggest you consider Spectrum Powder Works because the price is similar and they SPECIALIZE in bikes. I did wind up sending my buddy's frame to Spectrum because it needed repairs besides paint, and they did a wonderful job, sending me e-mails all through the process letting me know the status of the job, asking questions, confirming things, etc.

[rphetteplace]

send the bike to spectrum

[TimD]

Applied Plastics in Norwood.

[Peter B]

Spectrum is tops, but it depends on your goals. If its a commuter/rain bike/beater, find a local shop. I had a Steamroller stripped and powdercoated black by a local industrial powdercoat business here in California for $75. Nothing fancy, not perfect, but perfectly suited to my purpose.