aluminium finishes?

[jim m]

Hello there,

I've recently acquired a slightly tired Ellsworth Joker. I was thinking about stripping it with Nitromoors and leaving it bare. Obviously it won't rust, but wil it tarnish and/or corrode (or are these the same thing)?

What are my options apart from powder coating - has anyone had a frame anodised? And what about lacquer or polishing?

any advice gratefully received.

cheers, Jim

 

[Corduroyboy]

Think this has been discussed a few times but basically aluminium will corrode over time (they have to pressure test oxygen tanks regularly because of this). Anodising seems to be a real pain in the arse because of the insane amount of prep. Polishing is OK but you'll have to be prepared to repolish on a regular basis! Powdercoating is prob the most cost-effective means of protection (though you will need to be careful with blasting - too heavy-handed and your frame will end up lighter than you would prefer!) and you can choose your colour.

 

[cherrybomb]

Aluminium is reasonably good stuff really. If you leave it nude ( ) it will form a dull oxide coating that will protect it for years in ideal conditions.
Unfortunately if you polish it, it will form a dull oxide coating that will ...... (you get the idea!).

Anodising is probably the best finish for aluminium alloy, but it doesn't cover imperfections in the surface, so if there are scratches they will show through. Having said that, there is no more prep involved than polishing really but the process can be costly.

Powder coating is cheap easy and looks good with a durable finish if that's what you want.

Polishing (see above). but I wouldn't lacquer it. They can discolour in sunlight and go brown (YUCK!) and look bad once they start to chip.

The choice is yours.

 

[cherrybomb]

Oh and aluminium oxygen tanks are painted internally. It's the paint finish they check during inspection for test certificates.

 

[antogoof]

im thinking of doing this too (powdercoating) can anyone give me an idea of the price? mine is a hardtail frame, and i will prob just strip the bike and want to take the frame in and let them do the prep work. or how could i prep it myself? i am looking for somewhere around the manchester aera to do this. has anyone done it? :?:

 

[cherrybomb]

There will be powder coaters local to you, have a look in the Yellow Pages. A frame shouldn't cost any more than around £30 - £40 to do in a single colour and most places should be able to prep it for you.

Nitromores (SP?) is the best stuff to get old paint off with, then I use wire wool and elbo greese. (Just wash it properly in soapy water before it's painted).

 

[jim m]

brilliant - thanks to you all! Still quite tempted to leave it bare - or anodise it - does anyone have a recommended firm - or should I just try google?

 

[cherrybomb]

Give Mansfield Anodisers a ring. (Google them for details) they do an excellent job and have a £20 minimum order charge (which is way less than most). Not sure how much a frame would be, but give them a ring.

 

[shovelon]

I dunno boys.

I have 3 shiny bikes, and clean them when they start to fade. The best stuff so far is knorristal polish. For some reason, it take a lot longer to to cloud up. My other polishes fade right away.

One frame I had, the clear coat got yellowed, so I had to strip it. Since then, I clean it regularly and use a miserly application of Knorristal polish. It gets much more dirty than faded so far.

 

[Anthony]

One disadvantage of powder-coating compared to polishing is that it adds c0.3lbs to the weight, which is a bit of a pity if you have a lightweight frame.

Powdercoating is very much an industrial protection process, so you're dealing with firms that don't have to worry all that much about the look of the finish. The prices they charge reflect the amount of time and care that they have to put into coating a piece of industrial equipment. Also some of them could be unaware that you can shot blast an aluminium frame into oblivion if you're not careful.

I haven't used this firm, but they do specialise in bike frames (but charge twice as much!) http://www.windridge.co.uk/content.php/410 It seems a lot, but I guess they get it to look good (especially in metallic!) and if you want a painted frame, this is the toughest finish you're going to find.