Diy - Powder Coated Rc30 Wheel.

It was time to get the Rc wheel powder coated so I thought I would do it myself. Why? Why not?! First I had to get it sand blasted so I bought a small one off ebay. Now I needed a blast cabinet. I figured I could build one big enough to do a wheel and my exhaust. I was thinking about some possible materials to use for a box when I spotted a RubberMade bin sitting in the garage. Hmmm...seems like the right size if it were only a tad bigger. After some head scratching I figured I would need some sort of base along with a retrieval system for the media. One thing led to another and I came up with this...

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There are three connected together. The top one hinges with the middle one and they make up the body of the cabinet. There is a sizable hole between the middle one and the bottom one. The bottom one catches all the blast media and acts as the base. The bottom one just sits on it's lid, when I need to refill the blaster, the whole thing lifts up off the bottom lid and I simply scoop up the blast media. There is a piece of plexy on top as well as in back for a light. A pair of old jacket sleeves and some gloves and I'm good to go. Works like a champ.

Next I needed an oven. Since the world is full of 70's era Avocado Green ovens, I was able to get one for free.
It was going to be too small for my exhaust so it was time to mod. I made a box out of 2" foil lined rigid insulation and taped the seams with foil tape. I welded up a slide system inside with a custom rack to get parts in and out with out handling them.

Door off.
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Oven.jpg

Exhaust inside.
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Door on.
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Oven closed.jpg
After experimenting with Chrome Ceramic Paint on my exhaust at 500 degrees for 1 hour, I was sure the set up was good for the powder coating.


This is the powder coat gun. It's for small jobs and who knows if it will last or not but I wanted to do this thing myself so it was worth a try.

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Powder coat system.jpg


RC30 wheel blasted.
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After blasting, it went into the oven for 20 minutes at 400 degrees to flash off any oils or other contaminants.
Once it cooled down to barely hot to the touch it was time for powder. I had no idea how much to put on. When it looked "right", it was in the oven for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. It's important that the part reaches cure temp not the oven air before you start the timer. It was a long wait. It's also important to let the metal come down slowly from the heat so after shutting it off, it stayed in the oven till it reached room temp. I've read more than one article on the damage an aluminum rim can have if brought up to high heat and then cooled quickly.

I wasn't sure what I'd see when I opened the oven but I've got to say, I was shocked. It was F-n' beautiful! Man I mean really beautiful! I am so psyched. Now if it just holds up to a tire change, I will be totally psyched.

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1st try RC30 rim.jpg

Brilliant work Kel!!! It does look fantastic.

How do you find the time to do all this stuff?!?! I'm learning a lot from your topics.

That's an RC30 rim? Looks like an RC45.

Nice job BTW.

Larry
VFRrider

Excellent!

Thanks for the pics of the oven setup. Great job on it.

What about the other side and parts that lay on the rack will have marks in them? Usually you need a hanging point to eliminate any marks while the powder coating is in the oven and curing.

[image: View Post]SLO97VFR, on Aug 16 2009, 10:50 PM, said:

What about the other side and parts that lay on the rack will have marks in them? Usually you need a hanging point to eliminate any marks while the powder coating is in the oven and curing.
Optical illusion. The wheel sits on a post about 1.5 inches above the rack. Never touches it.

[image: View Post]Kel, on Aug 16 2009, 07:56 PM, said:

[image: View Post]SLO97VFR, on Aug 16 2009, 10:50 PM, said:

What about the other side and parts that lay on the rack will have marks in them? Usually you need a hanging point to eliminate any marks while the powder coating is in the oven and curing.
Optical illusion. The wheel sits on a post about an 1.5 above the rack. Never touches it.

Ah ok, nice to be able to do it at your house without waiting for a shop. Results look great too! You should be glad Im not your neighbor or Id be over way to much.

[image: View Post]SLO97VFR, on Aug 16 2009, 11:00 PM, said:

[image: View Post]Kel, on Aug 16 2009, 07:56 PM, said:

[image: View Post]SLO97VFR, on Aug 16 2009, 10:50 PM, said:

What about the other side and parts that lay on the rack will have marks in them? Usually you need a hanging point to eliminate any marks while the powder coating is in the oven and curing.
Optical illusion. The wheel sits on a post about an 1.5 above the rack. Never touches it.

Ah ok, nice to be able to do it at your house without waiting for a shop. Results look great too! You should be glad Im not your neighbor or Id be over way to much.

Be glad I'm not your neighbor, seems like lately the grinder, or compressor, or palm sander, or banging hammer echos into the late night!

I'll bet that old oven smelled really nice at 500 degrees. :ph34r:


Wheel looks good tho......

But best thing is the wheel has a nice pumpkin spice smell to it so no air fresheners are needed.

[image: View Post]Kel, on Aug 16 2009, 11:07 PM, said:

Be glad I'm not your neighbor, seems like lately the grinder, or compressor, or palm sander, or banging hammer echos into the late night!
You know I wouldn't mind... I'd probably be helping to make more noise!! :ph34r:

You shoulda plopped a nice big cherry on it for the pic, fresh outta the oven!


I don't know what you normally do for changing tires, but I would highly recommend finding someone that has a good 4-pad machine, the kind that grips the wheel from the inside with rubber pads. Forget using a bar-type changer, the wheel'l look like trash in no time.

My F2 wheels for the 750 were done by a shop, and they have chips in them just from installing them(little tiny ones). When I had the tires put on, the guy was sweating because I told him the powdercoat was fresh.

[image: View Post]Kel, on Aug 17 2009, 03:07 AM, said:

Be glad I'm not your neighbor, seems like lately the grinder, or compressor, or palm sander, or banging hammer echos into the late night!
I'm close enough to be a neighbor... When should I bring my VF1KR exhaust over ? :ph34r:

[image: View Post]VFRDYLAN, on Aug 17 2009, 08:14 AM, said:

[image: View Post]Kel, on Aug 17 2009, 03:07 AM, said:

Be glad I'm not your neighbor, seems like lately the grinder, or compressor, or palm sander, or banging hammer echos into the late night!
I'm close enough to be a neighbor... When should I bring my VF1KR exhaust over ? :cool:

Dylan, any and all kR work is welcome and free(well not FREE-free, six pack of course). I'm thinking of doing something with my stock exhaust if for nothing else, to preserve it. There are some good bake on matte black coatings along with some silvers. Columbia coatings and Caswell are both good places to check out.

Wheres the rest of the bike?

That looks fantastic. Big congrats on going the DIY route and being successful at it.

Nice job Kel. I like the oven. Wheel looks good too.

You twisted sum-b!(ch! That is SCHWEET! Good deal. Thanks for the how-to, too!

Brilliant work Kel. Turned out awesome :laugh:

Thanks all, you truly can do it yourself. Funny side note...you know when the waitress comes to your table and says "Hot plate, don't touch!" and your hand goes directly to the plate anyway. In the instructions for the powdercoat gun, it says DO NOT TOUCH PART WHILE YOU HAVE TRIGGER PULLED. ELECTRIC SHOCK WILL OCCUR. Guess what? They weren't kidding. I was spraying the powder and thought I would spin the wheel to get all sides when BAM, a pretty sizable shock went through my glove and up my arm. I don't know what the transformer puts out but it was quite a jolt.

[image: View Post]Kel, on Aug 20 2009, 02:36 PM, said:

Thanks all, you truly can do it yourself. Funny side note...you know when the waitress comes to your table and says "Hot plate, don't touch!" and your hand goes directly to the plate anyway. In the instructions for the powdercoat gun, it says DO NOT TOUCH PART WHILE YOU HAVE TRIGGER PULLED. ELECTRIC SHOCK WILL OCCUR. Guess what? They weren't kidding. I was spraying the powder and thought I would spin the wheel to get all sides when BAM, a pretty sizable shock went through my glove and up my arm. I don't know what the transformer puts out but it was quite a jolt.

bit like my parents saying "donot date that girl, she is no good..............." :goofy:

[image: View Post]Dutchy, on Aug 20 2009, 08:44 AM, said:

[image: View Post]Kel, on Aug 20 2009, 02:36 PM, said:

Thanks all, you truly can do it yourself. Funny side note...you know when the waitress comes to your table and says "Hot plate, don't touch!" and your hand goes directly to the plate anyway. In the instructions for the powdercoat gun, it says DO NOT TOUCH PART WHILE YOU HAVE TRIGGER PULLED. ELECTRIC SHOCK WILL OCCUR. Guess what? They weren't kidding. I was spraying the powder and thought I would spin the wheel to get all sides when BAM, a pretty sizable shock went through my glove and up my arm. I don't know what the transformer puts out but it was quite a jolt.

bit like my parents saying "donot date that girl, she is no good..............." :fing02:


LOL. Yeah! Freaks. Gotta love them. Prolly why I'm not hitched, yet.

Awesome! Now I just need a place to put an extended oven.....and something that must be powdercoated of course!

Looks good, I always wondered if those diy powdercoat kits worked out. Are you using a different coating on the exhaust or regular powder?

Blast cabinet looks good too, probably better than the pos $75 Harbor Freight cabinet I threw out a couple months ago.

[image: View Post]Tightwad, on Aug 25 2009, 07:41 PM, said:

Awesome! Now I just need a place to put an extended oven.....and something that must be powdercoated of course!

Just make sure it's big enough for a frame and swingarm when you do. :laugh: :biggrin:

[image: View Post]vfrcapn, on Aug 25 2009, 09:01 PM, said:

Looks good, I always wondered if those diy powdercoat kits worked out. Are you using a different coating on the exhaust or regular powder?

Blast cabinet looks good too, probably better than the pos $75 Harbor Freight cabinet I threw out a couple months ago.
I'm using a ceramic coating that is a liquid. The shine they show might be able to be achieved but I don't have the patience.

Ceramic Coating

[image: View Post]dutchinterceptor, on Aug 25 2009, 08:12 PM, said:

[image: View Post]Tightwad, on Aug 25 2009, 07:41 PM, said:

Awesome! Now I just need a place to put an extended oven.....and something that must be powdercoated of course!

Just make sure it's big enough for a frame and swingarm when you do. :unsure: :cool:


noted