I picked up some wheels to keep as a set of nice summer wheels for the Golf. I couldnt pass up the nice deal on them. The were a little dirty and needed a good cleaning but def. well worth the money. I wanted to get them refinished to help clean them up and seal them off a little bit as there were a few places that were starting to peel a bit. SO I figured hell, why not fire up the powdercoating gun and give it a shot. I’ve done all the parts for my bike, and some other small parts but this would be my first set of wheels. Brought them to work and gave them a good sandblasting then dipped them into our cleaning tank to give em a quick bath. Fired up the gun and went at it. I did learn that powder does not like to stick to something that isnt properly magnetized (obviously aluminum/alloy is not very magnetic… lol). SO I had to put it on pretty thick to get a nice coating. Ended up using an entire 8oz bottle of powder on a single wheel (quite a bit was wasted though). Got it into the oven (back side first, then front) and I am extremely happy about the outcome. It looks absolutely amazing and I couldnt be happier for my first wheel. I was a little worried about the color matching too closely to the color of the car, but it is quite a bit different and should look great on there.
Here are a few quick pics I took with my phone but they dont even come close to doing it justice. Let me know what you think.
PS: Sorry for the long read, but I like to give the full story… lol
yes, but the wheels were aluminum (i believe,possibly alloy) so they did not charge as nice as some other metals i’ve done. it still worked, just wasted a little more.
if you are planning on doing mostly small stuff then the harbor freight setup is perfectly fine. If you are planning on doing mostly large stuff then you need a better one. For the small amount of large things im doing, the HF is fine for me for now. A sandblaster of some kind makes like a lot easier too… whether it just be a gun or a full cabinet is up to you. Then just grab some scrap metal and go for it. It really isnt hard at all.
17" will be close. I’ll try to get actual dimensions next time I’m at my dads (thats where all my stuff is) so we can see. The other problem I can see with the motorcycle rims is that because wheels are so close, I HAVE to set them on the rack… I cant hang them. Therefore there will be one side that will show faint lines from the rack. With car wheels I just make it so the lines are on the back, but with motorcycle wheels both sides are seen. But I’ll try to get some dimensions and get back to you.
Im working with the shop foreman at work trying to get my hands on an old infared heater we have just laying around. If I can pick that up then I should be able to do just about anything.
Why not weld up a little stand of sorts to prop the bike wheel up at an angle in the over. if I picture it in my head something that hold the wheel by the bearing hole and just kind of cradles it so the faces that are powdered dont touch anything.
I’d have to take some measurements, but that wouldnt be a bad idea. it would just be close as far as fitment into the oven goes.
ALWAYS use electric. It may be rare, but gas and fine powder can make big BOOM!!! lol Some day I hope to build a larger oven that I can easily roll larger parts into and be able to bake them. Its not that hard to do, just can get pretty expensive.
i paid nada for mine. It was an old oven my dad had laying around and it works perfect b/c it has an upper and lower oven. That way I can have one preheated while I have parts cooling in the other. Saves a hell of a lot of time.
