Quote:
Originally Posted by sharky nrk
Out of curiosity, what are your costs for all the p/c work your doing with the bike? Obviously if someone wanted to replicate there would be alot of labor cost, but whats it been running you?
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Thousands! Just kidding, I own a powder coating business -
www.apexcustomcoating.com.
The wheels would have been very expensive though. I spent at least 2 hours grinding/sanding before blasting and another 2 color sanding/buffing on each wheel.
Normally I would spend the equivalent of just over an hour and a half on each wheel that size (small) to strip, blast, prep, mask, and coat. That works out to roughly $110 each with materials. The misc parts and brackets would range from about $25 to $40, depending on detailing, assuming it was an in-stock powder.
Not cheap like some of the industrial/production shops that will fit-in your parts with their normal runs. Usually they won't do any prep (blasting, plugging holes, or any masking) which causes problems when you try to re-assemble the parts, and many times the parts are not fully cured because they use a conveyor that's set-up for thin parts like shelving. Some production shops also used "burn-off" ovens at around 800F to strip existing finishes. While that's fine on steel shelving, it completely erases the heat treating used on aluminum wheels to get adequate strength. I do a lot of race wheels, and never go into the temperature range where the strength of the wheel is affected.
I'm not in a hurry, and strive for superior detail, as well as the best durability possible. I like to think you get what you pay for.