POWDER COAT COST AND DURABILITY ?

Yojimbo · Post by **Yojimbo** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 7:27 am

Alright, before you guys are ready to kill me, there is some precedent. I have a MS Corinthian, and I haven't got cash or time ATM to powder coat or plate it. I would rather put that money into a new helm.
Some Greek helms have been painted, and I was wondering what the most durable / paint techniques are ?
Thanks

Well, since it has taken a different direction, I am gonna powder coat it. I have been quoted 75 usd .... this average price for a bronze powder coat ?

How durable is the Powder Coat finish ?

Angusm0628 · Post by **Angusm0628** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 8:04 am

Decent primer. Then use rustoleum, couple coats of color of choice. then clear coat the hell out of it..

ORRRRR powder coat it. It's actually pretty cheap. I had a maille haubergeon done for $26 and change. Turn around time for the shop I used was 2 days.

Gocauo · Post by **Gocauo** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 12:16 pm

[quote="Angusm0628"]Decent primer. Then use rustoleum, couple coats of color of choice. then clear coat the hell out of it..
[quote]

And don't mix spray paints...they usually don't play well with each other...

Yojimbo · Post by **Yojimbo** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 1:41 pm

[quote="Angusm0628"]Decent primer. Then use rustoleum, couple coats of color of choice. then clear coat the hell out of it..

ORRRRR powder coat it. It's actually pretty cheap. I had a maille haubergeon done for $26 and change. Turn around time for the shop I used was 2 days.[/quote]

the powder coat price i was quoted was 75 usd ... soud right for a helm ?

Angusm0628 · Post by **Angusm0628** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 1:53 pm

Yojimbo wrote:[
the powder coat price i was quoted was 75 usd ... soud right for a helm ?

Is this with shipping?? If it's $75 just for the coating...I'll give you the address and number of the guy I used. $30 I would guess at the outside for the coating. Then shipping at about $15 each way and you've already beaten the $75

Yojimbo · Post by **Yojimbo** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 3:42 pm

[quote="Angusm0628"][quote="Yojimbo"][
the powder coat price i was quoted was 75 usd ... soud right for a helm ?[/quote]

Is this with shipping?? If it's $75 just for the coating...I'll give you the address and number of the guy I used. $30 I would guess at the outside for the coating. Then shipping at about $15 each way and you've already beaten the $75[/quote]

They are local. I have contacted 2 local businesses , one I get 75, the other I get quoted 80 or so. Maybe ur gettin a hell of a deal !!!

Angusm0628 · Post by **Angusm0628** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 6:06 pm

I may be.. Then again I went with the "Magic Black" which is their basic no gloss black and they have LOTS of parts going thru in that color. Adding me was no big deal....

Yojimbo · Post by **Yojimbo** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 11:55 pm

Angusm0628 wrote:I may be.. Then again I went with the "Magic Black" which is their basic no gloss black and they have LOTS of parts going thru in that color. Adding me was no big deal....

I think the color may have something to do with it, they asked and when i said bronze they both gave me that ball park price.

Sean Powell · Post by **Sean Powell** » Fri Mar 19, 2010 8:32 am

The shop I dealt with had a $100 or $120 min order. We brought in 2 helms, one was a custom bronze on a Valgrad-6 that they happened to have extra of from a previous job. My sallet and visor (technicly 2 pieces) was an ultra-gloss black that is a standard color. Anything other then black had a set-up charge for them to clean the sprayers or something to prevent contamination and any colors that had to be special ordered meant paying for a minimum lot of color regardless of how much was used.

Net result is price can vary but they were damn impressed with the helms and were used to 'odd' requests as some civ-war reenactors brought in wagon and cannon pieces to do occasionally.

Sean

Johann ColdIron · Post by **Johann ColdIron** » Fri Mar 19, 2010 11:05 am

Yojimbo wrote:
Angusm0628 wrote:I may be.. Then again I went with the "Magic Black" which is their basic no gloss black and they have LOTS of parts going thru in that color. Adding me was no big deal....

I think the color may have something to do with it, they asked and when i said bronze they both gave me that ball park price.

Make sure they are offering you a UV stable powder coat. Materials differs and some are indoor only.

That said, what are you going to do WHEN it chips or gets scratched with someones basket hilt? Powder coat is not repairable. Paint is much more user friendly.

Yojimbo · Post by **Yojimbo** » Fri Mar 19, 2010 11:47 am

Johann ColdIron wrote:
Yojimbo wrote:
Angusm0628 wrote:I may be.. Then again I went with the "Magic Black" which is their basic no gloss black and they have LOTS of parts going thru in that color. Adding me was no big deal....

I think the color may have something to do with it, they asked and when i said bronze they both gave me that ball park price.

Make sure they are offering you a UV stable powder coat. Materials differs and some are indoor only.

That said, what are you going to do WHEN it chips or gets scratched with someones basket hilt? Powder coat is not repairable. Paint is much more user friendly.

How fragile is it ? I thought it was supposed to be SUPER tough ?

Johann ColdIron · Post by **Johann ColdIron** » Fri Mar 19, 2010 2:08 pm

Super tough is relative. :lol:

It is still a surface coating and subject to scratching/chipping.

We have used it at the museum I work in for outdoor graphic stands and such. They eventually develop dings and scratches from baby carriages and skateboards. What do we use to touch it up... paint

What do powder coaters sell for touch up... paint.

Maybe someone who has had a helm done will chime in with better results but renewable surface treatments make more sense to me for armour. Plus paint is period.

Armourkris · Post by **Armourkris** » Fri Mar 19, 2010 7:38 pm

Having worked with a powder coater before, the colour you use is part of the price. the guy i worked with did runs of black magic every couple of days, colours like bronze not so much.

as for the durability, get your helm sandblasted first. it makes all the difference in the world. As a sandblaster i had to strip off powder coating on a semi-regular basis. if the piece was unprepared steel underneath it blew off like nothing. tougher than paint, but not by a whole lot. just a good once over with some sandpaper makes a huge difference, and then some of my armour is blasted then powder coated, I've hammered out dents in it without messing up the finish.

sandblasting a helm is very much in the realm of 15 minutes and a case of beer.

Yojimbo · Post by **Yojimbo** » Fri Mar 19, 2010 11:33 pm

Armourkris wrote:Having worked with a powder coater before, the colour you use is part of the price. the guy i worked with did runs of black magic every couple of days, colours like bronze not so much.

as for the durability, get your helm sandblasted first. it makes all the difference in the world. As a sandblaster i had to strip off powder coating on a semi-regular basis. if the piece was unprepared steel underneath it blew off like nothing. tougher than paint, but not by a whole lot. just a good once over with some sandpaper makes a huge difference, and then some of my armour is blasted then powder coated, I've hammered out dents in it without messing up the finish.

sandblasting a helm is very much in the realm of 15 minutes and a case of beer.

The company said that sandblasting is part of the prep .. so we should be good ? But does the sandblasting hurt the helm or armour ?

Armourkris · Post by **Armourkris** » Sat Mar 20, 2010 11:57 am

nope, the only way i can see sandblasting hurting a helm would be if they held the hose in one spot on it for a long long time, then it would thin out the metal a little. as it is, for powder coating they'll just be stripping off any previous finish and dusting down the helm to give it some texture for the powder coat to stick to.