Powder coating question

[Lifeguard]

Can you powder coat over chrome? If not what do you have to do to prep it?

[Tykes_Place]

I think you can. But with a LOT of surface prep to help adhesion. I think sandblasting would be the only thing that's aggressive enough. Otherwise the chrome is too smooth and I don't think the coating would be that durable.

If the chrome is damaged, like chips or peeling, that will probably show through even if you clean it up good.

[Lifeguard]

That's what I thought. These things are just flat surfaces anyway so can just grind them down to the aluminum substrate. Now just gotta either try the powdercoat myself or find someone. Thanks Tykes.

[Chromepony]

I've had several chrome-plated parts powder coated.
I always have the powder shop guys prep the parts. They have a handle on all that. Results have always been remarkable.

[Zman]

I had my speedo bezel powder coated back. Took a bezel I bought on eBay for $15. The shop returned it a nice semi gloss black, two years ago. Not sure what they did, but it still looks great. Powder coating is a little softer than regular paint and scratches easier.

[BubbaKahuna]

True powder coat is much harder than paint, that's the whole point of using it. Sounds like someone painted your bezel & just told you they powder coated it. Real powder coat is so hard it's actually difficult to sandblast off, I've done it more times than I can count. Usually when the shop already bid on a blast job after being told the part was painted, then we find out otherwise when it takes 3x as long to strip it.

[Lifeguard]

Zman you definitely did not get a powder coat job done there. It should be almost impossible to scratch and is the toughest coating I have had done with the parts that are done. Something is not right with that one.

[BubbaKahuna]

If the chrome is in great shape you just hit it with fine abrasive (like glass bead) to uniformly give it some tooth for the PC (Powder Coat) to adhere to. PC won't stick to anything polished very long, even highly polished aluminum - it's just too smooth to hang onto. If you hit the chrome too long with any abrasive you'll start to tear it off & at that point you'll never get it smooth without completely stripping the chrome off the entire part. That is one pain in the ass job, speaking from experience having worked in a blast facility.

Best way to PC a chrome piece is glass bead blast it first, then primer it since you've now taken a good portion of the protective layer of shine off the chrome, then powder coat it. You can get outstanding results with a cheap HF (Harbor Freight) PC gun and an oven but it's worth it to buy better powder than you'll get at HF. The powder I've bought from HF looks good when it's brand new and just cooked on. It tends to get chalky looking in less than a year if it's exposed to very much sunlight. The cheaper the PC, the faster it oxidizes so consider your budget & shop accordingly.

DO NOT cook PC in your home/food oven unless you're not afraid of eating toxic VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) in everything you cook after the MC parts, as well as spewing that crap all over your home and family. Those VOCs will stay in that oven and poison every piece of food you make in it forever. I can't stress how BAD an idea it is to cook POWDER COAT in your FOOD oven.

For small parts, buy a used toaster oven at the second hand store & use it only for PC in the garage. I got one for $5 at Goodwill and if it breaks I'll just buy another one for $5. For big parts, either buy or build a bigger oven or just hire the work out. I'm planning on building a PC oven using the twin oven elements from an old electric oven and an old freezer. I'm looking for one old enough to have fiberglass or rockwool insulation - not foam. It's got to tolerate sustained temps of around 450 degrees for at least 30 minutes. Plastic freezer parts, interiors, gaskets, handles & insulation will just start on fire at those temps.
Aside from the FIRE aspect, I guarantee you won't get a good finish if your oven burns down around your nice powder coated parts.

[Lifeguard]

Thanks Bubba. I guess it is time for me to try my hand at powder coating. I have done everything else with this bike (welding, painting etc) so this one is the last frontier. I looked at the HF gun but found the one at Eastwood for almost the same price on sale at times. So it sounds like yet another winter project to get too. I want to powder coat some swing arm covers frame covers and I guess my rear brake caliper bracket. Thanks for the advice.