powder coating heat treated aluminum

[you14]

Newbie alert!

Sorry, I know this horse has probably been beaten pretty well, but I can't find a definite answer for the life of me. I have read MANY articles and posts, but none seem to have a concrete answer.

I would like to be able to powder coat aluminum bicycle frames, which are made from 6061 and 7005 (for the most part). As I understand it, 6061 is heat treated, but 7005 may or may not be heat treated, so you must assume it was.

Due to the low availability and low color choice of low temp powder, is it possible to cure regular powder at less than 270 F? That's the general figure I came up with from various sources to not affect the heat treat. It seems aluminum is heat treated at a much lower temp than other metals, so anything over 270 will affect the heat treat. Maybe cured for a much longer time, or is 270 F just not hot enough to get a full cure, no matter how long it's baked?

I figure this is a little advanced for someone that's never coated a damned thing before, but this will be the bulk of what I do, so I'd like to know if it's even feasible before I blow hard earned cash on equipment.

Thanks for any info folks!

[Harleydad]

A regular powder will not fully cure at that temp (270) no matter how long you cure.

[SCOTTRODS]

Newbie alert!

Sorry, I know this horse has probably been beaten pretty well, but I can't find a definite answer for the life of me. I have read MANY articles and posts, but none seem to have a concrete answer.

I would like to be able to powder coat aluminum bicycle frames, which are made from 6061 and 7005 (for the most part). As I understand it, 6061 is heat treated, but 7005 may or may not be heat treated, so you must assume it was.

Due to the low availability and low color choice of low temp powder, is it possible to cure regular powder at less than 270 F? That's the general figure I came up with from various sources to not affect the heat treat. It seems aluminum is heat treated at a much lower temp than other metals, so anything over 270 will affect the heat treat. Maybe cured for a much longer time, or is 270 F just not hot enough to get a full cure, no matter how long it's baked?

I figure this is a little advanced for someone that's never coated a damned thing before, but this will be the bulk of what I do, so I'd like to know if it's even feasible before I blow hard earned cash on equipment.

Thanks for any info folks!

without getting too technical, It's been discussed to death, regarding Aluminum Wheels.... The discussion usually ends up with the general consensus that The coating process will not harm the aluminum enough to matter, as most any aluminum structure is over engineered by enough of a margin that the heat treating process is not compromised to a degree of eminent failure.