Are Triple S still the go to place for powder coating an alu frame?

Is there anywhere people would recommend in Lancashire? Or anywhere that would possibly just chemically strip the frame and leave it raw?

Would a raw finish corrode quickly and look naff?

I presume it’s down to the specific alloy, but whenever the paints worn off my aluminium frame the metal has appears really soft and prone to wearing away. But intense, cannondale and a few others have made ‘raw’ aluminium frames.

You can get clear powdercoat, but it tends to yellow, and the few I’ve seen never look perfect. Blisters, porous bits, flakes, all allow the alu to corrode and unlike rusty steel under clearcoat, it looks a bit naff.

A ‘raw’ aluminium frame will need frequent polishing to stop it oxidising and looking ropey. It needs a clear coat of something to keep it looking fresh.

A lot of how the top coat takes depends on the surface finish – if you properly polish it, it’s very, very hard to get a hard wearing long lasting top layer. If you finish it with a ‘brushed’ effect it will be a lot easier as the top coat has something to key to.

To protect a raw aluminium finish coat it in ‘Sharkhide’ it’s a metal protectant that gets used a lot in the states on boat hulls,Airstream caravans etc.

http://www.sharkhide.com/mpinfo.html

Fastline coatings in Preston are good with aluminium but not the cheapest. He does all my handmade steel frames and I’ve seen a number of aluminium ones they’ve stripped and coated.

His new aquablast cabinet gives a very nice polished finish but it’ll need a clear coat or constant polishing (also not sure if cabinet is big enough for a frame). Otherwise he does gentle blasting or chemical strip.