[Closed] Painting fork lowers with Hammerite?

will probably look crap.

To get a good finish you will need to do lots of sanding between coats to sort out the finish.

Personally id strippem down then get them powder coated or 2 pack done by a car painter,then reassemble them,itll be cheaper in the long run as most diy type paints are too brittle & shell off,!

Risky getting lowers powdercoated though 🙁

I've painted a few bmx frames in hammerite before. Finish is pretty tough (if left to cure properly) but it can be tricky to get it looking anything other than homebrew. Sounds like you're too lazy to do it properly, so i doubt you do it well enough to be able to put stickers on.

They also make Smoothrite which can look decent enough - not tried it on forks mind.

risky getting lowers powdercoated though

Enlighten me?

If you mean because it goes everywhere i take your point,its no different to cleaning out threads or the insides if the tubes after paint! , ref seals etc,after all being careful masking is the key,& common sense prevails! .its just more durable in extreme conditions,hammerites ok for ure gates or ure shed hinges. .

I took a frame along to a powdercoater on Friday and left an old BB halfway in to mask the threads. He said that needed to come out as the heat would melt the plastic seals. I guess it would melt any plastic seals in the fork too.

A while ago I hammerited (smooth white gloss spray) my frame and while I made a pig's ear of spraying (too impatient so drips and runs everywhere) the actual finish and durability was OK. I'm wondering if I should do the same to the chipped bits on my fork.

Its like anything, if you take ure time & prepare correctly youll get better results! ,afterall,you know what you get with rushing, "fines & babies! ".:-)

I'd rather not heat up the fork lower to powdercoat curing temp.

The best finish will be sprayed but as will any painting it is all about the prep. Poor prep = poor results.

One of the guys I know has used this stuff:-

http://www.plasti-kote.co.uk/Product/pcode---4311/

Available at B&Q for about £7 a tin. he has done 2 pairs of forks now and one frame, all seem to be holding up well to use and abuse so i am going to do the same to some fork lowers later on this year.

I'd second getting them done in a paintshop...as others have said, it's all about the preperation and you'll need to have the lowers sanded down, primed and properly finished before the top coat goes on. I think you're barking up the wrong tree with Hammerite.

Thanks for the replies.

I should elaborate, it's not so much that I'm too lazy to spray them myself (I painted an old set of 36s a while back), but I'm at uni now, so don't really have anywhere to do the job.

Don't want to powdercoat, as has been mentioned, the high temperatures isn't great for the magnesium, and also no matter how well you mask the insides, some grit will get inside and potentially wreck the bushings.

Think I might just wait for a set of lowers in the correct colour to tun up (need some new lowers but the ones I've found are grey..)

Ta, Duane.

Thanks for the replies.

I should elaborate, it's not so much that I'm too lazy to spray them myself (I painted an old set of 36s a while back), but I'm at uni now, so don't really have anywhere to do the job.

Don't want to powdercoat, as has been mentioned, the high temperatures isn't great for the magnesium, and also no matter how well you mask the insides, some grit will get inside and potentially wreck the bushings.

Has anyone got lowers painted "properly"? How much did it cost?

Think I might just wait for a set of lowers in the correct colour to tun up (need some new lowers but the ones I've found are grey..)

Ta, Duane.

I did it on an old set of Z1 bams. The finish was poor but ~i rushed the job. Its durable paint though and can be touched up if required. Jsut put the coats on fairly thin and give them time to dry.

Just sand down the old paint a bit with wet and dry and then set them up in a large cardboard box and spray them. Don't fully remove the old paint - just key it up and remove any loose stuff.

Couple of thin coats. Don't rush. Allow a few hours for each to dry enough before you turn it over to do the other side and use something like a broom handle or cling film roll down the leg for handling them without touching the paint.

Piece of cake.

I did it on an old set of Z1 bams. The finish was poor but ~i rushed the job. Its durable paint though and can be touched up if required. Jsut put the coats on fairly thin and give them time to dry.

IIRC hammerite/smoothrite you're supoosed to put each coat on wet so the last coat's barely thickened and got a skin on it which you have to break up as you put the next one on?

I've had reasnoble luck with a rattle can, but it's a very un-durble finish (but can be touched up quickly).

why would anyone want stickers on their fork? 😕

Roughly how much does it cost to get a frame powdercoated?

£25 ish, depending on where you go.

results with plasti-kote improve a lot if you make sure the paint and the forks are nice and warm prior to application (water bath for the rattle-can andfan heater to warm the forks.