Les Schwab powder coating

V

verdirick

Senior Member
Thinking seriously about having my extra set of 19 inch rims sandblasted and powder coated by Les Schwab. Has anybody out there used their services and what was your experience...Appreciate any response

Rick Jensen
 
Yes I know many and most all were happy with the service BUT Les has stopped doing powder coating at the Prineville plant where it had been done. Darn and bummer. Was such a good price.
 
If they are extra I would just leave them alone and store them the way they are. You won't have to worry about chips and you can never tell by the time you need them you may want a different color.

Charlie Stephens
 
A friend contacted a Les Schwab store about doing a set of wheels,the manager asked if they were early spoke ford wheels and quoted 75 bucks a piece,but he would do a 'real good job'.
Red is correct,Prineville had a production powder coating shop for truck wheels,I know a few guys that had A wheels done for 25 bucks a piece,great work..those days are gone,now the stores team up with local powder coating shops,and the price is high..
 
Had mine done here in Washington,yes they stopped doing it and now ( a few years ago) send them out to a shop in Oregon. Still a good price (then) nice job, do not know current policies.
 
The place in Oregon was more then likely the main plant in Prineville. The last wire wheels we had done was about $35 each, rocking price compared to other shops.
 
I had five 16" Ford wire wheels done by Les Schwab about 4 months ago out of their Sedro-Woolley, WA store. $35 total for blasting and powder coating. I am elated. Only down side is after blasting, if there were any rust pits, they get powder coated over and they do show through. Apparently there isn't any surface prep before powder coating. Still a rock'en deal.
 
SSsssteamer said:
I had five 16" Ford wire wheels done by Les Schwab about 4 months ago out of their Sedro-Woolley, WA store. $35 total for blasting and powder coating. I am elated. Only down side is after blasting, if there were any rust pits, they get powder coated over and they do show through. Apparently there isn't any surface prep before powder coating. Still a rock'en deal.
Click to expand...

If you are saying you can't do anything with the pits, here is some options that we used to do when we were powder painting in-house. There is a product called Lab Metal ( https://www.alvinproducts.com/Product-Line/aT/View/ProductID/3/Lab-metal ) that can be applied after the mediablasting. It can be smoothed easily with sandpaper after the Lab Metal has been baked/cured. Then apply the powder-paint over the top of the smoothed area as normal.

Another way we used to prep wheels was to apply a heavy coat of powder to the problematic areas and then do a partial cure at 375° for about 8 minutes which would allow the powder to flow but not cure. We would sand the pitted areas with 80 grit sandpaper and then when smooth, re-powder paint the entire wheel and bake to cure as normal. Below is pictures of a pitted wheel that was initially powder painted with black powder, then partially cured & sanded. Next red powder was applied, partially cured again and then the wheel was resanded. Finally the Red powder was sprayed and cured, followed by colorsanding and buffing the powder paint. The finish was as slick as any sprayed urethane that had been buffed.

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