Mercian cycles and paint codes, painter in Nottingham area.

[Dr.Robotnik]

Hi again,

I am trying to find a good painter/frame builder in the Nottingham area to help me in my restoration.

I have had Mercian suggested to me and was wondering if anyone could recommend their work? I need some dents filling, a brake post securing and a cable guide re-fitting.

I don't believe they will be able to help with paint as I think I require powder (I would like my shock spring re-painted too you see). So can anyone recommend a powder coater in my area? Or how can I determine if there work is good if they haven't done bikes before? What can I expect to pay?

Also how do I work out which RAL code I need? I have found a RAL list but don't know which red I need. My frame had a re-paint back in the day and the spring is faded so the only help I have is the picture, in my thread. I believe it may be the same colour as the standard shock spring red if anyone knows it?

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=47653

If I strip the majority of paint using nitro-mors and a scraper is there much else I need to do to prep the frame? I'd like to do what I can myself to keep costs low and get a good durable finish.

Finally, is there anything else I would need to tell a painter other than the paint code? There aren't different types of powder are there? Anything else I should know?

Help.

Cheers

Ed

 

[cchris2lou]

if you can send it , use coloutech in crayford , kent , they do all the Roberts work .

 

[orange71]

I went to Mercian about a dent in my 853 tubed frame and they just said go fill it with car filler. They could do it for me equally but it would cost £30 or something like that.

Also I noticed these guys recently (just near my mother in law's) no idea how good they are: http://derwentenamellers.com/

 

[Andy R]

I went to Mercian about a dent in my 853 tubed frame and they just said go fill it with car filler. They could do it for me equally but it would cost £30 or something like that.

If you want to powdercoat, then you can't fill dents with body filler.

Silver solder would be the best bet.

 

[pete_mcc]

Bob Jackson everytime! They were superb at filling dents, chroming bits and painting my frame up and in no time at all:

 

[hamster]

Mercians are one of the best bike builders and repairers in the country.

 

[rc300]

I know the guys at Jacksons pretty well .....great guys fantastic work. keeping steel real!

 

[Crell]

Mercian are an excellent builder, but I have found them lacking when I've contacted them about repairs in the past.

I put it down to them being very busy with their own frames to really need to do anyone elses. I was also suprised they didn't know any powder coaters in the area (Icould hear the guy dismissing me as soon as I mentioned powdering rather than enamel), though maybe that's them being concerned over implied recommendations if it all goes wrong.

Ed, I have been on the derwent enamellers site a few times in the past but it had no info on it - at least that new site has marginally more!. They look good judging by their past work though blasting a bike frame is abit different to some industrial lump.

I also read positive things about a powder coaters in ilkeston on an Cobra forum, but I can't remember who that was.

I'd probably go to Derwent simply as theyre local and talk to them and see how responsive they are.

 

[8lezard]

 

[Anthony]

Re: Mercian cycles and paint codes, painter in Nottingham ar

Hi again,
I am trying to find a good painter/frame builder in the Nottingham area to help me in my restoration.
I have had Mercian suggested to me and was wondering if anyone could recommend their work? I need some dents filling, a brake post securing and a cable guide re-fitting.
I don't believe they will be able to help with paint as I think I require powder (I would like my shock spring re-painted too you see). So can anyone recommend a powder coater in my area? Or how can I determine if there work is good if they haven't done bikes before? What can I expect to pay?
Also how do I work out which RAL code I need? I have found a RAL list but don't know which red I need. My frame had a re-paint back in the day and the spring is faded so the only help I have is the picture, in my thread. I believe it may be the same colour as the standard shock spring red if anyone knows it?
http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=47653
If I strip the majority of paint using nitro-mors and a scraper is there much else I need to do to prep the frame? I'd like to do what I can myself to keep costs low and get a good durable finish.
Finally, is there anything else I would need to tell a painter other than the paint code? There aren't different types of powder are there? Anything else I should know?
Help.
Cheers
Ed

All those recommendations were about liquid paint, but you say you want a powder-coater. These people look a good bet if you're willing to post http://www.triple-s.co.uk/

My impression is that an increasing number of powder-coaters around the country are not exactly specialising in bikes, but are realising that it could be good business for them and are thinking about the various special requirements (like not shot-blasting aluminium!) My guess is if you phoned up various powder-coaters around Nottingham, you'd find some who had never painted a bike frame or didn't know about protecting threads etc, and others who sounded as though they'd done it and were up to speed and could maybe show you photos of finished product. Pretty obvious then who to choose. And the more you show them you care about the finish and discuss the details with them, the more likely it is they'll do a good job.

You don't need to strip the paint, pretty much any painter will do that within their standard price and may insist on doing it themselves, as only shotblasting gives a good enough surface for them to work with. You do need to remove absolutely all fittings, bolts etc though, and make sure there's no grease etc inside the frame. They all work to the same RAL list and if you show them what you want the colour match to be, they'll be the best judges of what RAL code you'll need. It's what they do after all.