My rims will be going in to Armourtex one of these days, and I need (ok, so need is debatable, I would prefer) to mask the braking surface on the front one, as they said they don't do the masking themselves and didn't seem to know much about masking materials. Has anyone had any experience with masking tape for powder coating? Do you really need tape to stand 400-500F or does the lower temp tape work ok?

Also anyone had much joy masking off a curved surface with a straight tape?

i'd leave it in the too hard basket, then when they come back just get some cheap very abrasive shimano pads that will chew through it in no time.

Could try masking fluid?

I have not tried but an idea.

^ +1 to dogs

Yer I have seen a few people who have non-machined deep v's on the front and it doesn't look too bad scuffing on the coating, just wondering how much it will damage the rest of the paintwork if it does start to get rubbed off. Juts thinking they're going to be baby blue so I can't decide how much of a mess black brake skids will make. gah

I am getting some cranks powder coated up in lovely Hackney and will be pedaling up to Armourtex in about an hour.

I spoke to Steve at Armourtex and told him I will need a few areas masked off, specifically the areas that contact the ring on the arms and the threads for the chainring bolts - he didn't seem to think it was a problem.

But . . . masking off a clean circle following the side of a rim mind be more difficult.

I suppose there is a reason powder coated rims are machined rather than masked, ie: even the professional manufacturers powder coat the whole rim then machine the sides, as opposed to masking it.

I recently did a rim myself with sandpaper, primer, spray paint and cleat coat, looks real nice, you can get it surprisingly pro looking if you take your time.

If you don't want to do it yourself, you may have better luck getting it wet sprayed as the mask does not have to withstand 200° - Armourtex also do wet spraying.

thats the point, getting a very abrasive pad that will go through the paint and not just scuff up the paint. will take time but will give a more uniform finish.

or maybe talk to a garage that does brake or clutch repairs as they will have a big sander type thing that machined flat surface, although will be hit and miss on rim.

Simply attach a high grit paper (600-1200 ?) neatly to your brake pads with double sided and spin spin spin those wheels (not while you are riding) - might take you a couple of hours though.

Keep a bottle of water on hand to keep the sand paper wet (to stop clogging) and to cool down the rim.

obviously you haven't ridden cheap shimano pads ;)

Would a dremmel thing work, you think?

A dremel always works. Dremels solve all problems. Buy your dremel now.

You can get special masking tape for powder coating, it needs to stand up to about 210deg C (ish) for 20mins so you can actually test regular masking tape in the oven at hope after you cook your Pizza! I would probably go with the sanding it down (possibly just abrasive break pads) after coating, depends what type of powder they use, some are VERY hard wearing. I think you will have trouble masking a neat line whatever you use.

autoclave tape will probably work?!

. . . but wrapping it in a neat circle may not be so easy ?

lace the rim to a hub with a few spokes, tape the brake surface and with a razor blade held steady cut the tape whilst turning wheel in a frame?

what do they go to? 140degrees or something?

this is the sentence to live by

My dentist says that you've got a lot to answer for. :-)

Sounds like it could work if you are handy with a blade !

I recommend a Swan Morton scalpel blade (a '10A' is a good shape for this kind of thing) instead of a razor blade.

Or . . .

Get two junk/cheap/old rims and sandwich the good rim between them with a pair of clamps - powdercoat - bake = remove clamps !

Hey presto un-powdercoated braking surfaces !

I love my Dremel, or rather loved it (past-tense) it died one day, it had been with me through many bikes and many Dremel style adventures - so as opposed to chucking it in the bin, I buried it in the garden with a little crucifix (I took a guess that it subscribed to one of the Judeo-Christian religions) and forgot about it.

How my girlfriend laughed when she found it some months later.

I now have a cheapo - multi tool thing that occasionally sends various parts flying off at deadly speeds, not good.