Kinda new to the world of powdercoating...where in town would you recommend to get an aluminum frame sandblasted and then powder coated? Or what should I know that I do not know about this process? and what does pricing run for this? It would just be a standard color

twin city (not twin cities) powder coating

around 120 including sandblasting and prep.

sweet..

For anyone who has had powdercoating done :

1. What things should i know about before I do this, in terms of stuff I can mess up?

2. I've read about having to get threaded areas re-tapped again...how do I go about this?

Sorry for the noob questions in advance.

a couple things:
first, i think it was $110 not 120, check to be sure.

2nd, Twin city did all of the masking for me and they did a good job. i didn't have to do any taping upon reassembly.

3rd, i have heard gripes before about stray media from the 'sandblasting' being left in the frame. this did happen with mine (glass beads i think?) but i didn't find it all that troublesome. just wiped them out with a rag.

4th, do treat the inside of your frame if you really like it. powdercoat will not cover the inside and if the frame is steel you may see some corrosion around holes like the weep holes...

finally, don't expect perfection. expect all the surfaces to be covered and evenly. insist upon rework if an area is missed, but powder coat is thick you won't get a lacquer like finish at the end of the day - but it is durable.

When I had my aluminum MTB frame powder coated I put old bolts in all the threaded parts (canti studs, bottle mounts, rack\fender mounts). The sandblaster masked the bottom bracket threads and outside of the canti studs with duct tape. The powder coating people masked with duct tape as well. The bolts were backed out slightly during the coating process so the bolt heads didn't cover anything. When it was all done, I removed the bolts and the threads were fine and the coating when right up to the threads. Nice and clean. The duct tape left some sticky residue after it was baked but that was easily removed with a rag and a little thinner. My only gripe was a little bit of grit in the seat tube. It was a bitch to clean it out completely. Even a grain or two makes a terrible crunching noise when you put in the seat post.

I used Twin City Metalseal, who subcontracts to Marco Sandblasting. I was happy with the job. I think it cost about $120 or so.

Marco is very good for sandblasting. I just dropped my frame off there today. They said it will be done in 2-3 days and costs around $45

Oh and I would like to powdercoat my bike because it is durable but you can only do single stage colors and you are limited by choices.

I had my daughter's bike powdercoated (two colors) and gold metal flaked over that by Anthony - he did a great job and the cost was $140 with everything, plus he was done EARLY. He is a reasonable guy to deal with too. Thanks Anthony