Sender: <marv@lancaironline.net> (Marvin Kaye)
To: lml
Date: Wed, 20 Nov 2002 11:32:57 -0500
Message-ID: <redirect-1882836@logan.com>
From: RWolf99@aol.com
Subject: Control Pushrods
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Angier -

I brought my control pushrods to a bicycle factory which does powder coating, 
and had them powder coated with white epoxy powder coat.  Note that you don't 
have to find a bicycle factory (we had a small one in Lompoc CA which made 
specialty bikes) since you can find powder coating places in the yellow pages.

I measured the before-and-after weights and while I don't have the number 
handy (it may be in my notebook at home) I recall a phenominally low added 
weight -- something like 2 grams on the flap pushrods, which are about a 
foot-and-a-half long and 3/4 inch diameter (or something close to that).

Before I started making pushrods, I dropped off the aluminum tubing at a 
professional alodining place and had them alodined for corrosion protection.  
This is probably not necessary except for us anal-retentive types.... (The 
formal name is MIL-C-5541C Chromium Conversion Coating.)  When I had them 
powder coated, I requested that they NOT sandblast them first.  (Sandblasting 
is a standard practice prior to powder coating.)  I requested they 
solvent-clean them only.  I would also wrap masking tape around the part that 
you don't want coated, like the threads on the rod ends.  They will have to 
replace this tape with high-temp aluminum tape, since they bake the stuff 
after spraying on the coating.

A simpler approach to all this is the standard yellow-green zinc chromate 
primer.

- Rob Wolf