Anodising and RTS frame?

[ishaw]

Chatting to someone about their turquoise zaskar build had me thinking. My favourite colour is turquoise. I have an rts I was thinking of refinishing. Could I? Dare I?

What sort of money would I be looking at for the front triangle and who could do it? I'd probably do the rear triangle in black, but maybe it might also look good in turquoise,?

Any reason not to consider iit?

Any pitfalls? Frame prep?

 

[d8mok]

Ah , if only it was that easy.

 

[ishaw]

I know it's not, hence the questions.

 

[d8mok]

You won’t find anyone capable of doing a full frame to a factory standard.

You will struggle to find anyone to even attempt it. There are 3 anodisers I’ve found that can do a frame but the finish isn’t anywhere near factory in easy colours let alone turquoise.

Even smaller items are near impossible to get to a proper finish even after professional polishing. You can always tell.

You’d be better forgetting the idea or simply having a frame ceramic coated in a candy colour that’s close enough.

I’ve chucked lots of cash at this and have given up

 

[My_Teenage_Self]

Jonnyboy666 had an orange frame anodised...?

 

[Lucidone]

@d8mok I've followed some of your other threads where you've persued this so understand you've built up a fair bit of knowledge on the subject but do you have any ideas or theories on how it was successfully achieved as a factory finish?

 

[d8mok]

@d8mok I've followed some of your other threads where you've persued this so understand you've built up a fair bit of knowledge on the subject but do you have any ideas or theories on how it was successfully achieved as a factory finish?

The guy I use can get new items to look perfect so when the items were new it was fairly easy.


But doing a used item is totally different. The finish is always patchy and doesn’t have the even gloss finish of a properly done factory one.

I’ve lots of experiments I’ve never posted about as I’ve given up on it now.

I’ve seen a few frames being done on here , inc a purple pace. None are factory quality finishes and you can certainly tell.

 

[d8mok]

Jonnyboy666 had an orange frame anodised...?

Yes by acorn. It was far from the nice glossy finish of a factory frame. It had a rough texture more like a frostGT colour.

 

[d8mok]

The issue with polishing prior to ano is that you see the buff marks.

To do it correctly I would say you need the frame ball burnished first , and then anodised. But I’m not convinced a used frame would come out decent still and I don’t fancy throwing more cash at it when a ano frame can be had for less (unless it’s rare)

 

[Suprachrgd82]

I’d love to see a turquoise RTS!

The quality of finish will be dependent on the prep of the substrate. Anodizing and dye are separate processes. Gloss vs frost is a result of how the aluminum is prepped prior to anodizing. A superb high gloss finish will always be hard to achieve, particularly for a re-do job. However, a soda-blast finish (slightly hazy but not as rough as sand-blast) is a reasonable target.

Providing that your shop has dye tanks big enough to dip the frame it’s worth a go. Do ask them about UV resistance. Some colors fade fast in the sun.