Dekerf Ti implant

[Billybob2]

So my order has been put in with Chris for a Ti implant,now I was going to have a custom kameleon spray job done,but the people I ride with are split on this idea, some have told me to leave it bare,some have said why not,there seems to be outrage when covering up Ti tubes?but I see Idependant fabrication are doing some awesome Ti paint jobs,what would you say pimp an already pimp frame,or don't spend cash where it's not needed.

 

[suburbanreuben]

Paint it!
All bikes look better with a little colour in their cheeks.
Tell me these would look better in plain grey:

http://www.dekerf.com/specials_ProdigyTi.asp

Viper blue and ti is particularly sweet!

 

[FMJ]

I'd do a front to back fade to bare. It would look great.

 

[WD Pro]

That would look cool, but would the paint stick ?

I had always assumed the frame was prepped under the paint, hence the solid transistions - not sure how you would prep around the transition ? :?

WD

 

[ishaw]

Think of all that extra weight in the paint

Seriously though, I think that showing some ti through the paint can look really good, I'd try to ensure I'd leave some showing. My favourite ti finish though has to be the x-lite (Raleigh special products) frame that was matt finish, but with polished ti 'decals'. Looks very classy and I think enigma do/did that to their frames.

 

[WD Pro]

I did this which is similar to what you describe :





WD

 

[ishaw]

That's the stuff, looks amazing in my view. How did you do that (not wanting to hijack this thread)

 

[WD Pro]

That's the stuff, looks amazing in my view. How did you do that (not wanting to hijack this thread)

Thank you

Page 10 of my Marin build ;-)

Cheers,

WD

 

[Rampage]

I've seen your Marin before, but still every time I see it I'm very impressed!

How was it blasted? Bead blasted or something courser?

 

[Billybob2]

Must say I do like the silver under the grey shot blast,I did see a company do acid etching,it was very intricate floral design,not my cup of tea but the idea was good,my design was based on my Rocky Mountain blizzard with the Canadian maple leaf motif,basically instead of the blue to white leaf blend,I was going to do Kameleon green to gold-gold to magenta maple leaves blended into raw titanium,the leaves would change colour as they would in nature, from green to red as in the fall(winter) a perfect match to take advantage of Kameleon paint,Dekerf has advised me that although this can be done the lacquer will have trouble holding onto raw titanium(titanium oxide is very "greasy")he advised only lacquering to a certain point and not the whole tube.i am now thinking the whole frame needs to be sprayed so the lacquer can continue from the Kameleon front end all the way to the back,to prevent any lacquer issues later down the line,but what the back end colour should be,I don't know,I did have a kona kula supreme that looked raw alloy,but it was actually sprayed,so that could be a solution,maybe another flat colour or pearl,or even another Kameleon,but totally agree that raw Ti can look cold and industrial,and a bit of paint is a bonus.