Polishing titanium

[skwerl]

I hope this hasn't been asked into the ground.

I have a '98 Kona Hei Hei. The frame is getting kind of dull and showing handprints really badly. I'm not sure if these came with a clearcoat originally, as I bought mine used and it was bare - no stickers or anything.

Does anyone know a way to polish raw ti? I'd like to get it smooth and shiny like it was originally, or even (ultimately) like one of those polished Litespeeds.

Part 2: Would I be an idiot to get the frame clearcoated if I did polish it? Maybe even powdercoat clearcoat?

 

[Lid]

Raw-ti?

What you will find is that the various bikes have had different finishes applied, you will want to refinish your bike to the style that was applicable.
I know it sounds anal but you have something worth a bit of money and keeping the originality will keep the dosh ($).

 

[SeeingisBelievingGTMuseum]

From what I remember those frames had a bead blasted natural ti finish....too polish the frame would require quite a bit of work and tons of patience. The only way I know of getting a bead blasted finish to a shinier polished look is to work 1000g and 1500g sandpaper. It takes a ton of elbow grease in the tight spots and the welds. The main tubes can be done by wrapping the sandpaper around the tube and hitting it with a shoe buffing type motion. The finish left after 1500g paper is pretty much a polished finish. I would not clear coat the frame. If the clear coat starts lifting in spots or gets chipped up you have an even bigger job on you hands trying to restore that. Once polished the maintenance needed to keep it looking great is minimal.

 

[skwerl]

Thanks! Time and patience are 2 things I happen to have plenty of. I'll give that a shot.

 

[stevek]

The ti Konas came with a raw ti look easily restored by using the green Scotchbrite pads, a bit of light rubbing and it will look as good as new again. After you've done that just give it a clean with a soft rag and some WD40. These frames were not clear coated.

Ti frames like the Moots are bead blasted, really hard to remove scratches without ending up with a shiny patch. I guess the only option when it really starts to look tired is to strip the frame down and re bead blast. Unless anyone knows any tricks?

 

[stevek]

Polishing a ti frame is tough, I did it once on my Merlin and it took me a coupla days going down the grades of wet and dry and finishing with Micro mesh until I had a mirror finish. It's still pretty shiny now even though I did it quite a few years ago, the only real signs of wear are from cable slap (even with cable doughnuts on).

I wouldn't do it again, raw ti is an easier finish to maintain.

 

[Rob1]

Do NOT clear coat it!

I've just acquired a second hand Ti frame and it's in a horrible state (cosmetically). The clear coat looks like badly applied murky varnish and is especially ugly at sites of wear.

The pictures here: http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=64426 don't really show how horrible it looks.

I sanded the main tubes but gave up as the confined areas required too much time/effort. It's being bead blasted now and should be back in the next 3-4 days. If you can hold tight I'll post up the results so you can have an idea of what to expect...

R

 

[SeeingisBelievingGTMuseum]

Do NOT clear coat it!

I've just acquired a second hand Ti frame and it's in a horrible state (cosmetically). The clear coat looks like badly applied murky varnish and is especially ugly at sites of wear.

The pictures here: http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=64426 don't really show how horrible it looks.

I sanded the main tubes but gave up as the confined areas required too much time/effort. It's being bead blasted now and should be back in the next 3-4 days. If you can hold tight I'll post up the results so you can have an idea of what to expect...

R

You should use an aerosol stripper that will get into the tight spots and lift the stuff off the frame. It's actually very easy to do a complete frame in a couple hours with a chemical stripper in a well ventilated area.

 

[skwerl]

I will definitely hold off until you post pics of the newly bead-blasted frame.

Where are you having it done? Is it an auto-body shop or something?
What is it costing you?

Thanks

 

[WD Pro]

I blasted some ti bits and was dead happy with the results

Some pics are in my build thread.

WD