Will this look good or naff?

[haggis]

On a more serious note when you strip it, make sure you have the metal fully cleaned and degreased. I'd even go so far as to say wear disposable rubber (the type mechanics or doctors use) when handling the frame, as any finger prints you put on the metal and then lacquer over will then rust under the finish and be visible.

I know this as a Technology teacher, so I see the results of pupil's work, and it often gives you a good benchmark of what pitfalls to avoid!

Any tips on cleaning the frame? Scotchbrite pad maybe?

Anybody seen any pics of it done before?

 

[Andy R]

Any tips on cleaning the frame? Scotchbrite pad maybe?

Anybody seen any pics of it done before?

Scotchbrite would be best for finishing, I would think.

I suppose for examples of this - the On-One Summer Season maybe?

http://www.on-one-shop.co.uk/wp-content ... amera1.jpg

 

[jimihendrix]

On a more serious note when you strip it, make sure you have the metal fully cleaned and degreased. I'd even go so far as to say wear disposable rubber (the type mechanics or doctors use) when handling the frame, as any finger prints you put on the metal and then lacquer over will then rust under the finish and be visible.

I know this as a Technology teacher, so I see the results of pupil's work, and it often gives you a good benchmark of what pitfalls to avoid!

Any tips on cleaning the frame? Scotchbrite pad maybe?

Anybody seen any pics of it done before?

Strip the paint off with Nitromorse, if you have never used this you brush it on, the paint melts and lifts off (in about five minutes), scrape the melted paint off with a knife, once this is done go over the frame with sandpaper, start off course, maybe 120 grit, then progress down 400, 600, 1200, finish off with a Scotchbrite. You'll find the main tubes easy but it's the corners, welds and nooks that are harder, you may need a wire brush in a drill or Dremmel to get to these. Will take a bit of work to get the frame completely bare. As has been mentioned go over the frame with degreaser/spirits (trade stuff is called panelwipe), i'd spray it with Plasticote clear acrylic, if you are spraying in the garage use a heatgun to heat the frame before and during spraying as at this time of year there is moisture in the air, give the frame a good few thin coats, maybe 4-5, Plasticote takes ages to harden fully (about a week i've found) but goes rock hard and is tougher than car touch up sprays.

I did see a bare steel frame on here a while ago, it was an AMP type frame with a custom front triangle, fillet brazed, at a glance it looked grey with all the brass in the joints on show, pretty cool

 

[urbanfireblade]

Strip the paint off with Nitromorse, if you have never used this you brush it on, the paint melts and lifts off (in about five minutes), scrape the melted paint off with a knife, once this is done go over the frame with sandpaper, start off course, maybe 120 grit, then progress down 400, 600, 1200, finish off with a Scotchbrite. You'll find the main tubes easy but it's the corners, welds and nooks that are harder, you may need a wire brush in a drill or Dremmel to get to these. Will take a bit of work to get the frame completely bare. As has been mentioned go over the frame with degreaser/spirits (trade stuff is called panelwipe), i'd spray it with Plasticote clear acrylic, if you are spraying in the garage use a heatgun to heat the frame before and during spraying as at this time of year there is moisture in the air, give the frame a good few thin coats, maybe 4-5, Plasticote takes ages to harden fully (about a week i've found) but goes rock hard and is tougher than car touch up sprays.

Thats good advice, i'm about to strip down a '94 explosif frame and recon this will help me alot too.

EDIT Its actually Nitromors after a quick Google search

 

[Neil G]

Seen this loads on BMX frames and it does look good if you've got tidy welds and you do your prep etc.

Good to see some pics of the frame when you've done it

 

[beagle]

Seen this loads on BMX frames and it does look good if you've got tidy welds and you do your prep etc.

Good to see some pics of the frame when you've done it

Yeah, my T-1 is raw. I think how good a steel frame looks without paint has a lot to do with the tubing and any processes like heat treating. Using BMX frames as an example, the US made aircraft 4130 frames (S&M/Fit, FBM, T-1) look a lot better in raw than the Sanko tubed frames that most other manufacturers have made in Taiwan.

I should add, this has nothing to do with quality or workmanship, the Tawinese frames are as good as US frames these days. Just different tube sets seem to have different looks.

 

[haggis]

On a more serious note when you strip it, make sure you have the metal fully cleaned and degreased. I'd even go so far as to say wear disposable rubber (the type mechanics or doctors use) when handling the frame, as any finger prints you put on the metal and then lacquer over will then rust under the finish and be visible.

I know this as a Technology teacher, so I see the results of pupil's work, and it often gives you a good benchmark of what pitfalls to avoid!

Any tips on cleaning the frame? Scotchbrite pad maybe?

Anybody seen any pics of it done before?

Strip the paint off with Nitromorse, if you have never used this you brush it on, the paint melts and lifts off (in about five minutes), scrape the melted paint off with a knife, once this is done go over the frame with sandpaper, start off course, maybe 120 grit, then progress down 400, 600, 1200, finish off with a Scotchbrite. You'll find the main tubes easy but it's the corners, welds and nooks that are harder, you may need a wire brush in a drill or Dremmel to get to these. Will take a bit of work to get the frame completely bare. As has been mentioned go over the frame with degreaser/spirits (trade stuff is called panelwipe), i'd spray it with Plasticote clear acrylic, if you are spraying in the garage use a heatgun to heat the frame before and during spraying as at this time of year there is moisture in the air, give the frame a good few thin coats, maybe 4-5, Plasticote takes ages to harden fully (about a week i've found) but goes rock hard and is tougher than car touch up sprays.

I did see a bare steel frame on here a while ago, it was an AMP type frame with a custom front triangle, fillet brazed, at a glance it looked grey with all the brass in the joints on show, pretty cool

i like the sound of the rusty look actually Jimi, should i just follow your above steps with regards to removing the paint then leave it a week or so before applying the lacquer? I don't have the luxury of a garage so i'll be doing this in the bin shed out the back of my flat which is open to the atmosphere

 

[beagle]

In my experience using Nitromors and a few grades of steel wool will bring the frame up better than sanding it.

 

[Mr Panda]

I'd even go so far as to say wear disposable rubber (the type mechanics or doctors use) when handling the frame, as any finger prints you put on the metal and then lacquer over will then rust under the finish and be visible.

The Finger Print Effect - now that could be seriously and much better than postcoding your bike. At least you don't have to re-stamp it every time you move house.

 

[jimihendrix]

On a more serious note when you strip it, make sure you have the metal fully cleaned and degreased. I'd even go so far as to say wear disposable rubber (the type mechanics or doctors use) when handling the frame, as any finger prints you put on the metal and then lacquer over will then rust under the finish and be visible.

I know this as a Technology teacher, so I see the results of pupil's work, and it often gives you a good benchmark of what pitfalls to avoid!

Any tips on cleaning the frame? Scotchbrite pad maybe?

Anybody seen any pics of it done before?

Strip the paint off with Nitromorse, if you have never used this you brush it on, the paint melts and lifts off (in about five minutes), scrape the melted paint off with a knife, once this is done go over the frame with sandpaper, start off course, maybe 120 grit, then progress down 400, 600, 1200, finish off with a Scotchbrite. You'll find the main tubes easy but it's the corners, welds and nooks that are harder, you may need a wire brush in a drill or Dremmel to get to these. Will take a bit of work to get the frame completely bare. As has been mentioned go over the frame with degreaser/spirits (trade stuff is called panelwipe), i'd spray it with Plasticote clear acrylic, if you are spraying in the garage use a heatgun to heat the frame before and during spraying as at this time of year there is moisture in the air, give the frame a good few thin coats, maybe 4-5, Plasticote takes ages to harden fully (about a week i've found) but goes rock hard and is tougher than car touch up sprays.

I did see a bare steel frame on here a while ago, it was an AMP type frame with a custom front triangle, fillet brazed, at a glance it looked grey with all the brass in the joints on show, pretty cool

i like the sound of the rusty look actually Jimi, should i just follow your above steps with regards to removing the paint then leave it a week or so before applying the lacquer? I don't have the luxury of a garage so i'll be doing this in the bin shed out the back of my flat which is open to the atmosphere

Yeah, bare metal it and leave it for a while or spray some water on to speed up the process, once it has the rust look you want blast plenty of laquer on, the laquer will seal in the rust and slow it down, it'll still continue to rust and the rust may eventually break through the laquer but should take a while.

I take it this is'nt an Aquafade YO were talking about here