Stripping paint from ALU frame ......now PSA

[Dave]

Polishing all of the nooks and crannies can be ridiculously difficult and time consuming. A polished surface will show scratches quickly, even if anodized.

I'd stick with the brushed finish.

I put a brushed finished on a lot of square feet of aluminum used on my hot rod - all of the interior "upholstery" panels, including the trunk and a custom made engine cover for the LS3 engine. The alumnimum panels were all cold-worked 3003 aluminum. To get a uniform color, you have to sand through a thin cold-worked layer before changing to scotchbrite pads.

[azrider]

Originally Posted by guyintense

I just did this to my new Intense, unfortunately it was powder coated a bright orange. I used the brush-on Aircraft stripper, didn't work nearly as well as the youtube video BTW, and a few brass wire brushes, then a dental tool for the tight spots and red scotch bright pads. It took me two days but I was really happy with the results. I left it raw and just hit it with scotch pads periodically.

Nice!

Now.....pardon my ignorance, but what is the difference between GUYINTENSE bike above, and this caad8 ? Polishing? Clear coat?

[azrider]

Originally Posted by azrider

Nice!

Now.....pardon my ignorance, but what is the difference between GUYINTENSE bike above, and this caad8 ? Polishing? Clear coat?

Any metallurgists on here ?

I'm curious if my aluminum frame would be a good candidate for anodizing?

[DRietz]

Originally Posted by azrider

Any metallurgists on here ?

I'm curious if my aluminum frame would be a good candidate for anodizing?

The reason that CAAD is shinier than that full squish bike is that the squish was probably given a coarse scotch brite treatment, or even blasted. Additionally the aluminum "dulls" with the formation of its surface oxide (which is actually a protectant, in the case of aluminum). Your CAAD is shiny because it's polished, and has a clear coat.

Anodizing aluminum bike frames is a tricky thing to get right. Firstly, the vent holes in the frame need to be big enough to get rid of the ano solution when it gets submerged. Next, there are few weld rods that take on color well, the best I think being 5356. Welds on a 7005 frame, for example, will be darker than welds on a 6061 frame. And on a 7000-series aluminum frame, your prep work better be immaculate or it could come out looking pretty spotty.

All of this is assuming you can even find an anodizing operation that has the facilities to anodize a bicycle frame - most don't.

Not a metallurgist, but that's what I know.

[azrider]

Originally Posted by DRietz

The reason that CAAD is shinier than that full squish bike is that the squish was probably given a coarse scotch brite treatment, or even blasted. Additionally the aluminum "dulls" with the formation of its surface oxide (which is actually a protectant, in the case of aluminum). Your CAAD is shiny because it's polished, and has a clear coat.

Anodizing aluminum bike frames is a tricky thing to get right. Firstly, the vent holes in the frame need to be big enough to get rid of the ano solution when it gets submerged. Next, there are few weld rods that take on color well, the best I think being 5356. Welds on a 7005 frame, for example, will be darker than welds on a 6061 frame. And on a 7000-series aluminum frame, your prep work better be immaculate or it could come out looking pretty spotty.

All of this is assuming you can even find an anodizing operation that has the facilities to anodize a bicycle frame - most don't.

Not a metallurgist, but that's what I know.

Awesome. Thanks for that.

Looks like I'm back to stripping and polishing as my best bet to get the CAAD look.

So a quick search and it looks like TREK used 200 Series Alpha aluminum for my Crockett. That is WAY lower number than the 7000 you mentioned. Just did another search and holy crap there are a lot of different 'grades' or 'series' of aluminum

[DRietz]

Originally Posted by azrider

Awesome. Thanks for that.

Looks like I'm back to stripping and polishing as my best bet to get the CAAD look.

So a quick search and it looks like TREK used 200 Series Alpha aluminum for my Crockett. That is WAY lower number than the 7000 you mentioned. Just did another search and holy crap there are a lot of different 'grades' or 'series' of aluminum

"200 Series Alpha" is just something Trek made up, it's not a standard alloy designation.

[azrider]

Welp.....no turning back now




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[azrider]

Not trying to bump this for attention whoring, but rather to serve as a PSA.

Cliff notes: picked up Trek Crockett CX for bargain, and wasn't in love with Pink color, even though it's special addition color, but loved everything else bought bike. At same time, I've always lusted after raw aluminum look so did some research and thought I'd strip paint and polish it to look factory.

If you're contemplating doing this, do NOT BE FOOLED by these reports of people saying "oh just brush on some paint stripper and it'll come right off". I feel that the majority of people saying this are either working with a frame that is much older or frames that might've had a very thin or non existent clear coat. Mine on the other hand is much newer and had a clear coat that is on par with a Jedi night's Force field.

I opted for Aircraft stripper but they only make it in Non-Methylene Chloride forumulas.....which, I learned later, is the main ingredient that you WANT/NEED in a paint stripper. The problem is it's hard to find. I found a shop that had it but it was pricey and too far drive so I decided to stick with what I had. But even the non-methylene forumla is N-A-S-T-Y stuff.

Last picture below shows saran wrap......this can be done to help keep the stripper insulated which helps it work better. The trick with stripper is to keep the area wet but since it's so friggin hot and dry here lets just say that ended up being a challenge.

It was too pungent for the garage so I did it outside on side of the house and hung it from a tree. Being outside is fine, but I also learned that the air temperature in which you apply this stuff is EXTREMELY important. Being summer in AZ the outside temps are around 110 right now so the stuff kept drying too quickly and just started to oxidized the aluminum.

Another suggestion.......a pair of good, thick rubber gloves. This stuff burned through several pairs of the thick disposable mechanic gloves I have on hand for engine work so I had to buy some legit barrier gloves. Also, eye protection. When you're scrapping that gunk off the little bits and pieces go everywhere and there was one scary moment where i got little piece in the eye luckily I had water hose right there and flushed it out.

But all in all I really just want people to know that this is not a 'little' project or weekend project my any means. This is a lot more work than I was anticipating so make sure you realllllllly want that raw look before you dive in.

[azrider]

Some pics of the debacle.....












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[Jaybee]

Thanks for your PSA. Especially the part where you note how nasty even the nice version of the stripping compound is. I've done site cleanups where methylene chloride is a contaminant of concern - it is not a joke, even in extremely dilute amounts. For anyone else thinking of trying this, please have a plan for protecting yourself (including compatible gloves and safety glasses and probably not flip-flops), for responding to an accidental spill, and for disposal when the process is finished (a lot of fire departments will have a no-questions haz waste dropoff day).

[seanile]

bummer you hadn't heard of citristrip.
could do it in your living room and it'd be done in an evening.

[charliedid]

Hope it works out for you, attention whore

I wouldn't have the patience to do it.

I knew loads of people who had them professionally stripped years ago. Mostly Cannondales. IMO the best looking ones had new decals applied to them. I think bare frames look funny.

Carry on and look forward to the finished product.

I do like that pink though. LOL

[azrider]

Originally Posted by seanile

bummer you hadn't heard of citristrip.
could do it in your living room and it'd be done in an evening.

Oh I had heard of ctristrip, but took salesperson's word that it wouldn't be strong enough. The gal that was helping me was super nice and said she had experience with most all the paint stripping products and she had said that citristrip was the weakest and they sold the least of it.

After getting frustrated with the Airplane stripper, I bought some JASCO stripper in aerosol can and I feel it worked better than the Airplane Stripper.....

But I think there were multiple factors working against me with this project and I take blame for each and should've done little more research. Which is part of my frustration of watching YouTube videos and reading accounts where people say "oh you just paint this stuff on and VOILA.....paint gone"

Yeah not so much

[azrider]

Originally Posted by charliedid

Hope it works out for you, attention whore

I wouldn't have the patience to do it.

I knew loads of people who had them professionally stripped years ago. Mostly Cannondales. IMO the best looking ones had new decals applied to them. I think bare frames look funny.

Carry on and look forward to the finished product.

I do like that pink though. LOL

HA....good one

I totally thought the pink was cool, still do, but for some reason I just kept thinking I couldn't pull it off......maybe when I was younger but for Dad who is north of 40........not so much

As for aesthetics of raw bikes........i just love 'em: brushed or polished alu with all black bits.....thats haute atmo

[Jaybee]

Originally Posted by azrider

Oh I had heard of ctristrip, but took salesperson's word that it wouldn't be strong enough. The gal that was helping me was super nice and said she had experience with most all the paint stripping products and she had said that citristrip was the weakest and they sold the least of it.

After getting frustrated with the Airplane stripper, I bought some JASCO stripper in aerosol can and I feel it worked better than the Airplane Stripper.....

But I think there were multiple factors working against me with this project and I take blame for each and should've done little more research. Which is part of my frustration of watching YouTube videos and reading accounts where people say "oh you just paint this stuff on and VOILA.....paint gone"

Yeah not so much

Yeah, that's frustrating. Your biggest issue is being in Scottsdale in July. Most of the active ingredients are volatilizing into the air nearly immediately.