Post Blast - Pre Powder

[handsomerob]

I always am curious to see what frames look like under the paint and I got the chance to see what 3 look like last week.

Frame #1 is a Serotta Club Special made of Columbus SL/SLX? - The paint was 24 years old and showed its age. It also has some surface rust on the cable guides. Someone help me out on the gold rings around the seat stays... do all seat stays have those?

Frame #2 is a Davidson Impulse made of Tange Prestige - This had a fade on it and the front white part was done VERY poorly. It had "Junk" in the paint and the paint on the headtube looked as if wasn't cured... very streaky and looked bad.

Frame #3 is a Fetish S.A.C. made of unknown aluminum. - I got this one from a friend and it had been through the ringer cosmetically and had bare metal exposed on the chainstay. It arguably isn't worth a refinish, but I plan to build it up for a new cyclist and for $50... seems like a worthwhile thing to do.

All three are getting the same color similar to Serotta's ICE, maybe a little darker.

[dave thompson]

Originally Posted by handsomerob

I always am curious to see what frames look like under the paint and I got the chance to see what 3 look like last week.

Frame #1 is a Serotta Club Special made of Columbus SL/SLX? - The paint was 24 years old and showed its age. It also has some surface rust on the cable guides. Someone help me out on the gold rings around the seat stays... do all seat stays have those?

Frame #2 is a Davidson Impulse made of Tange Prestige - This had a fade on it and the front white part was done VERY poorly. It had "Junk" in the paint and the paint on the headtube looked as if wasn't cured... very streaky and looked bad.

Frame #3 is a Fetish S.A.C. made of unknown aluminum. - I got this one from a friend and it had been through the ringer cosmetically and had bare metal exposed on the chainstay. It arguably isn't worth a refinish, but I plan to build it up for a new cyclist and for $50... seems like a worthwhile thing to do.

All three are getting the same color similar to Serotta's ICE, maybe a little darker.

The gold color is the brazing material between the attached pieces. See pic from KirkFrameWorks studio

[zank]

This is a nice example of two different ways of finishing the top of seat stays. The Serotta has plugs inserted and brazed into the top of the seat stays. The ring is where the two pieces meet, as Dave said. Mr Kirk cuts the top of the seat stay at an angle and brazes on a cap. Lovely in both cases.

[shinomaster]

So you are powder coating these?

[GregL]

Originally Posted by handsomerob

It arguably isn't worth a refinish, but I plan to build it up for a new cyclist and for $50... seems like a worthwhile thing to do.

If you are getting the frames powder coated, where can it be done for $50? Enquiring minds would like to know.

Thanks,
Greg

[cpg]

Originally Posted by GregL

If you are getting the frames powder coated, where can it be done for $50? Enquiring minds would like to know.

Thanks,
Greg

It's not difficult to find a powdercoater to do a frame at that price. Powdercoating is used in many industrial applications and subsequently there are plenty of powdercoaters in most urban areas. The problem isn't finding someone to do it but the problem is finding someone to do it well. Most of these places are accustommed to coating lawn furniture and stuff like that. They blast the frame with far too aggressive of media in the sand blaster and I've seen some holding the frames on the floor with their foot on them. That approach works well with lawn furniture but not with nice thin bicycle tubing. Also the finish quality of lawn furniture isn't held to the high standards that frame finish quality is viewed through. Often the powder is way too thick thereby burying the lugs. Also in tight areas like under the seat stays at the seat lug the powder will be too thin and there will be pin holes in the powder. This is problematic because there's no primer under the powder so when moisture gets in there the ensuing rust lifts off the powder. Also very few powdercoaters are able to get the powder to lay flat without orange peel. If none of that matters to you, bust out the yellow pages and it won't be difficult to find someone to powdercoat your frame. Most are really cheaply priced. Or if you want high quality powder there's Spectrum powdercoating in CO. They aren't cheap but their prices aren't outrageous either.

Curt

[handsomerob]

Originally Posted by GregL

If you are getting the frames powder coated, where can it be done for $50? Enquiring minds would like to know.

Thanks,
Greg

A friend of mine in Memphis... I don't know how much of a discount he is giving me because I have known him a long time, but he does do pretty nice work. He does a lot of racing parts, like sprint car frames, motorcycles, 4 wheelers... Here is the last frame I had done.
http://forums.roadbikereview.com/sho...0&postcount=57

I also had him to a plate for the American Classic seatpost. It was all flaky and added a nice touch.
http://forums.roadbikereview.com/sho...9&postcount=58

When, I said in my post that "it is far from perfect"... it was because I had to have some of the threading re-tapped. I have a 5mm tap for most of it, but I had to take it to the LBS to get the BB threads cleaned up. I asked him to be a little more careful this time, but it isn't hard to fix if it does get some powder in the threading.