Frame+Fork Painting

[Disco]

What is the best way to go about frame and fork painting?
I would like and Arctic Camo finish on the frame(aluminum) and RS Psylo XC Lowers. Any advice on procedures?
My current plan is:
Bead Blast (frame) Wet'n'dry (forks)
Couple coats of White (professional?)
add on Black and grey pattern coats(home job) prolly model paint??
Couple Clear coats(professionally)

*nb wet'n'dry after stripping forks.
**no i wont just buy shermans:havnt got enough money
***yes i have searched for other threads on the topic
****do i need any type of primer on the bare metal??

Any input would be great

Little Mike

[Rik]

I'm in the middle of spraying my forks. It's a bit of a bastard, I've accepted the fact there's no way you'll get the chip/scratch resistance of professional paint jobs. But your idea of getting the clearcoat done professionally is a brilliant idea.
You may be able to get away with doing the base white coat yourself, if you're careful. The camo stuff will be a bitch, I wonder if model/hobby shops offer camo decals that you could use, as that'd give you a much better finish.

You might not have to bead blast the frame, I'd say use proper paint stripper, a wire brush (I used a drill mounted one on my forks, worked great), and alot of effort sanding it back afterwards. You will need to prime, yes. Etch primer would be the best I think.

I must say, I've done my job with no advice at all, and I don't even know if it's the right way to do it, but here's my procedure:

Stripped the forks using chemical stripper.
Used a drill-mounted wire brush to take off any remaining paint, as well as rough up the metal. (my forks were fairly scratched, and the metal was tarnished/dirty, so it was good to remove all that)
Sanded down the bare aluminium with 400 grit
Sprayed on etch primer
Sanded back lightly with 1000 grit
(this step you probably won't need) Sprayed many layers of spray putty, then sanded it back to get a smooth finish. You won't need to do this unless there's serious chunks taken out of the frame/fork.
Sprayed with primer (used a white primer, as my top coat is white)
Sanded with 1000
Now I'm in the process of laying coats of colour, doing a few coats, then sanding it back lightly with 1000, making sure it's nice and smooth. I plan to do many many coats, sanding it back lightly in between applications.
Clearcoat will be done similar to colour, do ALOT of coats, sanding it back very lightly with 1500 in between applications.

But your idea of getting a professional clearcoat is a good idea. I'd seriously look into getting decals of sorts for the camo, because I don't know how good it'd look to have varying thickness' of paint under the clearcoat.
So yeh, that's my input, it could very well be incredibly wrong, so hopefully someone with real experience could point us down the right path.

[shorty]

For the camo...try a soft mask....cut out a template for the camo and place it a few mill from the surface of the fork...and spray lightly with an airbush...i very soft and historically accurate winter camo method!

[wombat]

Or if you're after a sharper edge for your camo, go and get yourself some masking film from a hobby shop, I use Revell stuff, it's about 10 bucks for two or three sheets. If you doing that though, you'd probably want to do your colours backwards, ie. do the white "base" coat last, that way you only have to mask smaller patches.

[miko]

I'm doing much the same as Rik at the moment, painting some forks.

I chemical stripped them, and then have finished them off with some wire wool to get a decent finish on them. Now that I think about it though, that may not be the best idea, if the wire wool leaves behind any material it may act as a cathode with the magnesium lowers and corrode. Hope not, guess I'm a guinnea pig now! :) I actually sprayed my lowers with kill rust. I asked an auto store about painting magnesium (old school mags are often magnesium, hence the name :P ), and they said you need an etch primer that has some sort of silicon particles in it or something, not sure why. Seems to be ok so far, I've only done base coats. Too bloody cold in Adelaide to paint much! :?

I'm going to paint flames on mine :D

[Instinctual]

I love my firefly's :P

[neko]

I got my frame non-chemicaly stripped. Cost me $40 for an FSR, a hard tail would cost less.

The finnish was like a brushed metal, ready to paint after a clean with acetone. No farting around with paint stripper and you don't have to sand it back.

[Disco]

Thanks vey much for your input guys:
My bike is gunna be very pimping,

Full Gold LX Groupset
Camo Frame and Forks
Red Michelins

SICK!!!
Thanks again guys

Little Mike

[MrPlow]

I think you are wasting your time getting the clear done professionally. Any painter will tell you the quality is in the preparation, not the top coat. get it professionally dipped then go buy your paint. even high quality spray cans work well on bikes, there is no risk of "striping" on such small surface areas. the clear coat is easy. I even touch mine up and then clear coat the entire bike (less wheels etc) to bring the shine out again. works a treat 8)

[Rik]

Any painter will tell you the quality is in the preparation, not the top coat.
But how tough is a professional clearcoat, as opposed to a DIY spray job? that's where I like the idea of getting it done properly, give it a tough finish moreso than a good finish.

[Carlin]

Hey,

For the camo do you have to paint it? How about just getting some stick on vinyl, cutting out the right shapes and sticking them on top of your base coat?

Just a thought.

[supros88]

I want to get my frame powder coated but i heard that if you get your frame sandblasted & powder coated the heat can weeken the alloy?

can someone confirm this?

[miko]

In the Fabrication instructions from Easton they do state that the high temperatures can weaken their aluminium alloys. It suggest consulting them before getting it done. I'd say you'd want to talk to someone with a good knowledge of Ally.

[Grip]

I want to get my frame powder coated but i heard that if you get your frame sandblasted & powder coated the heat can weeken the alloy?

can someone confirm this?

Don't SANDblast anything other than a very solid STEEL frame... make sure it's BEAD or GARNET (at least) blasted... and by someone who knows what they're doing with thin alloy tubing etc. A heavy handed blaster can easily wear a hole in a frame!

A decent powder coater with consistent oven temps and ACCURATE timing for the length of time in the oven will do no harm to your frame.

Cheers

[riderigid]

i have a steel frame (Kona Scab), and i want to only get one sideof it bead or sand or garnet blasted so that it is half blue and half brushed metal. would doing this screw with the thicknesses of the tubes and fuck around with the whole thing?

[Grip]

i have a steel frame (Kona Scab), and i want to only get one sideof it bead or sand or garnet blasted so that it is half blue and half brushed metal. would doing this screw with the thicknesses of the tubes and fuck around with the whole thing?

No problem in blasting "Half the frame" BUT you wont end up with a firm line dividing the two PLUS it wont be a "brushed" finish so much as a dull grey, rough finish that feels like a very fine sandpaper. If you want brushed finish you'd have to get a metal polisher to work on it.