Aberrix
03-13-2007, 08:49 AM
So after my last thread (http://www.morcmtb.org/forums/showthread.php?t=20305) I decided against sand blasting, its just a little too cost prohibitive for this project. If this were a 300-500 dollar frame then yeah I would totally jump on it. However, as stated before I only bought this frame for $125 and really more or less plan on abusing it, beating it up and just testing the waters to see how much more I like the freestyle geometry of it. So I don't want to invest a lot of cash into it at the moment.
So, I went to Menards and bought a can of Bix 'Tough Stuff' paint stripper, a can of flat green 'camoflauge' spray paint, a box of disposable latex gloves, a wire brush and a 89 cent paint brush... my grand total was $17.
Here was the frame before hand, as you can see it was painted blue right on top of the stock paint job (essential over two coats of paint on the frame).
http://www.leveleight.org/gallery/3409-1/32_1.JPG
http://www.leveleight.org/gallery/3412-1/18_1.JPG
So I made a rig in my garage consisting of electrical tape and a coat hanger to hang the frame from the headtube. I used the cheap (disposable) paint brush to apply a very thick coat of the paint stripper, it was very think, think paper mache. You could litterally hear this stuff 'crackling' on the frame, very powerful stuff.
WARNING: This stuff is very nasty, I was wearing a short sleeve shirt and after using the wire brush and having just a couple small flakes of the paint come off and onto my arms it started burning within 1-2 mintues. I had to rush inside and wash it off (4 times, because I refused to put on a long shirt, I am a man... and dumb sometimes.) Be very careful when using this stuff.
http://www.leveleight.org/gallery/6110-1/DSC02111.JPG
http://www.leveleight.org/gallery/6116-1/DSC02113.JPG
(as you can see, some of the paint litterally just 'melted' off on its own.)
I let the first think coat sit for 30 minutes and then started to use the wire brush to get the paint off. I'd say on the first go I got nearly 85-90% of it all off. I applied a second coat as a couple areas just didn't want to give up so easily, I applied the second coat very heavily on the problem areas. I let it sit for maybe 5 minutes or so and used a combination of the paint brush and the wire brush to remove the rest. Here is what it looked like after a second coat of paint stripper.
http://www.leveleight.org/gallery/6122-1/DSC02115.JPG
After I took it into my basement and with a wet rag wipped it down and then dried it with paper towels, this removed a tiny bit more as well. Overall after a couple hours of work I'd say I got 95% of the paint removed. I hope to do yet another coat targeting the specific areas. Here is what it looked like when I finished last night.
http://www.leveleight.org/gallery/6128-1/DSC02117.JPG
http://www.leveleight.org/gallery/6131-1/DSC02118.JPG
I'll post more pics as the project progresses.
So, I went to Menards and bought a can of Bix 'Tough Stuff' paint stripper, a can of flat green 'camoflauge' spray paint, a box of disposable latex gloves, a wire brush and a 89 cent paint brush... my grand total was $17.
Here was the frame before hand, as you can see it was painted blue right on top of the stock paint job (essential over two coats of paint on the frame).
http://www.leveleight.org/gallery/3409-1/32_1.JPG
http://www.leveleight.org/gallery/3412-1/18_1.JPG
So I made a rig in my garage consisting of electrical tape and a coat hanger to hang the frame from the headtube. I used the cheap (disposable) paint brush to apply a very thick coat of the paint stripper, it was very think, think paper mache. You could litterally hear this stuff 'crackling' on the frame, very powerful stuff.
WARNING: This stuff is very nasty, I was wearing a short sleeve shirt and after using the wire brush and having just a couple small flakes of the paint come off and onto my arms it started burning within 1-2 mintues. I had to rush inside and wash it off (4 times, because I refused to put on a long shirt, I am a man... and dumb sometimes.) Be very careful when using this stuff.
http://www.leveleight.org/gallery/6110-1/DSC02111.JPG
http://www.leveleight.org/gallery/6116-1/DSC02113.JPG
(as you can see, some of the paint litterally just 'melted' off on its own.)
I let the first think coat sit for 30 minutes and then started to use the wire brush to get the paint off. I'd say on the first go I got nearly 85-90% of it all off. I applied a second coat as a couple areas just didn't want to give up so easily, I applied the second coat very heavily on the problem areas. I let it sit for maybe 5 minutes or so and used a combination of the paint brush and the wire brush to remove the rest. Here is what it looked like after a second coat of paint stripper.
http://www.leveleight.org/gallery/6122-1/DSC02115.JPG
After I took it into my basement and with a wet rag wipped it down and then dried it with paper towels, this removed a tiny bit more as well. Overall after a couple hours of work I'd say I got 95% of the paint removed. I hope to do yet another coat targeting the specific areas. Here is what it looked like when I finished last night.
http://www.leveleight.org/gallery/6128-1/DSC02117.JPG
http://www.leveleight.org/gallery/6131-1/DSC02118.JPG
I'll post more pics as the project progresses.