Removing decals from a Van Nicholas titanium frame ?

topdude

Hi, i have just bought a VN Euros frame / forks from Fatbirds and want to remove the squiggly red decals from the seat stays.
I have tried alcohol, white spirit, label remover, all with no success.
Thinking of trying acetone next ?
Anyone have any suggestions which will not result in damage to the brushed titanium surface ?

Monty Dog

Depends whether it's a sticker or painted-on. Solvent will be best as anything abrasive could affect the brushed finish.

cyclingfury

I've heard using a hair dryer can get them off, but must admit I have never tried this myself!

peanut

sounds like it is a oven baked powder coating ? you'll have a job getting that off.has it got a clear laquer coat over the top ?

toontra

peanut wrote:

sounds like it is a oven baked powder coating ? you'll have a job getting that off.has it got a clear laquer coat over the top ?

I don't think there is a laquer coating as it's a ti frame. The VN decals actually come off fairly easily. Mine are already scratched and rubbed fairly badly so I'd like to know how to get the remains off also.

peanut

sorry misunderstood thought it was paint not decal transfers. :roll: good luck

lfoggy

Try acetone. I used this to get the decals off my litespeed. It may not work for you but it certainly won't mark the titanium so there's no harm trying it. Aslo try cellulose paint thinners (used for thinning cellulose based paint and available from Halfords). This won't mark your frame either.

grim168

Acetone will be fine. We use it to clean titanium prior to eb welding it.

topdude

Hi and thanks for all the suggestions.
They are some sort of stick on transfer not just paint.
I will get some acetone today and give it a go.

topdude

Ok, the pesky decals are history
Used a green Scotchbrite scourer and nail polish remover (not mine) to remove the plastic coating then lots of scrubbing with white spirit to cut through the paint underneath.
Gave it a final polishing with WD40 and it looks much better with plain seat stays

peanut

sorry if I had thought I might have suggested using one of those paint stripper heat guns to heat the transfers gently but glad they are off anyway. :roll:

BarryRoubaix

Did it leave an marks on the stay such as a ghost silhouette of the transfer?

woody-som

I removed the ones on the seat tube by rubbing with a cloth soaked in cellulose thinners. There is a slight visible outline, but thats down to he rest of the frame slightly oxidising.

topdude

Hi, didn't expect to see this post popping up again.
I had no visible marking after the decals were removed but i did use a Scotchbrite pad to buff up the brushed Ti finish (in the direction of the original brushing) and then polished the whole frame with WD40 on a cloth.

toontra

Second vote for cellulose thinners here - works a treat. Taken off the top-tube, seat stays and chainstay so far. No noticeable residual marking at all. I think I'll get rid of the whole lot - the VN decals aren't particularly pretty and they suffer from scratching and cable-rub anyway - against the ethos of the "indistructable" titanium. I also quite like the anonymity of a bare frame, and it may deter some of the scumbag cycle-thieves.

rjsmith

I used paint stripper on a ti frame to remove decals and it worked a treat. Only left it on the decals for a few seconds, scraped the decal off easily, then a quick wash and brush with Abralon. Looked better than ever.

mercsport

Although I've been on the cusp of stripping the lousy looking decals off my Litespeed a few times - somehow or other - I find this thread very informative .

However , unrelated to that is the fact that I'd like to know how to procure pure undilute acetone without the local pharmacy freaking out and calling in the rozzers . I'd like to knock up a strippable polymer for cleaning optics . I have the formulation but am thwarted in procuring the essential gunk .

Time was it was no problem to stride across the road to the chemist here and procure all manner of noxious stuff for one's chemistry experiments . Not so today , alas , even the chemist reckons it's neigh on impossible for him to get his mitts on the crystals and acids so necessary for the creative mind . Or , come to that - it has to be admitted - the destructive mind .

Any ideas ?

term1te

I once found 8 litres of very old picric acid in a lab about to be refurbished. I've no idea if it could be used to remove decals from a titanium frame, but the creative mind could find other uses for it. Although my colleagues wouldn't come back into the building until it had been removed.

mercsport wrote:

Although I've been on the cusp of stripping the lousy looking decals off my Litespeed a few times - somehow or other - I find this thread very informative .

However , unrelated to that is the fact that I'd like to know how to procure pure undilute acetone without the local pharmacy freaking out and calling in the rozzers . I'd like to knock up a strippable polymer for cleaning optics . I have the formulation but am thwarted in procuring the essential gunk .

Time was it was no problem to stride across the road to the chemist here and procure all manner of noxious stuff for one's chemistry experiments . Not so today , alas , even the chemist reckons it's neigh on impossible for him to get his mitts on the crystals and acids so necessary for the creative mind . Or , come to that - it has to be admitted - the destructive mind .

Any ideas ?

mercsport

Term1te wrote:

I once found 8 litres of very old picric acid in a lab about to be refurbished. I've no idea if it could be used to remove decals from a titanium frame, but the creative mind could find other uses for it. Although my colleagues wouldn't come back into the building until it had been removed.

Crikey ! :shock: No wonder your chums were wary . Wouldn't eight litres of the stuff have the potential to bring the whole building down ? :roll:

Further to my quest for a source of acetone : the stuff I'd really like to knock up a gallon of is ' COLLODION ' . I believe AMYL ACETATE to be a principal part of the stuff .

This is what I'd use it for here : http://www.floridastars.org/atm/collodion.html

term1te

Not wishing to hijack the thread, but I have a mirror from an 8 inch Newtonian that is in need of a good clean. Is that stuff any good on coated mirrors, or will the solvents just take the coating off with it? I'd be interested to know if you got it to work.

Could you open an account with Fisher Scientific and order it directly? I guess not nowadays

mercsport

I would suppose this thread is well and truly hijacked by now . Sorry :oops:

I would suppose this stuff :

http://www.mavidon.com/catalog/index.ph ... a05d58cb03

I bought a teeny bottle of it awhile ago called Opti-Clean - like a nail varnish kit - and it worked perfectly and without tears . It cost fifteen quid and I just about managed to clean a Canon L front lens element and the airside of the meniscus lens of a 90mm Questar before it was gone . The thing is it was PERFECTly clean . My desire is to lash it onto and peel it off the surface of my 20incher . But four hundred odd quid for half a litre is a little bit topside . Hence the idea to knock some up for myself .

http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=551

Your eight incher might escape unscathed if you follow conventional practise - meticulously - and submerge it in a soap and water solution followed by isopropyl alcohol / acetone etc. The 'net's loaded with 'how to do it' sites such as this : http://www.astro-tom.com/tips_and_advic ... optics.htm

Ramanujan

Just out of interest, what makes of paint thinners do people use.
I s Nitromors (sp? ) a paint thinner or somthing more corrosive?

toontra

Ramanujan wrote:

Just out of interest, what makes of paint thinners do people use.
I s Nitromors (sp? ) a paint thinner or somthing more corrosive?

The make of thinners doesn't matter. Just make sure it is cellulose thinners.

Nitromors is a totally different thing, and a lot more corrosive as you say. It would probably be OK on titanium though. Do a small test area. As someone above said you'd only need to leave it on for a few seconds.

mercsport

Nitomors is good for steel ; al. ; ti. ; no prob's .

Not too sure about CF though . :?

paul_smith_srcc

The Van Nicholas forum has some useful information regarding removal/replacement of Van Nicholas decals

Paul_Smith