Where to buy materials to handpaint a bike
Comments
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You can get all you need from Halfords. Wet n dry to rub the frame down, white spirit to get rid of the dust and paint. Rattle cans from their range of car colours or Hammerite. You'll need somewhere windless to spray the frame and somewhere dustfree to dry the frame. You will need to make something to hang the frame with, usual way is a metal coathanger straightened out and hooked over a sacrificed seatbolt or if the seat tube diameter is small enough you can insert a stem and hang from that.I've added a signature to prove it is still possible.0
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Sounds simple enough... ish. I've got a small back yard surrounded by walls with a washing line that'll do.
Got a new headset to replace at the same time.... only thing I could have trouble with is the bottom bracket as I've never done it before...
Cheers for the tips.0 -
get it shotblasted and powder coated for between £35 and £50.
I tried to rattle can paint a set of forks recently, it worked ok, but i spent about a tenner of a spray and a tenner on a can of laquer. I found the rattlecan paint chipped really easy.
I ended up getting both the frame & fork shotblasted and powdercoated for £50. I got a metallic "candy" blue and it looks fantastic. It is really durable too.
I thinnk by the time you buy the materials & do the work, then have it chip on you when you ride it, you would be better getting it powdercoated properly in the first place
G0 -
if you're doing it your self for economic reasons then its actually cheaper to get it done professionally. You should be able to find a local powder coater to take it too.
With regards to materials B&Q has chemical paint strippers to get the old stuff off and Halfords has a wide verity of spray can colours.
I've used some halfords spray can stuff before (not on a bike though) and I found it chipped and flaked easily. Not sure if I made a fault somewhere or if the paint is just brittle?0 -
Halfords stuff is expensive and the primers are pants IMO.
Hycote is much better and you can buy it off of ebay cheaply.
I used to be a professional spray-painter and I wrote up a big long article on how to paint bikes, but I've lost the link so here's a short version.
1. If the existing paint is chipped, flaky etc, remove it with paintstripper. If it's good then go to step 2
2. Scuff frame with 250g paper, clean with thinners, leave to dry. It must be spotless
3. 2 coats of red oxide primer - this helps stop rust. One large can should do this. Dry overnight in a warm place
4. Fill in any dents with filler and sand. Sand frame with 600g paper (wetted with slightly soapy water (i.e. a drop or two of washing up liquid in about a litre of water))
5. 3 coats primer. Grey for most colours, black for dark colours, white for light colours. Dry overnight. 2 cans for this
6. Colour - a 6 pack of cans off of ebay is ideal, leaving you with a couple of spare cans for touch-ups later. I've found that rattlecan paint comes out tougher if you do it in two goes - two can's worth of thin coats (20 mins between coats), then wait overnight, wetsand with 600g in the morning, then the other two can's worth of thin coats, again waiting 20 mins between coats.
7. If you've picked a solid colour, you can move on to finishing and polishing (see step 9). If you've gone for metallic or pearlescent or anything fancy, it'll need a lacquer (step 8). If you want to add decals, lug lining, box-lining or other patterns, put them on before the lacquer (even if you have a solid colour you can lacquer over it if you want to give the decals a layer of protection, or give a really deep shine to your bike).
8. Wetsand frame with 600g, wipe with clean rag, and do lacquering in the same way as painting in step 6.
9. Finishing and polishing is the fun bit. Give your frame for a full week in a very warm place to cure, or maybe two weeks if it's in the shed or garage. Then wetsand with progressively finer paper, starting at 600, then 800, then 1000, then 1200, then 1500, then 2000. The aim is to remove the ripples and bumps you get from painting to get a very smooth finish. The final step is polishing, which on a bike, is easiest done by hand. Get some polishing compound (T-Cut is too coarse) from Halfords/paint supplier/internet (G3 is my favoured brand) and use as per instructions. You're aiming for a glass-like finish. You can now assemble your bike!
Then you need to protect your paint. Normal Turtle Wax does a great job. Leave it for another week before waxing it.
Tips
Always use a sanding block. A bit of stiff foam (like a brand new washing up sponge) is good because it curves around the bike's tubes really well.
Make sure your paint and your frame are warm before painting. Pop the cans into warm (not hot!) water and keep the frame inside by a heater. It'll make the paint settle much more smoothly.
Make sure each layer of paint is absolutely perfect before moving onto the next one, and take your time! You can always go back and repaint a section if you sand through to the previous layer.
Don't let anything touch your frame for a week after you've finished painting. Even if the paint seems hard, things like brake calipers or band-on front mechs, or the floor that you're resting it, on will squash the paint over time. I stick a couple of old wedge-type quill stems in the seat tube and steerer tube (shimmed with old inner tube and expanded out all the way they hold the frame securely) and hang the bike from those.
With some care, it's easy to get a paint finish that's better than any mass-produced frame I've seen, although not as hardwearing as stove-baked enamel or powdercoat. Anyone who says home-painted bikes look rubbish just doesn't know how to do it properly!
If you do want the ultimate cheap hardwearing finish, nothing beats powdercoat. For 40 to 60 quid it's as cheap as DIY. The finish isn't great (looks fine from afar but it's not very glossy and full of ripples) but it's so tough you'll dent the tubes before you chip the paint.0 -
If you fancy a quicker solution than Frink's (excellent) advice, try T.S.T. Metal Paint Stripping in Preston (Google them). They stripped and powder coated two frames (different colours) for me for a total of £50.
Cheers0
