Can I grind the welds?
KevChallis
Posts: 646
Hey all,
I am having my Vulcan frame powder coated soon, can I grind and sand the welds down to get smooth welds? All will this significantly reduce the strength of the welds?
Thanks for all your help
Kev
I am having my Vulcan frame powder coated soon, can I grind and sand the welds down to get smooth welds? All will this significantly reduce the strength of the welds?
Thanks for all your help
Kev
Kev
PlanetX Pro Carbon
Voodoo Bizango
PlanetX Pro Carbon
Voodoo Bizango
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Comments
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I wouldn't0
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Neither would I.Chunkers1980 wrote:I wouldn't"Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
Parktools :?:SheldonBrown0 -
Ok haha, thanks
Kev
PlanetX Pro Carbon
Voodoo Bizango0 -
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So what do they do to get those smooth welds on the Boardman frames?All the gear, no idea and loving the smell of jealousy in the morning.
Kona Process 134 viewtopic.php?f=10017&t=129946070 -
They are in mind before hand - double pass weld, then smoothed.0
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supersonic wrote:They are in mind before hand - double pass weld, then smoothed.
So they're simply adding extra so there's plenty to grind? End result looks great, surprised more don't do it, especially at the pricier end of the market.All the gear, no idea and loving the smell of jealousy in the morning.
Kona Process 134 viewtopic.php?f=10017&t=129946070 -
Yes, they do look good. Infact many take the alu boardman frames to be actually carbon!
Some info here from merida, though not the best translated:
http://merida-bikes.com/en_au/cms/332/e ... ed-systems
Not sure they grind them though.0 -
So Merida kind of melt the weld again, to make it smooth, not something I am going to try hahaKev
PlanetX Pro Carbon
Voodoo Bizango0 -
KevChallis wrote:So Merida kind of melt the weld again, to make it smooth...
Sounds like from the link.All the gear, no idea and loving the smell of jealousy in the morning.
Kona Process 134 viewtopic.php?f=10017&t=129946070 -
First pass is to lay the bead of weld. Second pass re-melts the weld and smooths the ripples. No filler material is usually added in the second pass.
We used to use this technique on architectural aluminium fabrications.
Re-melting the weld causes a little weakness but smoothing the ripples removes stress points so it kind of balances out back to the original strength.
Grinding would be very difficult to achieve as smootg a finish.Transition Patrol - viewtopic.php?f=10017&t=130702350 -
KevChallis wrote:So Merida kind of melt the weld again, to make it smooth, not something I am going to try haha
Maybe you could borrow that bloke's headset blowtorch from that thread a while back...
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I do love the smooth look welds on the boardmans
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Klein and Cannondale used to do it as well, agree it does look better, Boardman do it particularly well.0
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There are different ways of getting that look:
http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/cate ... -13-46401/0 -
njee20 wrote:Klein and Cannondale used to do it as well, agree it does look better, Boardman do it particularly well.
I reckon it definitely makes my Boardman look more expensive than it is, especially my new frame with the smooth gusset between toptube and seat tube, rather than the straight shark fin brace on my original frame. It's a nice touch. Visible welds that are nice quality look good too though.0 -
NO NO NO NO NO!
The frame will fracture and fall apart!
Its known as 'De-seaming' in the motor/custom trade.
The only real way to de-seam is to brace the rear of the weld which is something that cant be done on a small enclosed space such as a bike frame.
De-seaming is normally done of vehicles like minis,vw's anything with a 'rain gutter' to improve the lines of the vehicle.
(personally,ive seen minis done like this and they look like boiled eggs.).0 -
Last I heard the boardmans used filler to achieve the smooth weld look.Community police have been on the look out for a vandal by the name of \'The Elusive Lout\'. Any information you could give would be gratefully received.0
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......Some welds are nicer than others...My 96 GT Pantera... 0 -
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What he said ^^
They're horrible. Merlin/Seven/Serotta always used to have incredibly nice welds.0 -
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lol0
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Titanium and steel weld beads are way smaller, always looks better aesthetically when done well.0
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njee20 wrote:Klein and Cannondale used to do it as well, agree it does look better, Boardman do it particularly well.
Yeh, my old F700 caad2 was a thing of utter beauty, long may it rest in peace.0 -
How about using car body filler to bulk out the welds then smooth over the filler?I used to just ride my bike to work but now I find myself going out looking for bigger and bigger hills.0
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Car filler Won't work if powder coating as I understand it.0
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Russyh wrote:Car filler Won't work if powder coating as I understand it.
Correct.0
