LAQUER BOTHER

buzcheva
buzcheva Posts: 19
edited July 2019 in Workshop
Afternoon all
Due to a bout of muppetry the laquer has come away from the paint and its need of touching up.

Any advice on a DIY touch up would be much appreciated.

My intention was to fine grit and re-laquer as shown on many car bodywork touch up forums however there are various rubbing compounds available from automotive stores that i am giving thought to. Is anyone familiar with these and how they work on a bike frame?

FZPtPXO.jpg

Comments

  • trek_dan
    trek_dan Posts: 1,366
    Clean it thoroughly, rub it down with very low grit detailing paper then just dust some automotive lacquer over the top. Personally I wouldn't bother, its a bike its only going to get scratched, chipped etc over time anyway.
  • Alejandrosdog
    Alejandrosdog Posts: 1,975
    Thats a pain, it detracts a smidge. i wouldnt bother and when it gets worse or other muppetry occurs get it re sprayed.
  • Midnight
    Midnight Posts: 80
    I use Halfords Car lacquer on my bike and my sons

    They do both gloss and matte
  • buzcheva
    buzcheva Posts: 19
    Cheers. Will have alook at halfords and see if I can make it less cack looking
  • david7m
    david7m Posts: 636
    Put stickers over it?
  • pilot_pete
    pilot_pete Posts: 2,120
    Depends what you are trying to achieve; just cover it up or make it look cosmetically right? The proper way to do it is sand it down to get rid of the edges - so you will need to sand over an area bigger than the missing lacquer. Work with the various grits of wet and dry, getting finer and finer, until you can’t feel any edges. Try not to go through the base coat though otherwise you are making more of a problem for yourself. Give it a little key rub all over just to allow the lacquer to actually stick.

    Thoroughly dry and de-tack the area and mask up. You will need to spray the lacquer finely and evenly, following the paint manufacturers guidelines for time between coats. Build it up slowly using fine thin coats rather than try to lay the whole lot on in one pass as this will cause runs.

    Once the lacquer has hardened you can then use cutting/ finishing compound to flat it and then bring it up to its final, polished finish. It is important for the lacquer to have hardened before you start to cut it back to feather the edges etc.

    It’s a fair bit of work and patience is the key to a good finish. Forget about buying a rubbing compound to apply to it without respraying - rubbing compound cannot make up for missing lacquer.

    PP
  • lesfirth
    lesfirth Posts: 1,382
    Leave it as it is . All this about rubbing down is quite correct but your carbon bike frame is no place to learn how to do it. To do a presentable job will require considerable expertise.
  • buzcheva
    buzcheva Posts: 19
    Again thanks. I spent nearly 5 weeks sanding laquering, rubbing, laquering, rubbing, laquering, rubbing etc. a dining table so the patience isn't a problem. I'm going to get some quotes for a touch up and go from there. I've got sand paper from 100 to 3000 grit for the dining table so i may feather out the edges and cover with a frame protector till i can afford a pro job

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