Lessons from a bike Spray
Hi
Inspired by Instagram I wanted to have a go and spray painting my own bike. I used a second-hand Langster Pro I bought for this. I've still got more steps to go but because one of my 'good' lessons was painting in the summer, I thought I'd get this out now. I'd heard good things about Spray Bike paint and went with that rather than making the investment in a spray gun
The Good
- The £28 spent on a bike stand from Amazon made it so, so much easier. It was a lot more sturdy than I expected, incredibly so for the cost. Accepting I was going to get paint on it meant I only needed to cover the moving parts when painting.
- Getting the masking decal professionally printed meant the paint looks so much better than stickers would have.
- Painting in the summer meant it was something I could do before, and after work. Headphones on listening to music in the evening was a great way to unwind.
- Wet and dry works miracles. I was astounded at the ability of 1000 grit WnD paper to make a rough finish glass-smooth. The time spend sanding (with lots of water) was some of the most satisfying.
- Last minute I bought some thin low-tack masking tape. It allowed me to put in some extra detailing which really helped the look.
- I had the frame I bought sent directly to be shot-blasted (frame only). This means it arrived to me stripper perfectly and cost about £50. I did the forks myself which took about 2-hours. The whole time I was working on the forks I was patting myself on the back for not having to do the frame.
- Not trying on a bike I needed to get up and running quickly. This meant if I needed to wait 24-48 hours or even a couple of weeks between moving the project it wasn't a problem.
The Bad
- Painting outside made it a lot tougher. A still day would have helped and constantly changing wind made it tougher. When doing the forks whilst holding in one hand meant I could rotate with the wind and got a much better finish.
- I did not re-read the guidance about distances before starting to spray. What I remember as 20-30cm distance should have been 12cm. When I adjusted to 12cm for the third coat and forks, it made it a lot better.
- After the second coat I got excited and took off the masking. I should have waited to decide if I really was happy with the finish; I wasn't. This has left me with a dilemma because re-masking the logos for the third coat I had to use masking tape so it looks v v different and didn't really work.
Next steps
- I'm going to work out how to tackle the mix between the coats and see if I can turn it into a feature.
- There's a clear coat to go on once the base is done. 100% I will be checking the spraying distance before starting.
- Before I start build work out if I'm going to be happy with the finish. I can re-sell the components I was going to build this with and cover all my costs so if I'm not happy with the finish and not going to ride it, I'd rather be honest with myself upfront.
I'll keep this up-dated as I keep going through the process.
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/183189054@N02/48469512761/in/dateposted-public/" title="IMG_8923"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48469512761_1b7d4f4f91_k.jpg" width="1536" height="2048" alt="IMG_8923"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
IMG_8931 by Sam Cave-Penney, on Flickr
IMG_8943 by Sam Cave-Penney, on Flickr
IMG_8945 by Sam Cave-Penney, on Flickr
Inspired by Instagram I wanted to have a go and spray painting my own bike. I used a second-hand Langster Pro I bought for this. I've still got more steps to go but because one of my 'good' lessons was painting in the summer, I thought I'd get this out now. I'd heard good things about Spray Bike paint and went with that rather than making the investment in a spray gun
The Good
- The £28 spent on a bike stand from Amazon made it so, so much easier. It was a lot more sturdy than I expected, incredibly so for the cost. Accepting I was going to get paint on it meant I only needed to cover the moving parts when painting.
- Getting the masking decal professionally printed meant the paint looks so much better than stickers would have.
- Painting in the summer meant it was something I could do before, and after work. Headphones on listening to music in the evening was a great way to unwind.
- Wet and dry works miracles. I was astounded at the ability of 1000 grit WnD paper to make a rough finish glass-smooth. The time spend sanding (with lots of water) was some of the most satisfying.
- Last minute I bought some thin low-tack masking tape. It allowed me to put in some extra detailing which really helped the look.
- I had the frame I bought sent directly to be shot-blasted (frame only). This means it arrived to me stripper perfectly and cost about £50. I did the forks myself which took about 2-hours. The whole time I was working on the forks I was patting myself on the back for not having to do the frame.
- Not trying on a bike I needed to get up and running quickly. This meant if I needed to wait 24-48 hours or even a couple of weeks between moving the project it wasn't a problem.
The Bad
- Painting outside made it a lot tougher. A still day would have helped and constantly changing wind made it tougher. When doing the forks whilst holding in one hand meant I could rotate with the wind and got a much better finish.
- I did not re-read the guidance about distances before starting to spray. What I remember as 20-30cm distance should have been 12cm. When I adjusted to 12cm for the third coat and forks, it made it a lot better.
- After the second coat I got excited and took off the masking. I should have waited to decide if I really was happy with the finish; I wasn't. This has left me with a dilemma because re-masking the logos for the third coat I had to use masking tape so it looks v v different and didn't really work.
Next steps
- I'm going to work out how to tackle the mix between the coats and see if I can turn it into a feature.
- There's a clear coat to go on once the base is done. 100% I will be checking the spraying distance before starting.
- Before I start build work out if I'm going to be happy with the finish. I can re-sell the components I was going to build this with and cover all my costs so if I'm not happy with the finish and not going to ride it, I'd rather be honest with myself upfront.
I'll keep this up-dated as I keep going through the process.
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/183189054@N02/48469512761/in/dateposted-public/" title="IMG_8923"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48469512761_1b7d4f4f91_k.jpg" width="1536" height="2048" alt="IMG_8923"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
IMG_8931 by Sam Cave-Penney, on FlickrIMG_8943 by Sam Cave-Penney, on FlickrIMG_8945 by Sam Cave-Penney, on Flickr 0
Comments
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Nice project. Thanks for posting0
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This is really interesting; respraying frames is something that gets discussed a lot online but it's rare to see any decent results. I've stripped a couple of frames in my time and definitely agree with sending it to be blasted.
Can you post up a link to the paint and the decals/mask supplier that you used? Is the silver detailing from a grey base-coat or is that just the bare aluminium underneath? I have a tired old Allez that I've been wanting to restore for years, but my traumatic experiences of stripping frames previously has always put me off starting it!0 -
Hats off for giving it a go, but zooming in on the pictures shows a, how can I put it diplomatically, not optimal finish?
You can see some shadow, like a dark oblong at the bottom of the down tube, which I assume is from the mask of the name?
And the headtube finish looks really mottled and pitted - it looks like you could have done with better prep including some sort of filler/ primer rubbed down between coats to fill all the tiny pits from the blasting medium. The paint seems to be very uneven - if you held the sprayer/ rattle can too far away and the weather outside was particularly warm it could be that the spray was drying before hitting the surface, leading to that finish. Some areas seem smoothish whilst others uneven and mottled.
Sorry if that sounds harsh, but I personally wouldn’t be happy with that finish. The paint needs to be put on evenly in a series of thin coats and built up. I’ve sprayed lots of stuff and prep is the key and correct technique to achieve a decent, uniform finish.
PP0 -
Hi
For the paint I used https://spray.bike
The thin masking looked to be available in a number of places but I used Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01 ... UTF8&psc=1
The decals were done as a favour by a professional sprayer that's done a couple of projects for me.
Yes, the silver is the raw aluminium. The wet and dry made the transitions pretty seamless so it feels/looks pretty pro. My plan is to use a gloss clear coat to bring it all out.
For now, I need to work out whether to fix from where I am or, go back to square one...squre one would probably be sending it back to be sanded with a case colour added. I'd then do the detailing... will take another look/think tonight0 -
When I last posted an update my first few layers of white really hadn't worked but...I decided to lean into it rather than take it back to square one. I therefore pivoted and went for more of a patina look sanding back some of the paint and fading the logos etc before putting the clear kiren flake over the top. The final clear coat was a lot more subtle than I was thinking but it didn't turn out to be a big problem.
Whilst it didn't end-up how I'd thought when I started I learnt a lot about the process. Not sure what my next project will be as my current bikes are both carbon but I imagine it won't be long until another frameset pops up on ebay that catches my eye.
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what 'bars are those dude?Postby team47b » Sun Jun 28, 2015 11:53 am
De Sisti wrote:
This is one of the silliest threads I've come across.
Recognition at last Matthew, well done!, a justified honoursmithy21 wrote:
He's right you know.0 -
Matthewfalle wrote:what 'bars are those dude?
They're these guys https://www.specialized.com/gb/en/s-wor ... 231-156095
I got them second hand a while back and have been on a couple of my bikes. When they work they're great but the lift is pretty dramatic0 -
cheers dude!Postby team47b » Sun Jun 28, 2015 11:53 am
De Sisti wrote:
This is one of the silliest threads I've come across.
Recognition at last Matthew, well done!, a justified honoursmithy21 wrote:
He's right you know.0 -
bike is looking rockin' by the way - top effort: very cool.Postby team47b » Sun Jun 28, 2015 11:53 am
De Sisti wrote:
This is one of the silliest threads I've come across.
Recognition at last Matthew, well done!, a justified honoursmithy21 wrote:
He's right you know.0
