Painting Bike Frames.

T

The Mighty Volt

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Chromoly, Regular Steel, Aluminium etc....how do you paint ???

For Aluminium, I have read that certain primers actually promote rusting. :shock:

For Chromoly, I have read that an etching primer is needed, on a frame that has been first sand-blasted or sanded.

I even read some accounts where MTB'rs were priming and painting their frames with "rattle-cans"........

Any ideas? :p
 
Painting and getting a good result is all about preparation period, thousand guides on the net how to go about it
but with the price of powder-coating these days, its as cheap if not cheaper to go this route after you have bought your
materials (using quality paints) not too mention the many hours spent prepping the frame making a 'temporary'
dust free/spray booth in the garage (a must if you want superior finish IMO)

FYI: Aluminum needs etch primer prior to painting can also be used on steel but is
definately a priority when painting alloy if you want the paint to have any chance of sticking.

You can use rattle cans to paint with and if your good you can get some damn nice results, compressor and gravity fed spray
gun though allow you to adjust paint/air feed, spray width etc etc end result usually a much better
finish than a can job. Have gotten good results with both myself over the years still, for a MTB
frame that will see off road use (or not) and with the mega range of colours available and the cheap rates
you mad if you go past powdercoating IMHO...

All the best...

KiM
 
Good advice on the powdercoating if he lives in a big enough town to have a guy doing it.

The main problem with rattlecan paint is that it's not such great paint. Left in sun, the life expectancy is only about a year, then it starts to fail.

Practice makes perfect, so if you go that route, or get a sprayer, paint everything that doesn't move around the place for practice.
dumpster bike frames, or some scrap steel pipe would get you into how to paint round tubing.

The single most important thing is getting 100% of grease and oil off. Primer is important, but likely you will be painting over old paint with some sanding done on it. then prime, then sand again with very fine grit, then paint.

If you buy an air spray gun, get a small touch up gun, not a full size one. Cheap at Harbor Freight or such. Then for the final paint, get a quart of automotive two part epoxy paint. That stuff will last in the sun, and is hard enough to take a buffing.

Clear coat the final layer, if you really want that wet look. Here in the desert sun, I stay away from clear coat.
 
I've painted my fair share of bicycle, mini bike, and motorcycle frames using various types of paint (lacquer, enamel, water based enamel, and epoxy. Epoxy is, imo, by far the most durable of these paints with (175 degree) "baked on" enamel running a close second (just be darn sure that you contain and/or control any over-spray while applying epoxy type paints).


BTW, powder coating aluminum frames, swing arms, and other aluminum structural components is, imo, not recommended due to the heat curing process (the powder coat painting process should, imo, only be performed by the component manufacturer).
 
My chopper frame was powder coated and, frankly, I'm not that impressed with it. The finish looks good, but seems brittle and is not difficult to chip or scratch. If you really want to DIY, you can get good and long lasting results from a rattle can. The key is to use several light coats (at least three) instead of trying to cover everything with one heavy coat; wet sanding between coats helps smooth the finish; then follow with at least two coats of clear. As Kim mentioned, avoiding dust will also improve the finish; you can make a pretty good dust-free chamber with some old cardboard duct taped together, a clear plastic curtain, and a small air filter to blow clean air into the chamber.
 
If you're wanting a decent paint job, you really need to put some $$$ into it. If you just want a "10 foot" paint job (looks great from 10 feet away) then keep the original paint as much as you can, just lightly sand/wire brush it with care to avoid getting to bare metal, and first and foremost, make sure to spend time on the prep! It doesn't matter if you spend a ton on good paint if you don't get it prepped. If you have rust, remove that, still try to keep most of the original paint since most of it is pretty decent baked on, you're not going to duplicate that with rattle can, so just "feather" the high spots, and since removing rust means going to bare metal, and this is going to be a bike you want to keep a while, get a good automotive metal etching primer.

Also, make sure that all the paint you use is compatible, using all the same brand is the best way to be sure, mixing the wrong types/brands can turn any paint job into a nightmare. I have sold bikes with just a "10 foot" paint job for top dollar, so it doesn't have to be perfect, just take the time to do the several light coats (using a light colored primer makes it easy to judge this, no need to get the solid color in the first coat, better to make it 3-4 coats and sand it between with something like 600grit wet dry paper).

I don't have any personal experience with powder coating, but I have been impressed with just a decent rattle can job that I have seen others do (I'm more of the 10ft paint job type) and just remember, if this is a bike that will go off-road or do a good deal of commuting, no paint job is immune to rock chips, so for me a cheap paint job is the answer since most of my bikes will see a lot of use.

The last time I did an expensive paint job (painted my first motorcycle with expensive epoxy fuel resistant paint) it still got discolored when I had some idiot insist on filling my bike for me and splashed crap all over it!! :evil: :evil: :evil:

So it's really about how much you want to spend, and what kind of abuse it will see.

Thanks for the insight on what to use in the desert dogman, that makes sense, I might consider a little different paint for some of my touring bike now knowing how hard the sun will be on clear coat!
 
If you have a friendly autobody shop in your area, if you do a good (great) prep job they can spray the catalysed paint and give you a great finish. Just get them to spray the same color as the latest car they are about to do. Candy apple still looks great!
otherDoc
 
Powder coat is polyester so it probably won't be as durable as urethane with the catalyst.
otherDoc
 
Hi there, thanks for all the replies.

Wow......speak about making work for myself. There were these decals on the bike- I was using a big gas torch to get them to come off. Was working fine, so I decided to try something else :(

I got the Nitromors I had used on the X5 hub {frock :D } motor and put it on the decals. It worked brilliant. Or so I thought. What had happened was that the Nitromors lifted the decal but when I wiped the scum off, all I had done was push an invisible veneer of plastic back across the frame. Once the nitromors dried off, I was basically left with a new problem.

I fixed that by using a very fine grit sandpaper with some stainless steel polisher- a nice very fine gritty effect, a bit like Cif, which lifted everything but did not scratch the frame too severely at all.

My brother is a mechanic , so he got me a reduction on some etching primer, some basic grey primer, some satin, some gloss and some laquer. All rattle cans. I won't be cheap with the paint, I think it would be silly to not be generous with the coatings.

Now, i don't have the hand for painting, so I will continue to bust my ass with the sanding and make sure the frame is nice and good and clean and prepped.

I have a punchbag bracket at the side of the house- I will hang the frame out of that and hopefully when the wind drops we will have a go with the primer.

Its real guerilla painting but I just don't have the facilities for anything else.

Thanks again. :D
 
LI-ghtcycle said:
If you're wanting a decent paint job, you really need to put some $$$ into it. If you just want a "10 foot" paint job (looks great from 10 feet away) then keep the original paint as much as you can, just lightly sand/wire brush it with care to avoid getting to bare metal, and first and foremost, make sure to spend time on the prep! It doesn't matter if you spend a ton on good paint if you don't get it prepped. If you have rust, remove that, still try to keep most of the original paint since most of it is pretty decent baked on, you're not going to duplicate that with rattle can, so just "feather" the high spots, and since removing rust means going to bare metal, and this is going to be a bike you want to keep a while, get a good automotive metal etching primer.

Also, make sure that all the paint you use is compatible, using all the same brand is the best way to be sure, mixing the wrong types/brands can turn any paint job into a nightmare. I have sold bikes with just a "10 foot" paint job for top dollar, so it doesn't have to be perfect, just take the time to do the several light coats (using a light colored primer makes it easy to judge this, no need to get the solid color in the first coat, better to make it 3-4 coats and sand it between with something like 600grit wet dry paper).

I don't have any personal experience with powder coating, but I have been impressed with just a decent rattle can job that I have seen others do (I'm more of the 10ft paint job type) and just remember, if this is a bike that will go off-road or do a good deal of commuting, no paint job is immune to rock chips, so for me a cheap paint job is the answer since most of my bikes will see a lot of use.

The last time I did an expensive paint job (painted my first motorcycle with expensive epoxy fuel resistant paint) it still got discolored when I had some idiot insist on filling my bike for me and splashed crap all over it!! :evil: :evil: :evil:

So it's really about how much you want to spend, and what kind of abuse it will see.

Thanks for the insight on what to use in the desert dogman, that makes sense, I might consider a little different paint for some of my touring bike now knowing how hard the sun will be on clear coat!
Click to expand...

Hi thanks for your post- unfortunately the bike I am working on right now did not have an original coat. It was a 100% 4130 Chromoly Steel frame. Another bike I am working on has some sort of a basic matt-black finish on a more regular steel frame.

I agree with your sentiments on the ease with which paint gets chipped. For me, a bike that starts life with a rattle-can and then gets chipped can just as easily be fixed with a rattle can.

Powder coat does look great- I have a Kellys Saphix road bike with a blue powder coat and its fine.
 
AussieJester said:
Painting and getting a good result is all about preparation period, thousand guides on the net how to go about it
but with the price of powder-coating these days, its as cheap if not cheaper to go this route after you have bought your
materials (using quality paints) not too mention the many hours spent prepping the frame making a 'temporary'
dust free/spray booth in the garage (a must if you want superior finish IMO)

FYI: Aluminum needs etch primer prior to painting can also be used on steel but is
definately a priority when painting alloy if you want the paint to have any chance of sticking.

You can use rattle cans to paint with and if your good you can get some damn nice results, compressor and gravity fed spray
gun though allow you to adjust paint/air feed, spray width etc etc end result usually a much better
finish than a can job. Have gotten good results with both myself over the years still, for a MTB
frame that will see off road use (or not) and with the mega range of colours available and the cheap rates
you mad if you go past powdercoating IMHO...

All the best...

KiM
Click to expand...
Cheers Aussie. There must be a reason why Auto Care shops are selling rattle-cans. I might invest in a cheap spray gun, it will have to be AC powered as I don't have the $ for a compressor right now.
 
You can still get good results with the rattle cans. I painted several cars with the epoxy, but when I flamed my bug, I just did it with spray cans. It looked good for a year, then needed redoing. For a bike, if you can keep in the shade more, it should last a few years looking ok.
 
Clear coat the final layer, if you really want that wet look. Here in the desert sun, I stay away from clear coat.
Click to expand...

Why is that? Does it warm up?
huS62.jpg

Notice the sun burst?

You can get good results with rattle cans. It's all about how much time you want to spend doing it and how good you want it to look.

I did this as a total noob to painting. Took forever though. Good learning experience. All the sandpaper and paint was maybe $30. I'm actually painting a frame right now. I didn't even strip the paint down. Just used fine grit steel wool and wd-40 to clean it. Then medium sand paper, and then fine grit. Then a couple light coats, and then a clear coat. Maybe I won't go with a clear coat though...
 
You did all of that with rattle cans? Very nice finish.

I just took a stainless steel polisher and the finest sandpaper I could find and a lot of elbow grease.

In the meantime I have been practising on a steel bar and various steel objects, I have to say that it is possible to get a very decent finish with just the cans.
 
To save your fingers, get one of these:

SnapSpray.jpg


I bought one like this in black, most places should sell one. Saved my finger from going numb painting my Subaru Brat's roll bar & bumpers.
 
LI-ghtcycle said:
To save your fingers, get one of these:

SnapSpray.jpg


I bought one like this in black, most places should sell one. Saved my finger from going numb painting my Subaru Brat's roll bar & bumpers.
Click to expand...

Wow. What will they think of next???

Thats a neat item.

I feel a paypal top-up coming on. :( :(
 
I've painted a couple of bikes with dupicolor truck bed liner spray. The stuff is tough and covers my crappy welds nicely. Prep is clean throughly and scratch the surface to give the coating a tooth to hold on to. The first I tried it I spent hours prepping and priming and then I sprayed it and it didn't stick worth a darn. So I read the instructions (which always good to do first). If I ever start producing bikes I'd consider buying a commercial system. Here's a link

http://www.duplicolor.com/products/truckBedCoating/

It's not a smooth finish but seems to be durable and unique

Greenerwheels
 
Hey guys, I was researching how to keep the sun from baking a battery box. What do you think of this:

The bottom line results (at least for this test) is that the flat gives a consistently higher temperature:

For near direct incidence of sun on the 6 by 6 samples, the flat averaged about 7.3F hotter than the gloss sample.
Flat average = 155.4F, gloss average = 148.15F
Click to expand...

http://www.builditsolar.com/Experimental/PaintAbsorbancy/GlossvsFlat.htm

This is with black paint, but what about white paint?

BTW I just got the little attachment that turns a rattle can into a gun. Best $4 ever.
 
The glossy shine will reflect more light, while the rough surface of the flat or matte finish is going to scatter more light, absorbing some of it in the process (and heating up).

Percentages I don't know; just that generally that's how it would work.
 
The most durable but still cheap and easy paint I've put on a bike is the epoxy based paint for appliances that comes in a spray can. It takes about a week to fully cure, but it results in a smooth, hard, and shiny finish. Color selection is very limited though. I think a white version is sold for doing bumpers on 4x4's.
 
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