Paint for steel frame.

topcat77

Hi All,

I've just sanded down an old steel frame 531 to bare metal. This has been a task that i'd not like to do again!! the baked on paint was truly a pain in the ass. I sanded/wire brushed the frame instead of sandblasting as i'm told this can affect the joints? I'm now looking to paint the frame but was wondering if anyone as any ideas? i know you can find the info online but i want an Irish perspective/solution (easily bought products, relatively cheap and easy) that leaves a good strong finish.

Thanks in advance

Topcat77

macnab

Sand blasting would be OK, use aluminium oxide as its fine and removes lighter layers slowly. For paint I would just go to Halfords and buy a few cans. You could go to the local car repair shop and ask them to use the left over paint the next time they are spraying a car (pot luck on colour)

doozerie

I've used Halfords spray paints before too. As far as I can recall I used a primer first, then a few coats of paint, and then one or two coats of transparent top coat. I did this on a small area of frame - it worked well, but it's a bit tedious, the biggest challenge being avoiding putting on too much paint in one go and it running.

Wibbs

You could also go the powdercoat route(about 100 quid), but if it's a nice steel frame I'm not that keen on the finish. Bit plasticky and you lose detail in the lugs. macnab's idea of the car spraying guys would be ideal as the paint finish will be a lot tougher than doing it yourself with rattle cans. The DIY approach will be pricey enough to do it right too. You'll need a fair bit of kit to do it and lots of preperation. This time of the year ain't great either as the cold and damp can lead to long drying times and cloudy finishes. Rattle cans have a lot of propellent compared to pigment so you need to build up a finish coat by coat. Start at the fiddly bits first IME. The bottom bracket for example, then the main tubes.

Ideally you could find a car spraying guy willing to do it as a nixer and buy the smallest tin of the right colour paint. I dunnom given how many of these threads come up it might be a nice little sideline for a car spraying guy who was up for it.

PS if you're down to the bare metal I'd get some sort of protective coat on it pronto as it'll rust quickly.

topcat77

I really like the look of the bare metal. Could i get away with just a clear finish?

Wibbs

Yea I've seen that done before. macnab's idea would be a charm for this. Ask a panel beater/painter because they'd use two pack clear coat on a near daily basis, so would be sure to have some left over. Just get something to keep the air and damp off it until you get it sprayed.