So good! Like @bushtrucker said, it’s really cool to see people’s individual styles come out, since we’re all basically doing the same thing.
Absolutely sick looking bikes, dude.
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@bushtrucker and @SoyWater Thanks guys. Yeah, I was just thinking last week that I’m liking where I ended up with silhouette and the curved dt, shock mount, etc.
Actually, I was thinking about the Jetsons and that 50s space age styling for the shock mount… Haha, not sure it came through but that was the inspiration for the curve.
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That’s exactly where my mind went as well with the shape of the shock mount, so mission accomplished
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Where did you get this head tube?
Here are two new ones I built over the winter. It’s still snowing here so I’ve only tried the yellow one so far.
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How long did the clear coat last on your older frames?
The clear coat didn’t last long at all. It started rusting underneath almost immediately on one and the other is
flaking off. Boiled Lin seed oil worked better than clear coat.
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I bet that linseed oil would be rather durable! I’ll have to try it as a finish.
I once coated the inside of a frame with linseed oil for rust proofing and after it was assembled some dripped out onto the rear wheel. Still have not managed to get it off 
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Automotive clear coat
Lin seed oil
If I ride in the wet a lot then I need to reapply the Lin seed oil here and there.
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Season your bike like your cast iron skillet…
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I went for the raw / gun blue under clear finish in a few personal frames and had the same experience. Just no way around rust spiders it seems.
Then when I built for a few customers, they insisted on just the clear coat to keep the fillets visible despite my warnings. I showed images just like these to let them know what they were in for.
And wouldn’t you know it… one of the customers who was the most insistent on going with clear over gun blue also ended up being the one who could not accept the rust spiders after they inevitably started appearing.
If I ever start building for others again I will likely refuse to go clear on raw.
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Was the frame outgased before clearcoating?
It’s just my Guess, rust often Come from the inside, I’ve paint a lot of frame in the past with auto clear coat and the main rust spot often came on the toptube first, where we sit for a chat midride😅
I’m doing my own powdercoat and most of my frames are bmx, the most wanted finish
is clearcoat,I may be going over the top during the process but it takes a year to see some rust spot , I don’t have to warned people about rust, that’s what they want
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I don’t know. I dropped it off at the local body shop and he advised against doing clear. I assumed the risks and got him to do clear. We did another one with a much cleaner frame and it also started rusting under the clear. I think I will give up on the clear coat unless I find a powder coater? Many people told me not to do clear and I had to see for myself.
What are you using for a powder coating oven? Can you share some pics? I’d like to get into that someday.
There is a product my painter uses that is a clear adhesion viating. Not sure what it is called but it has made the couple bikes I had done in clear last a reasonable amount of time. One was a year old when it got stripped and resprayed and it was still pretty good.
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@DEVLINCC Ok! I’ll look into that.
I was about to buy some paint guns and start giving it a go at home but then I bought a used Oxy/Acetylene torch instead. I thought it was a good deal (250.- chf) so I guess I’m getting into brazing before painting, haha.
I’d like to make some of those smooth transitions and 3d printed / silver soldered bits like you are doing. Looks so nice!
Here’s what I brought home.
I recently found a long arbor for my horizontal mill. I need to make a bushing for the end but it’s working nice for now with slitting saws.
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Aaaah I thought you did the clearcoat, that’s what I asked about pre paint preparation.
Whenever I do a clear color ,I do it one day or two after welding, TIGed frame will rust at the weld within 3 or 4 days where I’m located ,which is not much different than your place humidity wise.
For powdercoating, I will show my setup in the appropriate topic when I get a minute, it’s DIY at best but results are consistent now.
Have fun brazing, shouldn’t be too hard coming from TiG welding and not the other way around
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Alistair Spence in Seattle clear finished a few frames with marine epoxy. That seemed to have great adhesion but it isn’t UV stable (not a major problem in Seattle). I wonder if coating with epoxy then spraying with a UV blocking clear would work well on a bike frame? Exterior woodworking on boats is often finished the same way, with an epoxy base for adhesion and thickness and then a few layers of varnish for UV protection.
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