Has anyone used the spray.bike zinc coating before painting & primer?
I ask my coater to minimize the spray inside the clamps, seatpost, headtube, BB. He blocks them off when spraying the powder. Your coater will likely put bolts in the bosses/fender eyes, clamps etc.
I might have him mask the insides of the rear dropouts. I have had them come back wtih so much build up in the dropouts that the wheel didn’t sit straight or the axle wouldn’t go into the slot. In those cases, I simply file the powder coat down to fit.
I ream/face after it comes back from powder so it’s not terrible if there is some overspray.
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Any advice on accenting the edges of lugs?
I just sealed in the patina and character of this bike with 2K clear for a friend’s dad, and between the prep and clearcoat I also freshened up the edges of the lugs with some metallic gold paint.
I’m happy with the results of the clearcoat, but the detailing on the lugs is messier than I’d like.
Luckily it fits the look of the bike but when I build my own new frames I’d like to be able to do a nice clean like of metallic paint on the edges of my lugs.
For anyone who is interested, this is the process I used to clearcoat the bike:
-remove all parts (duh)
-make sure there’s no grease or oil on it anywhere
-use a ball of aluminium foil with water to rub off the worst of the surface rust
-after drying, gently key the surface with a scotchbrite pad
-gently clean surface with acetone, but carefully because too much acetone takes the paint right with it
-spray 2K clear in ghetto basement paint booth
-let dry a few days
-sand any spots that didn’t take clearcoat nice and smooth
-gently sand whole surface
-second coat of clear
I’m not a lug builder, but if you’re looking for inspiration and technique/finishing tips, my best recommendation would be to check out Chapman Cycles feed on Instagram.
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I just lug lined a recent frame using a Kemper Tools Fluid Writer
Very fine paint line produced easily. The paint’s viscosity is important to get right as too thick and the paint won’t flow through the tip and too thin and the paint can run from where you’ve placed it. I use 1 shot brand paint for this, a very high solids type of paint. Andy
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Thanks Andy! This is the kind of thing I was hoping to find
Does it work with metallic paints or does the metallic flake clog up the tip?
Edit: I’m dumb lol I can see on the photo you shared that the gold version is specifically made for metallic paint
I also found these metallic paint markers, has anyone tried these on frames? When used on hard surfaces they can be wiped away with a damp cloth, but I’m thinking maybe if you do paint, then use these and then 2K clear they could be sealed in perfectly.
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Where you all get stencils/masks cut for painting on logos?
I use a Silhouette vinyl cutter which seems to work pretty well…
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I’ve known a few frame makers who just go to their local sign shop. I recently found one to get some masking film/sheets and when I described my use (masking one color paint from the second color’s spraying) he mentioned he has made vinyl stencils for bike painting. My last trip to Doug Fattic’s shop had him using the same, from his local sign shop, for a spray on logo. Andy
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I used a fine tip Montana Paint pen to line the lugs on this bike. I like montana pens because they"re refillable with whatever colour you want to use, tips are replaceable, and montana paints are compatible with 2k clear. And the lines laid down quite nicely for the most part
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That’s a wild colour scheme 
love to see it
I see they have those markers at the place where I buy my rattle cans and they’re cheap, can they be filled with whatever paint or only acrylic?
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Not sure. I’ve only refilled with acrylic. The tip is like an osmosis action type deal to pull paint through the material the tip is made of as paint lays down on the surface. So not like a fluid writer or ball point paint pen, which paint flows through an orifice. I could see 2 part or automotive paint potentially clogging up the tip of the montana pen
Paint scheme is a shout out to my Vincentian heritage 
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I’ve also been doing oracal and other vinyls under clear coats with a 325-350F bake temp. Haven’t had one mess up yet. My daughter wanted a cool chameleon effect for her decals so I used iron-on t-shirt transfers. It holds up to ironing so powder coat is only a little hotter than that! Have also stuck some stuff with Super 77 spray adhesive and powder coated over that with good results. Again, it’s not a product that’s rated for those temperatures but it holds up fine even on bikes that are getting beat around.
Another fun DIY decal for powder coat is to apply a vinyl mask to the frame, on top of the base coat, then take some powder and mix it with a solvent and paint that on. Once dry remove the mask and bake the frame again to set the “powder” Most powder coat colors are made from different bases/binders so some work better than others. Some will get lumpy, some will bubble in the bake, and some will mix up silky smooth to the point where you can actually airbrush them. You will have to do some trials. If you want to try this at home before taking your frame to the powder coater’s, you can test out your recipes in an old oven or toaster oven.
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Hi Everyone,
I am looking for some advice. I have recently been struggling with mu 2k clearcoats not setting hard, so they are sandable with a light grit or scotchbright cloth and they dust up when sanded, but is you run the tip of your nail acros them they score in.
I am airdrying in my booth, at around 20-25degrees (C) and applying the paint (Custom Paints 2K Show Clear) through a gun with a 0.8mm nozzle and 10% thinner and getting a really good finish, barr the softness issue! typically applying 2 coats of clear over 3 coats of base and a 2k high build primer.
Could it be a flash time issue (I have typically left it 35-min or so between clear), or maybe a temp issue? or even considered a mix ratio issue, I have been mixing by weight, maybe i should be mixing my 2k by volume rather?
Any experience would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
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Hi there,
Couple of thoughts- first off, not sure about your exact paint brand and what the datasheet says, but all the paints I use only list a mix ratio by volume, so mixing to this ratio by weight would definitely end up with the wrong amounts as the activator is significantly less dense than the clear. Your mileage may vary of course but worth verifying that if it DOES allow for mixing by weight that it gives a different ratio (sending an example of the TDS for the clear I use just as a reference point):
Secondly, I’ll ask the simple question- how long are you waiting before you test the hardness? I also cure at room temp and I find that my clears aren’t fully hardened for a significant amount of time after I finish painting- I’m talking weeks, up to a month. I think this is just a limitation of us home gamers doing the best with what we have, but I’ve definitely screwed up a few beautiful paint jobs getting too eager to start building up a frame before it’s fully hardened!
Hope this helps!
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Hi @Dustin-The-Wind , Thank you very much! I have a suspision that is going to be part of the issue. Unfortunately the product webpage isnt very forthcoming with a datasheet, but i have now posed the question to them to make sure! they are fairly well known, as far as iI can tell, so they must have some additional specs on the product.
I’ve had one that didnt fully cure after 2 months in the basement at around 20deg, it felt hard on the surface but after a prod you could see a slight shift in the coat, almost as if it had a film over a gel layer.
I’ve also found 2K clear takes a long time to reach full strength. Leave it at least 48h before building up the bike. But be extra careful because it’s still going to be a bit soft.
How long to reach full strength? Don’t know but it could easily be weeks or months.
I also try to leave the regular paint underneath it for as long as possible before putting the 2K on (at least a few days somewhere warm or until the new paint smell goes away) because I figure that needs a solvent to evaporate and so once it’s all sealed up inside the 2K it might stay a bit soft forever.
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