OK, this is project that I want to spend minimum on.
I got a steel jump frame for free last year as the seat post was stuck, I used the kit at work to heat it up and remove it and it took the paint off.
I didn’t care because I didn’t know if I would enjoy jump tracks or not…
I DO!

So, I want to give it some TLC before I start using it again this year.
My plan is to strip the paint off and buff it up with wire wool, then clear lacquer it and cover wear points with a funky coloured Fablon.
This should be pretty cheap, BUT all the reviews for the new strippers (eg Nitromorse) are rather poor.

So, can anyone recommend something cheap that does the trick, or do I ‘gently’ attack it with the oxy/propane again and take all the paint off like that?

Any advice from people who have done this would be great.

Cheers.

I got charged £20 for a professional to beadblast a steel frame. I don’t think I could have bought the materials to do it myself chemically/mechanically for that.

^that

Get some fine grit (2000+) wet and dry paper to smooth out the frame/any scratches rather than wire wool. Autosol or other polishing compound will then finish it off nicely. Give it a good degrease afterwards and then clear coat it.
I’m at the autosol stage on my alloy road bike i’m rawing and it looks awesome

I was charged 50 quid to have a steel frame acid dipped, to properly strip the paint, then powder coated. Its barely worth the mother of doing it yourself. Its a PITA!

As you can see they did quite a nice job

Where are you based?

Find local paint/powder coaters in yellow pages and they’ll shot blast it for you for £20-30 cash in hand.Just make sure you mask off bb threads/seat tube/head tube for them first.

Based in Cheltenham.

I’ve used a local company for both my kids bikes and they blasted and powder coated them for £30 and £50 (fantastic job).
But the frame I’m doing hardly seems worth it, it’s a big heavy mongoose 26″ wheeled slot drop out with an American BB shell.

Probably worth a tenner?

BUT it’s perfect for what I want, it seems a bit irrational not wanting to spend money on it, but I also don’t want to spend hours sweating over it?

decisions decisions…

It’s probably worth more than a tenner! Can you stick a pic up?

As far as getting the paint off goes, this is the active ingredient in the old recipe Nitromors-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Methylene-Chloride-Dichloromethane-99-5-5-Litre-5L-/201311841112?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2edf1eeb58

but it’s bloody awful stuff so wear gloves and glasses. I found it works best on a warm day (it’s quite volatile, but non-flammable) as it needs to be able to evaporate to help lift the paint. The last time I used it I soaked an old towel in it and let it do its thing over the course of a couple of hours. You do still need to help the paint up if it’s thick, but sometimes it just flakes off.