Just got this back from a blast and powdercoat;

only the seat tube is affected.

Waiting for a more considered opinion from local frame builder but initial reaction was;

😯 – not seen that before.

Can’t help thinkt here must have been some contamination in the original metal – it’s not ‘gone’ like it’s rusted and this all happened under the original paintwork.

blast

With shot?

how old is the frame?

or maybe a heavy handed sand blaster…….. 😀

WTF has that been blasted with? Stainless shot? 😯

not that old, Gary Fisher Ferrous.

Not the shot blasters fault – reason it went in was due to bubbling ont he paint which I’d dremmeled out in a couple of places and found ‘pock marks’ underneath. Problem was I did ones near the top of the tube (which has thicker metal as it’s butted further down) so what I found hadnt perforated the metal.

was it rusty? Powder coat looks very orange peely as well.

Overenthusiastic shot blasting?

You can see from the texture of the Powder coat that its had a hard shot blasted against it.

at least it won’t hold water

powder coat was deliberatly done as a hammered type finish – I knew there woudl be some ‘pock marks’ after blasting and thought that an uneven paint finish woudl mask it.

was wierd, more like there was originally contamination of the metal rather than rust as such – some of the areas had bubbled the paint but not perforated through from the inside so must have been like it from day one.

this is the other frame he did at the same time;

At least the soul turned out ok

I can’t see on screen – are they holes through the frame or just holes in the paint?

Assuming holes right through..
The frame has not been full of water in the past? Has it rusted through from the inside?

That is shocking paintwork too – I can do better than that and I’m pants with a spray gun!
edit – cross posts – you actually wanted like that 😯

No matter though, surely that is only fit for wall art (modern or otherwise!) now?

Looks rather like it’s rusted from the inside — even if it hadn’t perforated, it’s got too thin to resist blasting.

I think you may be right – will probably get a price for a new seat tube to be brazed in and make a decision.

did think about getting it sleeved but internal butting plus the fact it would still look like that on the outside goes against that idea.

what you have there my good man, is a bad case of dyslexic woodworm.

i was a shot/sand blast operative for 10 yrs, working for bombardier.
that frame has been shotblasted from too near and for too long.

i would be onto the bloke who did it for a new frame.

why only damage to that tube then?

cos he held the blast nozzle too long on that specific area.

just to reiterate

a) the uneven finish is due to the powder coat, not any effect that the cleaning may have had.
b) there were some deep ‘holes’ in the frame before he started (and in a thicker part of the tube).
c) there were numerous bubbles in the paint corresponding to where the holes are now.

I really don’t think that the blasting has ’caused’ the holes (beyond removing any rust that may have been present) – it’s really just brought them to light.

I’ve seen exactly the same thing happen to a mates Raleigh 853 frame. That was the seat tube as well. I think it’s rust from the inside where water has worked its way down past the seat post.

But in answer to the question in the title…yes…eventually.

Looks like rust to me.

are the holes through to the inside of the tube, or are they just holes in the paint?

most are all the way through.

some aren’t though – which is why I think there may have been an issue under the original paint.

why’d he bother powder coating it once it’d been stripped? surely he should’ve checked with you as to whether you still wanted to spend money on what could well be (IMHO almost certainly is) a write off?

wwaswas

I think you have it right, there must have been some underlying rust that has initally weekend the seat tube so much so that the blasting has then gone right through. I’ve seen this happen on boat parts my dad has been cleaning up.

What suprises me is that with that number of hole in the tube they went on to coat it, it must have been clear before coating the tube would need to be replaced. Your frame builder is now going to have heaps more work to do strip back the fresh coating and brase in a new seat tube rather than when the frame was bare.

I was a little surprised he’d coated it tbh but to be fair to him he’s offered to do it again for nowt if I get it repaired and take it back.

just shown this to a customer who restores old motorbikes.
his conclusion is blast damage.

water does not collect in the bottom of a seattube.
it will drain through and out of the bottom bracket.

thanks ton – I’ll see what the frame builder says when he’s had a good look at it and see where we go fromt here.

this is the seat tube when I had a go at some of the areas at the top of the tube with a Dremel (where the metal is thickest).

given the depth of the holes there I’m not surprised that they went through ont he thinner part.

is the frame really worth the hassle?

well, that’s what I’m asking myself.

It’s a nice frame and rides really well, and it’s got an EBB so I can run it singlespeed easily.

I think I’ll see what the cost of a new seat tube is and go from there.

ton – Member

water does not collect in the bottom of a seattube.
it will drain through and out of the bottom bracket.

Tell that to a Yo Eddy owner 😉

It’s perforation from the inside in my opinion.

water does not collect in the bottom of a seattube.
it will drain through and out of the bottom bracket

yeah it does. there’s only a small drain hole available, which usually plugs up with crud.
plus condensation forms on the inside of the (bare) steel seat tube.

Why do you think most frames rot at the bottom of the seat tube first? It doesn’t take a flood, just a steady supply of damp – and a few years.

Frame is dead 🙁

Tig welded so they can’t cut out seat tube and put a new one in.

bye-bye Ferrous here’s how I’ll remember you;

The usual method in cases like this is to have it cut out and a new seat tube fillet brazed in. Argos (among others) could do it.

Shot gun blasting more like, either that or your frame had bad acne when it was younger, how much did they charge you to for that master piece? 😯

wwaswas – shame, i wanted a similar paint job on my EBB frame – ended up with a semi-rough teflon style with a bit more sparkle.

I’d say the original had either rusted from the inside of the paint had blistered and the spots you show are corrosion. Coatings generally protect steel but they have the unfortunate side effect that when they fail they concentrate corrosion around the area of failure.

I imagine the frame material was thin and then the blaster has gone straight through. I don’t know what kind of profile* they would be going from but with chilled iron grit you can remove material fast if you are not careful.

I’d get a new frame though as I’d be worried about the rest and it’s going to cost alot to fix it.

*Typically we go for SA2.5 to SA3 50-75µm

Tig welded so they can’t cut out seat tube and put a new one in.

As Andy R said, tell that to a Yo Eddy owner 🙂 It’s perfectly doable, but quite possibly not worthwhile.

Why paint a knackered frame. Shame to chuck it though. Sleeve a new bit in.

I’ve had a TIG welded down tube cut out of Tange Prestige Team Marin frame, and a Tandem down tube(!) brazed in, after riding into a big rock….