[Closed] DIY Fork Pimping

preparation, preparation, preparation. and more preparation

Cheers TJ

😆

A well thought out post. 😉

You want the long version? to get anything near to a factory finish is a lot of work.

Strip fork, clean with solvents, sand down, fill chips dents scratches with filler, sand down ( or remove all paint completely and start with an specific primer)

multiple coats of primer allow to harden then rub down,repeat.

multiple coats of topcoat rub down. Repeat

Multiple coats of lacquer rub down finishing with 100o grit then t cut

Or use something like plastikote which will give an OKish finish -

Warm all rattle cans first in hot water

Interesting piece of advice about warming the cans.

Cheers TJ

Regards

Ed

I try and avoid agreeing with TJ but I do have to concur with him on this one.

In addition to the putting the rattle cans in hot water.....warm up the bits to be painted as it will cause the paint to go off a lot quicker and therefor minimise runs

But warming up the cans can mess up the thixotropy so the paint will run. With a singlepack I'd guess youd **** the thixotrop packsge before you increased the solvent evapouration rate. There's probably no chemical reaction so no kinetic benefit.

I'd have thought you want the minimum amount of paint per coat to get a coalesced finish (one which has no holes) if you put on too much you will get a worse finish.

Oh and TJ was right. Preparation and a great deal of patience.

Good quality paint is helpful as it goes a long way to improving the finish.

I have done a few bike frames - the best finish I think was around 20 coats in total if not more. Lots of thin coats is best.

jonb - I found warming the cans prevented orange peel effect by making the paint runnier - just needs a thin coat to avoid runs.