and have it look nice, or even professionally done?
I mentioned on here a year or so ago that I have a vintage Italian road bike that I want to restore as a singlespeed runabout. But once I dismantle the whole thing, I am up in the air as to getting the frame done professionally, or just doing it myself.
If it can be done to a good level by hand, then I think I might go the latter route, but I don't want it to look rough in the end.
Has anyone had any particular success sanding and respraying a frame? Any techniques you would advise?
And above all, any pics of the process and/or finished product?
Pay someone, unless you really want to spend time doing it, and can accept that the finished article will be sub-standard.
~£50 to have it stripped and powdercoated Vs £50 of materials, several days of effort, and a finish that chips and scratches easily.
Having said that, if the existing finish is OK, then you may get away with just a light sand and an application of K-rust to passivize any rust spots, then spray with whatever color you like, just accept that it will look tatty almost immediately. Lots of thin coats will get an acceptable finish and you just have to accept that when spraying thin tubes that 90% of the paint will end up coating the cardboard box your spraying into. I've sprayed steel forks that way when I just wanted to swap them between frames and have them match.
You can get a really good finish with rattle cans. The main thing is.
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Clear
There are a bunch of vidoes on Youtube
It's not really a question of whether it's possible more a question of at what point will you wish you'd never started?
You can bring it round mine and we'll do it in the garage if you like. I've painted some stuff before, and a few times it looked ok 🙂
As for technique... blimey.. it's something you just have to get a feel for. Basically - too much paint or not enough seconds between passes and it runs, too little and it doesn't gel into a smooth finish.
~£50 to have it stripped and powdercoated Vs £50 of materials, several days of effort, and a finish that chips and scratches easily.
+1
I painted a fork recently, it ended up looking great, but definitely not professional if you look very closely. Paint is also soft.
However, can of decent etch primer, hi build primer, colour coat and laquer cost almost £50. Then there's sandpaper, masking tape etc.
Several hours of boring work - there's not much to recommend it really.
Oh I dunno. Satisfaction of mastering a difficult job.