[Closed] Rawing a steel frame - anyone done it?

You would have to lacquer it after to prevent it from going rusty. I wouldn't bother.

You would have to lacquer it after to prevent it from going rusty. I wouldn't bother.

You'd be surprised, my heels poke right in and take the paint off most chain/seat stays, but even after years of being exposed to the elements they don't rust away.

It might look crap and rusty, but would probably last a good few years.

You can get a clear powder coat. Blasted and coated, job done (not that I've done it mind)

Your heels are probably cleaning off the surface rust every time you ride it. It will rust like mad. You need to lacquer it. On-One did it to the summer season a few years back. Honest opinion...if you like the colour of raw steel just get it painted.

I've done it,wanted it to go rusty,left in garden for 3 months,surface rust just wiped off !
built it up and ran it for 6 months,couldn't get it to rust ! old Diamondback steel butted frame.

I used to ride bare metal bmx frames as young man, as did most of my riding buddies. They never really rusted that badly. Mainly just surface rust, they never rusted to the point of it becoming a structural issue.

I just got some nitromors paint stripper and the paint would come right off and normally leave the super cool burn/heat marks from welding.

The higher quality the steel the less it will rust, so doing it to an On-One might lead to a fair amount of rusting.

As the other folk have said, you can always clear coat it or even wax it?

I'd say go for and then post some pictures on here!!

Here is a couple of a cool bare metal road bike;

http://www.flickr.com/photos/yattay/6886653534/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/yattay/6886654384/

Just not a good idea. Did it, clear coated it at the car bodywork shop but still at every impact you could see rust spreading. In the end it killed the frame.

Yeh, rawed my bmx frame years ago. Its very rusty but it hasnt broken. I think most of it is just surface rust really.

Good project for 2013.
What could possibly go wrong? 😯
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Talking of Rawing i've just picked up an old alloy frame I intend to do this to.

I want to polish it up once I've stripped all the paint off. Anyone got any advice on doing this and how to complete it, I.e. does is need a coat of lacuer/clear coat to stop it corroding?

matlockmeat...best to use a polishing kit with a drill. Has three graded mops with matching soap. Results are ace, but if you want it to stay shiny without lacquer its best to use some lime powder to clean it. I don't have an alloy frame any more so if the kit is of intrest to you for £15 let me know.

How quickly it will rust depends on the steel mix, the more chromium in the blend, the less it will rust. So gas pipe steel vs Reynolds 753 will rust at different rates....

My Curtis looks great raw with its brass brazing

Your heels are probably cleaning off the surface rust every time you ride it. It will rust like mad.

That was my point, even wiping it off with every pedal stroke it never even developed a flat spot or pitting. It'll look tatty as anything, but I doubt it would get to the point of weakening the frame within the sort of time frames we expect frames to last.

I roared my Federal cruiser frame (clear rattle can + lakka) and it still looked like new after 18 months when I decided to sell it in order to finance another project.

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