… and the ‘raw’ finish is nothing like I expected.

It is a 2005 Giant Reign frame (alloy obv!) and has a 2 part history. The main frame has been stripped and powdercoated before, but the rear triangle is a replacement, and that was stripped to. The finish on both is very different to what I was expecting.

It’s finish is now a very rough silvery grey of oxidised aluminium. I know I ‘can’ polish this up – I’ve just been at it with the sander and the wire wool, but all the nooks and crannies are going to present a major challenge.

Is this a case of MTFU, or is there a less labout intensive way to get a bit more of a smooth finish. I’m not looking for mirror, more brushed…

The powder coating will probably cover the imperfections. We have rough aluminium castings powder coated snd they always turn out pretty smooth.

I’m not getting it re-coated, I’m just going to go with plain alloy, ideally with a brushed finish.

I have a Raw tracer and the finish is just that, raw. Some areas have bits that are different shades to others, some parts end up getting a bit polished.

I quite like the look of mine but I can see without decals the finish would be a bit too dull.

Depends what grade abrasive was used to strip the power coat.

Did you tell them that you wanted a ‘raw’ finish? If they had used a finer abrasive after stripping the powder coat, you would have been left with a much nicer finish.

If it’s really rough I’d go back and ask them if they can use a finer shot to give a smoother finish, otherwise you might have some luck using 3M scotchbrite pads. The maroon ones give an OK brushed finish on aluminium.

I had my old aluminium STP frame snad-blasted and it came back as you described, very rough finish which seemed like it would hold all the mud in the world.

I just gave it a quick all-over with some wet and dry, and was fine.

Further attack with the sander and wire wool is looking promising. A few ‘fun’ evenings should see it right…

I’m thinking of applying a layer of wax to help seal the finish and prevent ‘black-thigh’ from the rub. Any tips?

Why not clearcoat it? That would protect the finish about as well as anything I’d have thought.

Think you’d be better spraying it with a clear lacquer layer. Wax won’t last long. Or get it anodised silver.

Clearcoat scuffs up and then needs stripping and you’re back to square one. There’s a lot of info on MTBR that I have to wade through, but some of those frams look great with some kind of wax. Getting there is a dirty job though.

You need a bit ‘o elbow grease

I did exactly the same with my Devinci a while back and it just looked awful after bead blasting. So I went to work with a tube of autosol and a rag and it made a fantastic dull industrial raw finish. I particularly wanted a rough looking finish and over the months it has developed a really interesting look. The best thing is that no matter how many scratches or marks it get’s it never looks any different.

However if you want something that looks shiny and pretty you have much more work on your hands!

Just curious, you don’t have to answer or say where it was done.

How much to strip/shot/sand blast a frame these days ?

got some old ones, was toying with shot blasting, haven’t got as far as looking up cost yet….

My Reign. After I got it chemically stripped, I just went over it with a green kitchen scourer, that was it.
(I’d yet to do the cables…)

£25 at Perth Powdercoating in Lochty Industrial Estate.

There is a process called vapour-blasting which uses water and grit or water and glass-beads.
It is a bit too late for this frame, maybe.
Getting thin aluminium tubing grit blasted has its problems: because the grit needs to be very sharp and abrasive to take the powdercoat off but, is so abrasive that the same grit is far too abrasive for the aluminium once the powdercoat comes off.

http://www.boeing.com/commercial/aeromagazine/aero_05/textonly/fo01txt.html

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/archive/index.php?t-80219.html

http://www.alcoa.com/mill_products/catalog/pdf/alloy2024techsheet.pdf

http://www.keytometals.com/page.aspx?ID=AluminumGrades&LN=EN

http://www.chinook-helicopter.com/maintenance/issues/cleaners/cleaners.html

Wire wool and Solvol autosol, it’ll shine like a *bears Ar$e but will take some time.
*I have no idea how shiny this may be but was the finish described by by Paint technology lecturer.

One of THESE and one of THESE

Its hard work. I stripped my Ventana with a view to polishing but found that Ventana had lightly blasted the frames, probably to get a key for painting. This meant a lot of material would have to be removed to get the surface flat enough for polishing. If your finish is anywhere near that Giant up there^^^ I would give one of these kits a go. Its basically three graded polishing mops, that you use on a drill. It just takes time, thats all. Its not an hours work. be preoared for a good few hours & you’ll get filthy. If you can put the effort in its well worth it. The bright finish will dull over time, but once its highly polished its easy to get it back up again. That powder in the polishing kit is lime powder. You use it to clean the polished finish, & it removes all the polishing residue, which makes it dull quicker. You can lacquer, but its disheartening seeing your lovely polished finished turn to a slightly dulled polished finish… 😕

Solvol autosol
http://reviews.halfords.com/4028/636217/reviews.htm
Not only will it help you polish it up as it’s slightly abrasive, but will then stop the aluminium oxidising as it leaves a protective coating. I stripped the brushed finish on a 6016 T-6 Mtn Cycles San Andreas seat mast using this technique using wire wool (easy to get in nooks and crannies) and it was months between having to polish it up again.