what will happen if I leave an aluminium frame raw?

Just got an ok 2nd hand frame for my son. Thinking of a respray to tart it up but can’t decide on a colour. If I just had it sand blasted down to the raw aluminium and left it what would happen.

PS the frame doesn’t have any great value other than it’s usefulness.

thoughts welcome…

iirc oxidisation which will forM dull blotches with a white tint
just remove with scouring pad!

Yeah it’ll oxidise. Could end up going greenish. Your options would be to polish it or lacquer it.

I’ve seen one polished frame that was done properly by a guy who works in the aerospace industry, it looked awesome and has lasted well over a year since the initial job. And by the way I mean buffed and polished as opposed to chemically polished, if you get me. Not sure what would be involved there.

Sand with finest sandpaper, poilish with a drill buffer and brasso? time consuming though.

Or clean and spray with lacquer.

iirc intense did a lts edition raw option and i test rode one a glenstress
iwonder if that was prper raw or laquered

Nowt much. My Turner is a raw finish, as in off the welders bench and out the door. No lacquer, zip, zilch, zero.

It will turn a bit dull… I have a raw frame and… it goes a bit dull..

Depends on the aluminium alloy used. Some tarnish and go dull grey while others stay shiny.

This is raw alu.

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275/365[/url] by stuartie_c[/url], on Flickr

Needs the occasional polish to bring out the shine as it dulls quite quickly. Looks great when freshly done though.

Dulls too quickly for my liking, especially if in contact with anything remotely road salty, but not much of a problem. If you laquer it you need to ensure your laquer is capable of flexing, once did a steel frame and the laquer flaked off where it flexed.

Cheers for that guys. Knew I could rely on you.
For what it cost me I’ll give it a go.
Interesting experiment if nowt else.
T

I think all the frames are baked first before being sent out. Raw finish is superb. Well, I like mine.

GT used to ball burnish the Zaskar back in the 90’s. They used to stay nice & shiny. Motorbike shops sell polishing kits, with various mops, grades of paste etc. I used one with excellent results.

Dulls too quickly for my liking,

Aye, I’ve done it to a couple of old frames, and it’ll go dull in a couple of weeks of use. GT used to lacquer the Zaskar. Fresh, it is a fantastic finish though

Aluminium is highly reactive, it will very quickly form an oxide layer which then prevents any further reaction with the air. So.. goes dull, stays dull.

i like the dull colour on the raw intense 😆

just keep it away from mercury and mercury salts

Don’t forget that other riders will constantly refer to you not being able to afford getting it painted.