So I was thinkin'...
Paint? or Polish?

I was going to do a matte black paint scheme. I really like the idea of having some graphics on a matte black paint scheme, where the graphic design is really raw aluminum showing through. In other words, mask off the graphics, paint the matte black, and then take the masking off. then I'd have a pinstriper I know stripe a line between paint and metal.

That was until I did this just to see. Famous last words.. just lets see. Can't tell you how much trouble that's gotten me into. Check this out:













I'm having a hard time not doing the rest of the frame. Hey, worst case scenario: polish the frame, decide to paint, mask off the graphics, scuff the rest, degrease and metal prep, paint the rest, peel off masking to reveal polished aluminum graphics. This is a win win... and Jake gets bling bling.

And it's not that hard to do either. That section took all of ten minutes, tops.

Back to work. One polished Zen coming up. He looks like jewelry. No clear, just wax after this.

Eric "Gimmie da Bling" S.

Well, a few moments ago, I stepped back and took a look a few hours of work. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Jake is gleaming raw aluminum now. I'll be putting a coat of wax on... wax on, wax off. Wax on, wax off.

If I get tired of shiny, I'll do a paint job this winter. For now, Jake looks more handsome then ever.

The polish job is not Tiffany's quality, but it does look nice. There are plenty of production machine marks visible, but I like that. It still looks industrial, not so much like bling as I thought. I like the industrial look. There are some classic race cars that were never painted. I like that. Or an airstream trailer. I like those too.

Eric

Hi Eric,

If the rest of Jake looks as good as that bb area, Jake's going to look mmaahhvulous!

Nice work, Eric! I can't wait to see a pic of Jake all polished up.

WOW! That's beautiful! I agree with Geoff - show us da bling!!!

I took some more pics, but they really don't do Jake justice. The lighting across larger spans of frame does not give you the same appearance as the small bit of bottom bracket above. I did not rub as hard over the rest of the bike either, because I was not sure I wanted it that shiny. A bit more buffing and the rest of the bike will look like that bottom bracket shot. I already re-did the top tube this morning in a matter of minutes it was even shinier. I'm going to buff the rsst some more too. If I don't like it shiny I can knock it down to a sheen.

Oh, the joys of metal. Behold, Jake... or parts of him.

looks great! what products did you use, i'm going to try it on my 'raw' Z. Also, what wax is recommended following the polishing?

I don't know if I should tell anyone. The process is an ancient secret that dates back to about 6PM yesterday. LOL.

I went to an ACE hardware store, and bought 4 grades of fine steel wool... $2.39 per pack of 8. I got 0, 00, 000, and 0000.

Start at 0 and work your way up to the finest, then hit it again lightly with 00 and the sheen gets even brighter.

I then polished it further with a product called Never-Dull. It comes in a can, and it wadded up fiber with polish embedded in it. Grab a small wad, rub rub rub, the blacker it gets the better, then buff buff buff.

After that, I applied a fine automotive wax.

If you want to remove the machine marks, you'd probably have to start by using some fine emery cloth, but I just wanted sheen, I didnt care too much about machine marks... I like them.

Eric.

thanks for the info, i'd really like to end up with a satin or titanium look if possible.

Hey Eric,

Jake really looks fabulous! Great job!

When you've got Jake completely built up, we'd love to see some "full body" shots of the Zen Master!

Dang it!


Why did I open this thread from Nanda's site?!?!? I was going to leave Roadkiller's raw frame untouched! Now that I see the bling of Jake, I must do that too!

I'm about to fix the head tube ding this weekend. I jsut need to find something that would work. I don't want to go buy a brass drift just for that. But, I might just do that. I dunno.

The Zen buffeter and his followers now have to buy another plainly painted CF-bike to ride with! And find a safe place in their houses for their pieces of shining bike-art

As Randy will tell you: "thank you for the business!"

Wijnandt.

Instead of a brass drift why not improvise one from a hardwood dowel? I have good luck with this.

You mean use shape a hardwood dowel with a taper and tap that in? Hmmm....

I took a round hammer head and held that inside while I tapped on the side of the hammer with a wooden mallet. It seemed to work pretty good, but it doesn't slide in easy. I know it shouldn't, but wondering if now I should just press in the cups as it looks perfectly round.

Try inserting the edge of the cup, and turning it in the end of the headtube. If it turns without an obvious drag spot it is round. Insert cups once it passes this test. Note: you can work out a flat spot with a large diameter shaft of a screw driver, like the bike shop tech suggested.

Thanks, Randy. But, I'm not sure how to do that. Do you mean insert the handle part of a big round screwdriver in to the end, then roll the handle at an angle against the inside edge of the tube? Like when my tire guy rolled the fender lip on my truck when I put on really huge tires on it?

Use the shaft of a large screwdriver as a shaping mandrel. By insterting it into the tube as a lever and pressing it against the side wall. You might want to pad the inserted end to not mar the inside of the head tube.

Thanks Randy!