fks Splat's That (some Kuwaharas etc)

This was it when I'd just got it back from the platers.

Love how the cnc toolpaths are visible on the chainstay yoke, and being able to see all the little makers marks underneath the plating

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Oooooo fancy. Why not sliding dropouts or an EBB though? Looks cool anyway

Oh yeah, but before that I had some samples done.

Eagle-eyed viewers may notice that the samples I'd used for testing got done completely differently by the platers, which was handy.

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That looks 👌. Watching with interest

some initial tests using off-the-shelf verdigris/antiquing fluid didn't really give me the effect I was after (I mean, I didn't really know what I was after, to be honest), but started to show how quickly the copper can change tone and texture.

I guess it was around this point that I had to start getting an idea of what the actual bike might be like too. I found this quite hard without really knowing what the frame / fork / bars might end up looking like, but I guess this turned into a slightly deliberate 'trust the process' kind of thing, rather than conjuring a vision of a bike and aiming towards it, let the process lead the way and relinquish some control.

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Basically because at the time I didn't specify I wanted any of these things - but you're right, that would have been the way to go

Anyway, I found this great book on metals and metallurgy and patinas and stuff, and found some inspiration and base recipes for making cold patination mixtures to try out

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Also really liked the way the copper was starting to oxidise by itself

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Yeees!

this bit was quite scary tbh

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Things started going purple and orange and stuff which was Not In The Plan

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Conjured the bravery to give it a go on the frame, after some geeing up from Sam at Stayer

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Apologies for the really non-linear process but yeah, basically this is the mixture and technique I settled on

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absolutely terrified at this point

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Looks ace. Is the book by Hughes & Rowe? Meant to get that ages ago.

and after a few more days of this, it started to look quite cool.

Some lovely textures coming through, reminding me a lot of Battersea Arts Centre

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et voila

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That's the one - it's a lovely book

This is fucking awesome!

The build.... I kind of shot myself in the foot by asking for loads of expensive obscure stuff at the last minute which understandably couldn't be got.

Final build spec is something like:
Frame, fork, and bar are custom Stayer OMG, short-ish forks in that old-school XC image, one-off short-ish reach 780mm wide bullmoose bars with plenty of back and upsweep. Sam did a great job on these and they feel great on the bike. It's LONG - not necessarily in terms of reach but 1200mm+ wheelbase on a rigid bike is a lot of fun.
Wolftooth headset
Paul levers
Yokozuna Ultimo brakes
Middleburn chainset/34t mono ring, 1x1 w Wolftooth 20t sprocket
Custom Deep Custom Silver CNC Custom Chain Tensioner when it became clear that no, I couldn't have the Ingrid stuff that I, in my disorganisation, asked for last minute
Wheels are Hope Pro4 boost-(ish) on Stayer's own rims
29x2.8" Teravail rubber
Dropper
Brooks C17

Thanks, was genuinely scary as I wasn't sure quite what would happen but I'm quite happy in the end

It's on display at Bespoked this weekend as part of the Stayer / Ultra Distance Scholarship stands, which it's been donated to and will be raffled off

Honestly, I think you’ve knocked it out of the field. One of most creative and best paint jobs? I’ve seen in a long time.

Thanks, I'm genuinely flattered. Nearly sacked it off a few times because it wasn't really working.

I think the process could be refined a bit more to have a bit more control over it... but it's getting plenty of attention at the show which has caught me off guard, and hopefully drawing attention to the charity so that more people can be funded :)

finish on the frame is fab, really knocked it out of the park.

Look at it this way, I'm now strongly considering that frame just because of your paint job....