Current Projects chat and miscellany

I would only do it again if the plan was some spongy/drippy/flamy/masky (ok enough) paintjob. Single colour I'd always go to the cheap powdercoater that also does wet.
Materials including stripping and sanding stuff, primer and so on add up, I don't have a space that's big enough to move around, and as much as I like to think my eye/hand coordination is great, spraying a bike frame is tough.

I have personally repainted a bike once (although I sort of regret not keeping the original scheme).

I used paint stripper for the most part, together with some high grit sandpaper to get every bit of paint off. The tubes are easy to do, the hard part are the areas around the lugs and the tight corners. I reapplied paint stripper there. Worked out reasonably well, although I'm sure that I can find imperfections. The thing is that painting over an imperfection does not remove the imperfection, unless you ise some thick primer that also fills and you sand a whole lot more.

As for the paint I did also do the whole 2k primer / colour / 2k clearcoat thing. Just make sure to apply very thin layers, it's a pain because it takes a long time, but the end result is worth the patience. One defect I noticed only after all the apint dried, is that one of the tubes did not have the same number of clearcoat layers as the rest of the tubes. You have to have a mental map of where you sprayed, because you don't necessarily see the difference between your previous layer and your new layer, and you don't want to risk over spraying and getting paint runs.

All in all, I have wondered if it was cost effective. Paint stripper was very helpful, if I were to remove allt he paint by sanding, it would have taken ages.
You also have to have the correct environment to paint in, I sprayed outside because I'm a cheapskate and didn't want to buy a mask. Very stupid. Just buy a mask, even if you paint outside. You also need the right temperature for your paint to dry. That's all fine and dandy if you have a spray room, can be tricky if you don't.

After the paint dried, I sanded back to bare metal the dropouts, where the axle is tightened to the frame, because the paint would otherwise chip. Same with the BB area, sanded that back too.

In the end I'm pleased with the result, although I want to experiment with a multicoloured frame next. Also, I did not do anything with branding or decals and I regret it a bit. That would definitely add complexity.

I'd share some pictures, but I'm currently on holiday and don't have access to either the bike nor the pictures I took when I did the paint job