Unpainted steel frame?

Anyone ever stripped the paint off and then just varnished it to stop it going orange?

I'm not being tight or anything, I'm just interested how it would look. Plus I'll save some precious grams.

Aah, I see this has been asked before, I searched the wrong words.

I'd like to change my question to 'LOL should I buy a Fuji Track or Bianchi Pista??!?'

looks like this

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looks already a bit rusted. is this sealed (clear coated) somehow ?

Aah, I see this has been asked before, I searched the wrong words.

I'd like to change my question to 'LOL should I buy a Fuji Track or Bianchi Pista??!?'

Bianchi Pista.

Russell, that looks awesome. I think it's the way to go. Nice bike, too

im considering this as i doubt i can find a close enough match to the original paint.

Well guys I'm currently a little bit pissed, my girlfriend is away and so my frame is upside down in the kitchen soaking in Nitromors..

things I have learned: original paint is tough stuff, and nitromors REALLY burns your skin

but I can see some bronze-coloured welds and some nice shiny metal, I think it's going to look really good, I'll put a picture up tomorrow night when I'm finished

Tynan, I wasn't being entirely serious. And I would get the Pista.

Tynan, I wasn't being entirely serious. And I would get the Pista.

I was not being serious either and would also go for the Pista.

Well guys I'm currently a little bit pissed, my girlfriend is away and so my frame is upside down in the kitchen soaking in Nitromors..

things I have learned: original paint is tough stuff, and nitromors REALLY burns your skin

but I can see some bronze-coloured welds and some nice shiny metal, I think it's going to look really good, I'll put a picture up tomorrow night when I'm finished

Tynan, I wasn't being entirely serious. And I would get the Pista.

You want to have it sandblasted by professionals.

Give up doing this by hand, you will simply not be able to get into those tough corners where the welds are.

You want to have it sandblasted by professionals.

Give up doing this by hand, you will simply not be able to get into those tough corners where the welds are.

it's a lugless frame, I'm almost done, and it's looking good before I've even moved onto the finer grit paper.

The paint is actually coming off easier where the welds are, the paint isn't sticking to them as well.

I've got a dremel with a wire brush wheel for the little corners under the seatpost bolt area, which looks to be the only challenging bit

I took all the paint off of my rossin a while back and yes, that stuff burns like crazy! i was using those hospital gloves, and it melted through!

it took all the paint off but next time i'll pay to get it sandblasted...too much of a mess, specially when you live in a 35sqm apartment and don't have a garage

My friend is looking to do a similar thing. He has stripped off the paint from the frame and is looking to just use clear laquer on top. Will this work and if so what should the surface condition of the frame be like thanks.

well woody what I'm doing is stripping as much as possible off with Nitromors, then sanding with 60 grit, then 120 grit, then a higher one I've forgotten, then some wet and dry, and finally steel wool.

Then I'm going to use toothpaste or something as a final light abrasive, and finally lacquer it with some clear metal lacquer. The lacquer is difficult to find and quite expensive though, it was £4 for a tiny little bottle, I might need maybe 2 more, we'll see how it goes.

I don't know if this is the right way to go but it's what I'm doing, if anyone can see any problems or has any suggestions then please let me know

FWIW, it's available as a standard finish on the Brompton folding bike - Raw Lacquer.

I have one and I rather like it (they also take a bit of extra care over the brazing and surface finish for the frames that are used for this as they aren't going to be covered up with paint)

[damn! I just came out as a Brompton owner on a fixed gear forum :-D]

FWIW, a powder coat in clear cost me £20
and the blasting cost me £10

......sod all the messing about.

FWIW, a powder coat in clear cost me £20
and the blasting cost me £10

......sod all the messing about.

aah well I couldn't wait until payday and had nothing to do today. It;s done now but I've got to go out, I'll post a picture when I get back later on

where are you based to get your powder coating. I am in brighton would anyone recommend anywhere near to me or the known powder coaters in london. I know about Smith Coatings in Hove but someone told me there are better places in london that do sand blasting and powder coating in the same place

FWIW, a powder coat in clear cost me £20
and the blasting cost me £10

......sod all the messing about.

wow how cheap is that.. would be rude not to

Can't remember where I saw it, but I saw a bike that someone had had copper plated. He was thinking about letting it weather but instead just laquered it before it dulled down. That looked pretty cool.

copper plated......souonds heavy!

Can't remember where I saw it, but I saw a bike that someone had had copper plated. He was thinking about letting it weather but instead just laquered it before it dulled down. That looked pretty cool.

oh man, that would have gone an awesome green after a bit

here's my bike, I'm very pleased with the results. I got sick of sanding by the end, so the area around the BB is not finished. A job for a rainy day. I left the front derailleur off, and I'm going to make it fixed in the next few weeks. I think the welds look really cool, quite a few people stared and asked what it was when I was doing today's Bikeathon, it really looked good when it was sunny

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Do yourself a favour and don't bother with the aerosol clearcoat. The stuff is rubbish and absolutely useless at protecting a frame from rust. I've rawed lots of frames countless times and I tell you this will work a lot better. Take a rag and some motor oil. Just wipe some on, let it sit over night and wipe with a dry rag. It won't make it look shiny or anything but I never got rust. Actually it works really well if you leave it out in the sun, it will darken a bit and you will get better protection.

I spent the weekend sanding down an old steel frame and it looks really cool. What's the best thing to do now in terms of rust protection? I don't really want to alter the finish at all.

You want to have it sandblasted by professionals.

Give up doing this by hand, you will simply not be able to get into those tough corners where the welds are.

chemically stipping a frame is piss easy, a blind 5 year old could do it.

it's the painting/lacquering thats the hard part.