Hand sanding.

[Leroy]

Just wondered how many of you guys hand sand your frames to repaint them?

I've spent the last week or so sanding down an old lowrider frame, and I have to say it's getting a bit tedious.

Does it pay off as a labour of love? Or are you better off just getting it professionally sandblasted and powdercoated?

Has anyone got any tips? Especially for the little crevices around the cantilevers.

I'm interested to see who and how many are in which camp.

 

[necessaryevil]

You're hand sanding the entire frame?, talk about tedious! I use either aircraft stripper or aerosol cans of paint stripper, nasty stuff but it does the job. Still a little hand sanding to get the tight spots, but I can get a frame down to bare metal in about an hour.

 

[JLarkin]

Sandblast it, then prime it with self etching primer followed by urethane primer. Then hand sand it.

 

[thirstee]

Once upon a time I hand sanded a frame, you're right very tedious. I have also used chemical strippers before and found it was too messy for me personally. I like to use a wire cup brush in my grinder. Then you can hand sand the tight spots with little folded up pieces of sandpaper. Some have said the wire leaves small grooves in the metal but I have not had any problems. In fact in my experience the finish ends up smoother than it does with sandpaper.

 

[icyuod2]

i purchase brass/wire wheels (the type that fit on an angle grinder, with the bristles around the circufrence, not the bottom) btw, they are not made to be used on an angle grinder.
strips a bike in no time at all, with only the paint removed (absolutely no metal loss) only problem, ya look like a porcupine when your done, so a face shield is advised (i only ever wear glasses)

 

[Rustinkerer]

I usually use my DeWalt electric 5" sander, takes a lot of movement around the tubes, but does a good job. Not as messy as other methods. -Adam

 

[dwaynev]

emory paper is narrow and long strips. even works good in the tight spots. I hate sanding, but if you want, custom you must sand. give at least 1/3 of total time to finish work, even more for something old. go for it, you'll have something no one else has.

 

[bigredddaddy]

I'm for the wire wheel/cup method, unless the bike is getting sprayed black, then it's 300 grit to smoth and scuff the paint for a new coat. I've also considered starting a fire and tossin a frame in for a few minutes, might be crazy but I am a pyro :lol:

 

[Uncle Stretch]

Somebody said kinda the same thing...use a small propane torch and just burn it all off. I havent tried it...I'm in the 4'' grinder wire cup group. Can clean one in about 30 minutes. Use the edge of an old knife to get where you cant reach.

 

[Ratfink1962]

Yeah, for the tight spots around the canti tubes and such, just use a propane torch to heat the paint, then a small wire brush will take it right off with little effort.

 

[Anonymous]

Be careful burning the paint off if its a chinese frame...there is probably lead in the paint.

Do it outside and dont breathe the smoke.

 

[CCR]

i did a couple by hand, 20" bikes take a day less than 26" bikes do :lol:

moved on to orbital palm sander, still sanding by hand in the tight spots though

then moved on to stripper, still sanding by hand in the tight spots and i go over the whole bike again with a orbital sander, just takes alot less time.

now im on to sandblasting, more fun, less time, another toy to play with !!!

 

[karfer67]

after doing pay it back i swear i will never ever do anothe poished raw steel frame again soooooo much time involved with getting in all those edges and hidding places

 

[B607]

Bead blast with a good blast cabinet and compressor. It's the fastest and the most efficient. Gary

 

[sensor]

it varies with me...
if im in a hurry ill strip it with an l head with a roloc then rough it up by hand...
if im not in a rush i actually prefer to sand them down to steel by hand......when your staring a something for about 6-8hrs youll find every little thing that needs to be fixed before you go to primer/paint :wink:
and what ratfink1962 said about heating the paint then brushing works great in the really tight spots like where kickstand mounts go(i can tell you were a bodyman after reading that....although its kinda lost knowledge now kinda like torching out hail dings :wink: )
as for powder coat....i personally cant stand the stuff but some swear by it

 

[Ratfink1962]

(i can tell you were a bodyman after reading that....although its kinda lost knowledge now kinda like torching out hail dings :wink: )

Yep, Torch and a Vixen file... good stuff

 

[Leroy]

Well I'm almost done now, and I kind of feel like it's an achievement. But I work in a hardware store so those wire brushes for drills and angle grinders aren't hard to come by. Definitely have to look into one for next time.