Good From Afar

[BartRidesEternal]

Matti, what about "Flat Fenders"? (for example the "contec flat fender")
You can get a piece of steel/aluminium and then drill the holes with that wooden block underneath. Then bend it, use struts to hold it into place.

I like your build pictures! Keep it up!

 

[OddJob]

Ingenious vise / clamp method on holding the guard! Couple more notches up on the hole size and I think you have got it. The best thing about these build-offs, like you have said in other threads, is the knowledge and ingenious ideas shared and gleaned. Will I drill holes in my fleece / resin guard that won't dry? No. Will I remember it for future builds? Absolutely!

 

[MattiThundrrr]

I'm glad that I am part of the community.

I belong!

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Life moves pretty fast. If you stop and fool around securing things, you're gonna miss it.
Seriously, it was super easy this time. Finished off the large holes, and put smaller ones in between. Hopefully this will break up the pattern a bit, make my "wavy lines" less obvious.

I'm pleased with how things have turned out. I still need to clean up and straighten the cut on the bottom, but right now, it's being sandwiched to try to straighten it out a bit.

HAHAHAHA I had clamps the whole time! Ingenious indeed

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Geniuses of the patina, I'm calling for help! I've got a vision for the finish, but not sure how to get there. I want to remove the paint, it's junk, but I don't want to remove it all. I would like it to be natural looking, like a faded pair of jeans. And then some type of coating, spray clear, or something to make it look wet. I'm thinking mechanical paint removal, I have a drill, random orbit sander and an angle grinder. Or wet sand with wd40 or acid of some kind? Recommendations? Tips?

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Where did everyone go?

 

[OddJob]

Geniuses of the patina, I'm calling for help! I've got a vision for the finish, but not sure how to get there. I want to remove the paint, it's junk, but I don't want to remove it all. I would like it to be natural looking, like a faded pair of jeans. And then some type of coating, spray clear, or something to make it look wet. I'm thinking mechanical paint removal, I have a drill, random orbit sander and an angle grinder. Or wet sand with wd40 or acid of some kind? Recommendations? Tips?

Okay, so I'm assuming the bike frame still looks like it did in the first photos? Which is actually a pretty consistent, even, and glossy finish on the bike as is. These are just my thoughts, take me or leave em.

If you want it to look like a 'faded pair of jeans', you could wet sand ( just scuff, really) the gloss finish so it will take paint. Then, what I have done to 'make new look old' with this technique, is to use a couple of rattle can sprays to give a faded or aged, or in OJ terms 'ratina' look. Here are a couple examples:

Brand new Grain Belt ad sign

I didn't even scuff this at all, but just applied 3 different Rustoleum spray colors in very light "from 3 feet away outside" applications.

50 years of wear and fade applied in 5 mins. This applied in just 2 - 3 very light coats from far away, so it just mists on the parts you want it to. When I wanted to make the 'EER' section near the arrow point look more rusty, I got a little closer and used a vertical motion with the can, instead of horizontal. When you want a slightly heavier application, you move in closer and get what is called a 'near mist'.

I used Strawflower (very light yellow / tan), Cinnamon ( minimal, surreal rust effect), and a light mist of the Multi-colored Texture ( lighter of the two browns) to create this.

The other method you could try, which I used on my Shelby Flyer Woody build, would be to light wet sand to get through the gloss and 'reduce' the vibrancy of the color. Here is how it looked after step 1:

The cantilevered tube closest to the camera has been sanded, the one farther away is original color / patina.
I used 3M 400 grit paper on this, with a 'light hand' , long strokes with little pressure.

And a shot of the frame after I was done:

I went one step further, because I was really into creating 'surreal rust' in my first few bike builds, and used my rattle can rattle-tina method again to get here:

I would caution against using any grinding / sanding / brushing powered tools. You will not be able to control the impact on the paint as well, and that process will certainly leave scratches that won't look 'natural'. And as always, follow my basic rule, "Always quit before you think you are done."

 

[Captain Awesome]

Another good way to add texture and depth in your forced patina is to use coarse salt when you're bombing on those guide coats that OJ outlined above. Good example of it's use in this vid



Light stuff, sand back. Not a delicate process, just tedious

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Thanks OddJob, yours was one of the voices I was hoping for. It's strange, I've never cared about the finish on a bike before, but for this one, I have a specific vision of how I want it to look. I don't know if it's even possible, but I can see it in my mind.
I see it taken even farther than the scuff you suggested, I want bare metal for the most part. I've masked off the MOOSE stickers in an attempt to retain them if possible, but other than that, only want to keep paint in areas where it wouldn't wear off after riding it for a thousand years. The "faded like a pair of jeans" thing was the best way to describe the gradient between paint and steel. I don't want the paint to chip out or have rough edges.
Another thing I need to keep in mind is that this is a Matti bike named Good From Afar. Maybe lower the expectations for myself. I've been searching bare frame threads, but people don't seem to want to share their secrets. I appreciate your willingness to help!

 

[OddJob]

For 'bare frame' ideas, I used Zip Strip on my Desert Sky klunker build. Took off the old original orange down to the bare frame and beautiful brazed welds. Did I almost leave it that way and just 'clear' it? Oh yeah. But the desert sky blue was calling my name.

This is a far more laborious and dangerous way to go. Very toxic, where a mask and heavy rubber gloves, takes some more tools and time. And I did it over a plastic tarp outside that I rolled up and put in the garbage the night before the garbage got picked up so it didn't ferment.

Started with this:

Put on one primer coat, and then two coats of my blue to get here:

Here's the bike today, a few modifications later, but the blue paint is holding up well, even after 5 years:

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Yeah, the flakey removal by using chemicals is not what I'm going for. I think I figured out what I really want, which is not in the cards: trying to get this look through paint removal

Minus the brass of course. What I really want is apparently a good bike

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Or more realistically, like this, but way more metal, less paint

I am aware that the above is paint-ina, but that is definitely beyond my ability. I want "awesome", but with "easy" output. Maybe there's a reason I never mess with finishing a bike

 

[Captain Awesome]

Or more realistically, like this, but way more metal, less paintView attachment 159885
I am aware that the above is paint-ina, but that is definitely beyond my ability. I want "awesome", but with "easy" output. Maybe there's a reason I never mess with finishing a bike

I think you'll find this interesting on many levels

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Yeah, at about 12minutes, when he starts sanding and removing paint, that's the beginning of what I want to do. I don't want any rust though. Just to remove like 90% of the paint, and then clear coat.

 

[kingfish254]

Nice progress on the holey moley guard.
Looking forward to the fauxtina next.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Lotsa thinking behind the scenes right now. All my bit sizes are imperial fractions, so I'm trying to figure out spacing and scaling, but the math is a head scratcher, so it'll probably end with a guess.

Top line represents what's on the guard.
The bottom line is pushing it. I scared the fender won't survive that much removal, considering I'm doing two parallel rows

 

[kingfish254]

Figger it out Egghead Junior!

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Sorry, lots of life going on here. Got all kinds of new tools that may help with the build, but the acquisition process is a lot. My parents are moving out of their lifetime home, the one they needed to build to accommodate the arrival of little Matti. My dad is not able to use his tools anymore, so my brothers and I are going through the piles to help my mom clear it out. Some treasures in there, he'd been a mechanic since the seventies, first at the GM dealership, then at the municipal bus garage. I'm not in a creating zone right now, but the pot is bubbling on the back burner.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Me n ThundrrrDad working on a Silverside, somewhere back in the eighties

 

[MattiThundrrr]

This is bike related, I swear.

Maybe I can turn this into a fork and handlebars. Gotta clean it up first