BO15 Dumpster Diamond (Formerly "First Ever Build Off with a Postwar Hawthorne")

[Bike from the Dead]

Hey, what grit sand paper should I use to smooth out the rough spots on my clear coat?

 

[sandman]

800 x 1200 x 1500

 

[Bike from the Dead]

800 x 1200 x 1500

Thanks!

 

[Psychographic]

Hey, what grit sand paper should I use to smooth out the rough spots on my clear coat?

What clear did you use, how many coats did you apply? Are the rough spots just a few specks of dust that fell into the paint?

 

[Bike from the Dead]

What clear did you use, how many coats did you apply? Are the rough spots just a few specks of dust that fell into the paint?

I used some spray-can Rustoleum satin clear, and on the chain guard at least, 4 light coats applied about 4-5 minutes apart, per the can's instructions. There are a few specks of dust, which given the circumstances I have to work with, isn't much of a surprise to me, but there are just a few small spots where there's a slight graininess to the surface.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Second guard.

 

[Psychographic]

The grainy appearance is usually a dry spray where it didn't have a chance to flow out. For a clear you should really only apply the first coat lightly. This gives the paint a little tack, and gives the second full coat something to stick too. Four light coats could equal just one good wet coat, not much material to sand out without going through. Also, the paint will usually be thinner on edges and ridges, making it even easier to sand through.

If the rough areas are not to rough, wet sand it with 2000 and avoid any ridges. Then give it a medium to wet coat. You also have to worry about re-coat times. Some paints will have to be re-coated within a certain time, or wait until it cures a bit before respraying. Generally you sand a clear if you are planning to buff it and get a gloss finish, this s why I would re-spray it.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

The grainy appearance is usually a dry spray where it didn't have a chance to flow out. For a clear you should really only apply the first coat lightly. This gives the paint a little tack, and gives the second full coat something to stick too. Four light coats could equal just one good wet coat, not much material to sand out without going through. Also, the paint will usually be thinner on edges and ridges, making it even easier to sand through.

If the rough areas are not to rough, wet sand it with 2000 and avoid any ridges. Then give it a medium to wet coat. You also have to worry about re-coat times. Some paints will have to be re-coated within a certain time, or wait until it cures a bit before respraying. Generally you sand a clear if you are planning to buff it and get a gloss finish, this s why I would re-spray it.

Thanks for the advice. When I was applying light coats, I was just doing what the can said to do. I've still got a few more questions though, as I'm not used to clear coating anything.

1. How do you wet sand, exactly, especially on a rather thin coat?
2. How would you recommend avoiding dry spray?
3. When you say "ridges," are you talking about the embossed edges, or like sharp cornered creases?
4. By "medium to wet coat," do you mean to let it get almost drippy, or what?
5. Not so much a question as a statement, but I'm not going for a gloss finish, just satin, so what would you recommend as far as finish work?
6. Would it just be easier if I sandblasted everything and started over?

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Okay, due to my accidental wrist injury still needing time to properly heal, and with only roughly 10 days left to finish up, and a pet/house-sitting job I'm taking on during the last 5 days of the Build Off, I've had to cut back on the paint and design work again.

I won't be using any primer and black paint except on the tank, if I can make one in time. The whole bike's just going to be wire-brushed and covered with a satin clear. Heck, if I'm really pressed for time, I'll just leave it completely bare metal, and just spray rust inhibitor or something on it. The details on the chain guard, number plates, and tank will just be printed vinyl decals. While this isn't my greatest vision, I think it'll do for now. Not "top 10" material in my books, at least, not when compared to all the awesome bikes everyone else has built in the same amount of time, but definitely "good enough." I just want to get this bike as "done" as I can right now.

Let me know what you guys think.

 

[Psychographic]

Thanks for the advice. When I was applying light coats, I was just doing what the can said to do. I've still got a few more questions though, as I'm not used to clear coating anything.

1. How do you wet sand, exactly, especially on a rather thin coat?
2. How would you recommend avoiding dry spray?
3. When you say "ridges," are you talking about the embossed edges, or like sharp cornered creases?
4. By "medium to wet coat," do you mean to let it get almost drippy, or what?
5. Not so much a question as a statement, but I'm not going for a gloss finish, just satin, so what would you recommend as far as finish work?
6. Would it just be easier if I sandblasted everything and started over?

1. Wet sanding is pretty simple, use sandpaper designed to be use with water. If it's a flat surface such as your chainguard, wrap the paper around a flat block of some sort. As your chainguard has a raised panel only sand the flat surfaces to start. For something this size, I would cut a 3" piece of a paint stir stick, cut the sandpaper to a 3" length ( not square as you want to wrap it around the stick. Get a bucket or container of water to did the paper in fill it with water, you could add a few drops of dish soap for lubrication. Start lightly sanding, remember to keep it flat and sand close the edges of the raised panel, but not over them.


For sanding a tube such as your frame, I put the paper in the palm of my hand to sand. Unless it's a tight area, avoid using your fingers to hold the paper.

Always make sure you paint the entire surface. If you only paint part of the surface the edges of your spray pattern will not have enough paint to flow out. Paint is atomized into tiny little droplets when you spray. These droplets need to flow out into one another to cover the entire surface in order to be dry smooth.

I can't explain it, but you will feel the difference when the paint surface is smooth. Occasionally dunk the paper in the water to refresh the water and clean out the paint from the paper. Also frequently wipe the area your sanding dry to see if how you are doing. When you have accomplished this, you sna use the paper without the block to very, lightly sand the edges of your raised panel, BE CAREFUL!!!!

When sanding clear, you will see the paper and water get a white residue, if you were sanding red paint, you would see a red residue. So if you painted clear over red, you never want to see red on your paper or in the water, this means you sanded all the way though your clear.

2. To avoid dry spray, either thin the paint a bit more, or slow your passes with the gun/can, or spray a little closer. I would practice on another object to get the feel of what you are using, both the tool used (spray can , airbrush or spraygun) and the paint you are using, This is something that is learned by practice.

3. Yes

4.Another learn by practice, not by reading process. Again use a practice piece. When spraying you a wet coat, you want good coverage where the area you spray looks shiny and smooth, it doesn't have to be close to running or drippy. Seeing as you are using a satin finish, it should go on shiny and flatten as it dries.

5. I'm not sure what you mean by finish work. Could you explain this a little better?

6. I don't see a need to strip and start over.

I hope this helped, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'm no expert, but I think I'm fairly good at this.

 

[sandman]

2. To avoid dry spray

Another did-bit- Let your cans of spray paint sit in a bucket of warm water before you start .

 

[Bike from the Dead]

1. Wet sanding is pretty simple, use sandpaper designed to be use with water. If it's a flat surface such as your chainguard, wrap the paper around a flat block of some sort. As your chainguard has a raised panel only sand the flat surfaces to start. For something this size, I would cut a 3" piece of a paint stir stick, cut the sandpaper to a 3" length ( not square as you want to wrap it around the stick. Get a bucket or container of water to did the paper in fill it with water, you could add a few drops of dish soap for lubrication. Start lightly sanding, remember to keep it flat and sand close the edges of the raised panel, but not over them.


For sanding a tube such as your frame, I put the paper in the palm of my hand to sand. Unless it's a tight area, avoid using your fingers to hold the paper.

Always make sure you paint the entire surface. If you only paint part of the surface the edges of your spray pattern will not have enough paint to flow out. Paint is atomized into tiny little droplets when you spray. These droplets need to flow out into one another to cover the entire surface in order to be dry smooth.

I can't explain it, but you will feel the difference when the paint surface is smooth. Occasionally dunk the paper in the water to refresh the water and clean out the paint from the paper. Also frequently wipe the area your sanding dry to see if how you are doing. When you have accomplished this, you sna use the paper without the block to very, lightly sand the edges of your raised panel, BE CAREFUL!!!!

When sanding clear, you will see the paper and water get a white residue, if you were sanding red paint, you would see a red residue. So if you painted clear over red, you never want to see red on your paper or in the water, this means you sanded all the way though your clear.

2. To avoid dry spray, either thin the paint a bit more, or slow your passes with the gun/can, or spray a little closer. I would practice on another object to get the feel of what you are using, both the tool used (spray can , airbrush or spraygun) and the paint you are using, This is something that is learned by practice.

3. Yes

4.Another learn by practice, not by reading process. Again use a practice piece. When spraying you a wet coat, you want good coverage where the area you spray looks shiny and smooth, it doesn't have to be close to running or drippy. Seeing as you are using a satin finish, it should go on shiny and flatten as it dries.

5. I'm not sure what you mean by finish work. Could you explain this a little better?

6. I don't see a need to strip and start over.

I hope this helped, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'm no expert, but I think I'm fairly good at this.

Another did-bit- Let your cans of spray paint sit in a bucket of warm water before you start .

Ok, first off, thanks for the help! I really appreciate it! To try and simplify things, I'll just respond to each answer in numerical order.

1. That's a lot of really helpful and useful information on wet-sanding, but my main take-away from this is that I don't have enough skill and time to get this technique down for this project. It would really just be easier for me to sandblast everything and start over. I'll definitely take your advice and practice this later, but right now, all this seems too overwhelming for a beginner like me.

2. How do you thin spray-can paint?

3&4. Ok, thanks.

5. What I mean is that since I'm aiming for a satin finish and not a gloss finish, how should I go about the process of cleaning and shining up my bike? My brother has a '49 Chevy 5-window truck with a satin black paint job, and from what I understand, he can't wax or buff the paint as it would ruin the finish and make it look glossy.

6. That may be, but given my severe lack of painting/sanding experience and even more severe lack of time to finish this bike, I think it'd just be easier to just start over.

Also, on the bucket of warm water, I'd do that, but the building I'm doing all my painting in (which is still undergoing construction) has no warm water yet.

 

[kingfish254]

Do what you can do. I'm sure it is still gonna be a good looking build.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Do what you can do. I'm sure it is still gonna be a good looking build.

Thanks Kingfish. I'm going to do what I can to make this bike look good and ride good, I just wish I was able to do more with the time I had available.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Sorry for the radio silence. I've managed to get all my bike parts cleared this week, and I started to reassemble everything last night. I was going to shoot pics of all my parts before I put everything together, but unfortunately, my Nikon doesn't want to work all of a sudden, and I can't pull photos off my phone unless I make the long drive home to use my desktop computer. (I'm house/pet-sitting for the next week, so I just have my laptop right now.) I also haven't taken a ton of photos lately just due to how little time I have left to make this bike rideable. I'm going to see if I can get my camera working again, and then get back to work on my bike.

I had put some parts in vinegar and water to remove some rust, and while it worked, the bearings now sound "crunchy." I should mention that they had been sitting in the solution for over a week, as this was when I injured my wrist, and I couldn't justify going back to the shop to check on everything. I can't really disassemble the pedals, as they have this clamp-style construction, so I don't know how to get to regrease the bearings.

On a scale of 1 to 10, just how bad did I mess up?

 

[Bike from the Dead]

GOOD NEWS! Figured out what was wrong with my camera, and now I'm back in business! Also got a break from my house/pet-sitting job to learn how to grease and reassemble the bearings for the headset. There's still a bit left to do, but Dumpster Diamond is starting to look like a bike again.

While the clear coat looks good for the most part, it did get runny in a few spots, mainly where the top tube meets the seat tube. If I have time after putting the bike back together, I might sand those spots, but right now my objective is to just get this bike reassembled and riding again. Besides, I'm not keeping it like this forever.

I've been letting my bearings and coaster brake parts soak in Simple Green for a few days now. Looking back, probably should've used Brake Kleen. Oh well, next time.

My progress as of 6pm today.

I'm going to try to get at least the bottom bracket assembly... assembled... before I call it a night tonight. Just got to take care of a few things with the pets I'm looking after, then it's back on the bike!

 

[kingfish254]

The clear bare metal and brazing looks killer on this build.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

The clear bare metal and brazing looks killer on this build.

Thanks! The satin clear really helps it look like bare metal, even though it's got an added layer of protection.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Made a little more progress tonight. I got the bottom bracket assembly, the seat, and the kickstand all reassembled. Not much left to get this bike rolling again!

By the way, if you guys could help me figure out how to grease/service/salvage my pedals, which now sound crunchy after soaking in vinegar for well over a week, I'd greatly appreciate it. FYI, I don't have access to a torch, bandsaw, or anything fancier than a belt sander, an anvil, a vice, or regular hand tools.

 

[Shrunken_Head_Pedaler]

Made a little more progress tonight. I got the bottom bracket assembly, the seat, and the kickstand all reassembled. Not much left to get this bike rolling again!

View attachment 135978

By the way, if you guys could help me figure out how to grease/service/salvage my pedals, which now sound crunchy after soaking in vinegar for well over a week, I'd greatly appreciate it. FYI, I don't have access to a torch, bandsaw, or anything fancier than a belt sander, an anvil, a vice, or regular hand tools.

I’m rooting for ya! Pedals may be toast. Let em crunch!! Or soak in some motor oil or spray WD-40. Good luck!