Ne'er-do-well *Deluxe*

[Couch tater]

This is the fun part of any build. Watching it all come together.

Yep. My build is structurally all decided, now it's all about final appearance. I have a paint experiment in the works that is showing potential. Probably will get some pictures up late tonight.

 

[kingfish254]

Yep. My build is structurally all decided, now it's all about final appearance. I have a paint experiment in the works that is showing potential. Probably will get some pictures up late tonight.

 

[Couch tater]

I finally was able to get back with it, my job and the weather have been joy mutilators. My painting experiment is going well. Initially the plan was to hose it down with primer and give it a smearing with crushed Kingsford briquettes and that plan crashed and burned spectacularly. A quick consultation with the Google said that when actual real artists do such things, they use powdered graphite, so a king sized bottle of it was procured post haste. I didn't like the original primer I used, too red, so I re-hosed it with a brown primer. The graphite smearing probably has a proper technique that I didn't even attempt to study up on, I just got busy with it. Powdered graphite also easily washes off and gets all over everything it touches so I sealed it up with matte clear to keep it corralled. I suppose after doing another forty or so bikes this way I could get much better results than this but sometimes you just have to run what you brung.

 

[OddJob]

If you get any better at that 'graphite smearing', you might have to quit your day job! I really dig that !

Whenever someone posts a completely 'new to me' technique on here, it gets my juices flowing.

RaT oN~!

 

[Couch tater]

If you get any better at that 'graphite smearing', you might have to quit your day job! I really dig that !

Whenever someone posts a completely 'new to me' technique on here, it gets my juices flowing.

RaT oN~!

I used a 1" throw away paint brush that I'd lightly load with the powder and swipe it onto the primer. Then using my fingers and/or a slightly damp paper towel, smear and wipe it around. It is messy so doing it over gravel or the lawn is recommended (or in my case, take it to work and wash the floor down afterwards). It washed off of my hands easy enough with plain soap and water.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Graphite powder is also an industrial lubricant. And it gets into absolutely EVERYTHING!! Super PITA to clean up, so be careful where it spills!

 

[Couch tater]

Graphite powder is also an industrial lubricant. And it gets into absolutely EVERYTHING!! Super PITA to clean up, so be careful where it spills!

I have a couple more small parts left to give a smear job and then the remainder of the jar is going into a heavy ziplock bag and stored on a low shelf. The thought of this escaping into the wilds of my garage is frightening.

 

[Couch tater]

Badges!?! Badges!?! We don't need no stinking badges..... Or maybe we do. Bicycle Heaven has some rare, NOS, bicycle headbadges at a pretty good price, but are they really? I say no. You see, back in the olden days when gas welding was still a thing, I distinctly recall manufacturer and supplier tags just like this on oxy-acetyline torch carts. I am 98% certain that is what this "head badge" originated as. And that makes it perfect for this build.

Tonight I finished painting and smearing the remainder of the parts. I decided to leave the headlight bucket chrome, just as any proper machine of the 1940's should have.

Assembly can begin this weekend after a few days of curing time.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

This is one hot potato, Couch Tater! Love that badge, forget about Bicycle Heaven!

 

[Couch tater]

This is one hot potato, Couch Tater! Love that badge, forget about Bicycle Heaven!
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I fully support Bicycle Heaven and hope to get to their museum some day. I've gotten quite a few parts from them at what I've considered to be fair prices. Selling these badges as head badges is an honest mistake that would be easy to make, they do look the part. I bought mine from them after all.

 

[Pondo]

I'm loving this build Couch tater! Lots of effort and creativity. I really liked it bare metal but the patina technique you used for the paint came out sweet! I think it does resemble the paint on that hot rod pickup. And that seat! Overall nice bike and cool build. Looking forward to assembly.

 

[Couch tater]

I'm loving this build Couch tater! Lots of effort and creativity. I really liked it bare metal but the patina technique you used for the paint came out sweet! I think it does resemble the paint on that hot rod pickup. And that seat! Overall nice bike and cool build. Looking forward to assembly.

Thanks! It has been fun and simultaneously aggravating exploring new techniques on this build.

I am working on getting it from the IKEA furniture stage to completed bike. I've run into a snag that I'm working out with the rear fender. The Monark frame the fenders came from has forward facing dropouts and the Huffman frame dropouts face rearward. This causes the axle line to shift up and back. I mocked it up with fake fender rivets and while it was tight, everything fit (barely). I made the change to blackwall tires after I blew it apart to paint.The blackwalls have a tall, square shoulder profile and hit the fake rivet bolts when I mount it all up. I am presently going back to the round profile, lower shouldered whitewalls and changing the fender rivets out for brass acorn nuts with button head screws. The 3/8" button head screws I have are too long. Therefore, I am procuring #10 washers to place between the brace and the fender to shim the 3/8" out. Should be fun. It is a tight fit anyway and requires the tire to be deflated to install and re-inflated after it is in place.

 

[Pondo]

Sounds like plenty of challenges. I can see how the tight tire fitment might be fun if you get a flat on a long ride. But it has been worthwhile, the results speak for themselves. She's a real looker!

 

[kingfish254]

. Powdered graphite also easily washes off and gets all over everything it touches so I sealed it up with matte clear to keep it corralled. I suppose after doing another forty or so bikes this way I could get much better results than this but sometimes you just have to run what you brung.

I like how the graphite smearing turned out. I can only imagine how messy it was working with the same stuff as you spray into locks. That stuff gets everywhere.

I bet you were humming Chim Chim Cheree the whole time

 

[Couch tater]

I like how the graphite smearing turned out. I can only imagine how messy it was working with the same stuff as you spray into locks. That stuff gets everywhere.


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I bet you were humming Chim Chim Cheree the whole time

Definitely plan out where you are going to apply graphite to age paint and mind the wind direction. I bought a large jar for cheap at the local art supply so there will be plenty for post build off experimenting. I want to try some on different colors to see how it looks. I applied it after the paint was dry to touch but still curing and it stuck real well.

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

Thanks! It has been fun and simultaneously aggravating exploring new techniques on this build.

I am working on getting it from the IKEA furniture stage to completed bike. I've run into a snag that I'm working out with the rear fender. The Monark frame the fenders came from has forward facing dropouts and the Huffman frame dropouts face rearward. This causes the axle line to shift up and back. I mocked it up with fake fender rivets and while it was tight, everything fit (barely). I made the change to blackwall tires after I blew it apart to paint.The blackwalls have a tall, square shoulder profile and hit the fake rivet bolts when I mount it all up. I am presently going back to the round profile, lower shouldered whitewalls and changing the fender rivets out for brass acorn nuts with button head screws. The 3/8" button head screws I have are too long. Therefore, I am procuring #10 washers to place between the brace and the fender to shim the 3/8" out. Should be fun. It is a tight fit anyway and requires the tire to be deflated to install and re-inflated after it is in place.

I hear ya on clearance, the rear tire on the Lowco Liner will have to be inflated in place too….….that’s ’kustom’ baby!

 

[Couch tater]

Front end is assembled. This mish-mash of parts is a tight squeeze everywhere but I have hammers and Channelocks so all is good. I still need to make a wider axle for the tribars but that ain't nothing but a thang.

 

[JA331]

Nice Work, looks wicked.

 

[Couch tater]

Nice Work, looks wicked.

Thanks! Wicked is the end goal. Here is a photo of what they will see coming when it busts out of the reformatory.

 

[Pondo]

Thanks! Wicked is the end goal. Here is a photo of what they will see coming when it busts out of the reformatory.



View attachment 205220

That pin-striping is way cool!