The Galtbacken 18

[Galtbacken]

Frame clearcoated

I'll let it cure for a few days, and then mask off the black parts, paint the goldlines and apply the satin finish clearcoat to the copper part of it.

 

[stretch]

wow man! your best work yet, and its not even done!

 

[Galtbacken]

Thanks stretch! Not even done, that means there's still a possibility to mess everything up!! :lol: No, I think it'll turn out nice and there's not a whole lot left to do on it and I'm finally starting to see the end of this build! This build and the J.B.40 are the ones I'm most pleased with so far! Glad you like it too!

 

[stretch]

i say you start production in the fall. :mrgreen:

 

[Galtbacken]

:lol:

 

[Dr. Sizzle]

This is a fantastic build post. I'm learning so much. How tall you you need to be to ride that bike?

 

[Galtbacken]

Thank you so much, glad to hear that!
I'm 6' tall and the length from the pedals to the seat are measured to fit the length of my legs. Because of the angle of the seat tube I can easily put my feet on the ground while still sitting on the saddle, even if the frame itself looks pretty tall.

 

[deorman]

All the hand crafted accessories and finish design are sweet, but it's the framework of a Galtbacken build that really makes it for me. 8)

 

[Galtbacken]

Thanks deorman! You seem to look for functionality and comfort in your bikes, so I take that as a great compliment! That's one of the things I have in mind and try to achieve when I draw the first sketch of a frame I want to build. I'm still at an early phase of learning and trying out ideas I get about angles and measurements that might be different from a "standard" bike (at the same time I read and watch what I can find about race bike geometry and other kinds of bikes also, trying to get an understanding for what's going on), but one of my goals is to learn how to make a bike fit someone and at the same time make it nice for the eyes. To me both aspects are important, but if the bike is awkward to ride, no paint or chrome in the world can make it a nice ride. Thanks again, I really appreciate it!

 

[FOUND OBJECTS]

Your first sketch shows a huge chain sprocket. What's your plan there? Are you going to make that yourself aswell? I'm kind of excited to see it :mrgreen:

 

[Galtbacken]

That's not the sprocket size, that's the crank radius.

 

[Gdcast]

I wish I could get my painting that good...
Are you using a compressor and paint gun?

 

[FOUND OBJECTS]

That's not the sprocket size, that's the crank radius.

Right... :lol:

 

[Galtbacken]

That's not the sprocket size, that's the crank radius.

Right... :lol:

Glad to clear that out! :lol:

No compressor, just rattlecans. It's all about watching carefully to get even coats. Oh, and when it comes to clearcoating the frame I try to plan in what order to spray the different parts of it. It's not a problem with the small parts but when it comes to the frame it's easy to get overspray on already sprayed areas making them look flat. So I try to systematically go about spraying the different tubes so that I spray the undersides first and also that I spray the frame from top to bottom. There are probably other, maybe better ways of doing it but that's what's seemed to work for me so far.

 

[Gdcast]

Wow! That´s impressive! I´ll try that next time...
My painting technique is getting me tired :|

 

[Galtbacken]

Thanks buddy! Give it a try and I'm sure you'll get good results! It's all about watching how the paint behaves...
I must say though, that your spraygun is the coolest I've seen! 8)

 

[Gdcast]

Well I´m not quite sure it´s the coolest, but is the rattiest
The fact is I end up pretty tired by painting that way, a lot of grease knuckle is needed to do it. The result is quite good, but yours is better! :wink:

 

[Dan Jose]

You make some great bikes my brother, and you just gave me some pointers on how to paint things better. 8) Always been a fan.

 

[Galtbacken]

Thank you so much guys!

Gdcast: I think the paint on your bikes look great! I dread the painting part of the build a little (but at the same time it feels very rewarding when I see the difference a little paint can make), but you'll also have to make a physical effort to get the paint on, so I understand if you think it's tiresome.

bighit: It's understandable that your focus is in the build off, you've got an awesome build going and I'm really looking forward to seeing it done!

Dan Jose: Glad if you found that helpful! I'm eager to see your bike finished, your last one came out looking so classy!

I'm done painting!!!

Ready to spray on the satin finish clearcoat:

It's difficult to capture the effect of the satin finish against the glossy black in a photo, but I think this gives an ok idea of what it looks like:

Straps and handles left to make, then it's ready for assembly!

 

[gilpet71]

I don't know what I like most... the bike or watching how it comes to life
This is such an interesting thread to follow, and I can't wait to see the end-result

About the paint... I tried to put the paint on my latest bike http://www.ratrodbikes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=27651 almost as u describe it, the clearcoat is indeed the trickiest part. I do have some spots that look a bit flat, fortunately not to obvious.

I wonder have you ever heard of or used 2K clearcoat? Because, apparently know they do exist in rattlecans... This should give a much stronger end-result and it can be polished, just like a car's paint... I've found a dutch webshop that sells them: http://www.nonpaints.com/contents/nl/d196.html. I think I'm gonna give it a try the next time I have a bike to paint :wink:

Grtz,
Peter