Bicycle Mechanics - De-polishing titanium

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roadfix
05-25-08, 11:27 AM
Can that be done? I have an old brightly polished titanium frame which I'd like to turn into a a duller brushed finish.
I've taken a raw satin finish ti frame before and gone over it with a powered wired brush to give it a nice brushed finish. I wonder if it'll work the same with a polished frame...

BCRider
05-25-08, 03:24 PM
If a brushed finish is what you want then your power brushing will work the same as with the satin to brushed finish. If you had wanted the satin grey that would be harder since you would more likely need to get it media or very lightly sand blasted to produce that matt grey look.
sch
05-25-08, 06:29 PM
Before you go wild with powered wire try a 3M nylon abrasive pad instead on an unobtrusive
part of the frame for effect. It doesn't take much abrasion to scuff the polish. You just need
to work out whether you can achieve the nondirectional effect by hand or need to power it.
Bike tubing is pretty thin and powered approach runs the risk of excessive metal removal
especially with a wire wheel. Wire is likely to be coarser than desired also. 3M pads are
available in 4x6" sizes in various 'grits'. You need a very fine grit.

Joshua A.C. New
05-27-08, 02:11 AM
Yeah, Scotchbrite. Available with the cleaning stuff at the supermarket.