Folding Bikes - New-to-me Raliegh Twenty: Some Questions

Took delivery today on a 1973 coffee brown Raleigh Twenty frame and fork, seatpost (sans saddle clamp), and stem. I'm gathering parts, but I'm probably going to powder-coat it first. I have some questions about that and would appreciate any advice.

1. I've got a Brooks B17 in "British Racing Green" to put on it. I'm not very good at color-matching or design. What color would you choose for the frame given this choice of saddle?* Links to examples would be much appreciated.

2. What would you use to grind extraneous metal off the frame? I'm thinking of the chainguard hanger, and then, there's quite a bit of weld material here and there that doesn't seem to be serving any purpose. And I'm not talking the welds joining the tubes, I'm talking about weld material splattered here and there on the tubes.

Anyway, thanks for any advice.




*Might be the tail wagging the dog, but the tail is stuck the color it is.

Took delivery today on a 1973 coffee brown Raleigh Twenty frame and fork, seatpost (sans saddle clamp), and stem. I'm gathering parts, but I'm probably going to powder-coat it first. I have some questions about that and would appreciate any advice.

1. I've got a Brooks B17 in "British Racing Green" to put on it. I'm not very good at color-matching or design. What color would you choose for the frame given this choice of saddle?* Links to examples would be much appreciated.

2. What would you use to grind extraneous metal off the frame? I'm thinking of the chainguard hanger, and then, there's quite a bit of weld material here and there that doesn't seem to be serving any purpose. And I'm not talking the welds joining the tubes, I'm talking about weld material splattered here and there on the tubes.

Anyway, thanks for any advice.




*Might be the tail wagging the dog, but the tail is stuck the color it is.

For "grinding" either a die grinder or a dremel tool works well. I have no clue on the color matching...I leave that up to my bride.

Aaron :)

Light tan goes with green. I would go to your powder coat person and ask them what type of grinder to use.
http://www.qualitypowdercoating.com/dallas/capabilities/standard-color-chart/

to remove the brazed on pieces , a hacksaw and a nice sharp file works nicely,
dont forget to get the file card with your first file, it's a wire brush to remove the chips from the file to un clog the teeth,, [ and a handle to cover the sharp tang..]

, and a file is like a saw only cuts one way , it, the file, only cuts on the push stroke ..

brown or black almost match with anything although green ain't bad

don't have a brown R20 i have a blue, common green, and white and heres a brown b67 on a white

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4136/4781297895_4bb2e6ed56_b.jpg

a black saddle on a green Raleigh Twenty

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4137/4748274542_108ca074b9_b.jpg

faded brown b17 on a blue Twenty

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1342/4733244395_b504f40e67_b.jpg

wahoonc is right a dremel will work great and I prefer this for a small task as you described a die grinder and really steady hands will also work but be really careful with an air or electric powered die grinder they can do "damage" if you slip and believe me it will happen unless your really skilled at it ...think of die grinder as a dremel on steroids 100 times over !

some skilled craftsman would just actually use just plain old metal hand files they like the feel of metal being removed by a simple stroke like some artisan carpenter prefering a hand chisel than an electric planer or router

I didn't think of a decent mill file. I am so used to reaching for the power tools for destruction work.:thumb::lol: But a good quality file is relatively inexpensive and hard to do too much damage with.

Aaron:)

You could turn it into a serviceable mini-velo by welding the tubes together - but why would you want to?

Its a folder!

And I recommend a B-66 for it.

I'm not talking the welds joining the tubes, I'm talking about weld material splattered here and there on the tubes.

Believe it or not, I have a Welsh friend in his 60's that worked at Raleigh in England during those R20 days. His job was to braze the frames together....
I blame him for those splatters. :rolleyes::innocent:

Believe it or not, I have a Welsh friend in his 60's that worked at Raleigh in England during those R20 days. His job was to braze the frames together....
I blame him for those splatters. :rolleyes::innocent:

Some of the welds look like they were done by a hungover Welshman... :lol:

Figure that when I get to sandblasting the frame on my P20 will also clean up those ugly welds when I am doing other small jobs... rather than spend days grinding off the excess will work at smoothing things out with some filet brazing work.

Will make it a point to not do that with a hangover.

You would not believe the life this guy has lived, very hard and very dangerous.

Bruce Willis, Arnie, Sly and all their movies....nancy boys!

So I wouldn't dare berate him. :twitchy:

If and when you talk to a powdercoating shop, ask them what colors they do on a regular basis. If you find one in that group of colors that
works for you, it could save you both time and money. A special color or one not used to often, will require a special setup which you will pay
for. Plus, you may hav to have the ppowdercoating scheduled around their normal production.