illenvillain

I got a few minor paint chips on my cromoly frame and I was wondering if theres something i can use to fill them in? Thanks

idcruiserman

Nail polish.

cwathne

for my silver specialized i went to a Honda dealership and got some Civic touch up paint; its almost a 100% perfect color match. this will last alot longer than nail polish also

illenvillain

thanks for both of those replys, i really do appreciate it... and im sure my fuji will aswell after im done

Flatballer

Micheal's, or similar. They've got craft paint in just about every color ever made. Take your bike in with you if you can, and just see how close you can get.

Busta Quad

Art stores (Michaels around here) have vast arrays of small bottles of enamels.

pharding

Enamel is relatively soft. Lacquer is harder and reputedly works better. I purchased Testors spray lacquer to touch up my bike. I am going to spray the lacquer into a cup and and mix it on a piece of clear glass with a brush to get the right color. I will then apply it by hand. Below is an article that was posted on Weight Weenies that I saved. My apologies to the original unknown author.


"I concur with the last person who posted a comment about the softness of the Testors enamel paint. In that it may look fine to photograph a bike that sits indoors, it can never stand up to abrasion or weather, not to mention a good past wax. I am not satisfied if a touch-up can be detected from 6 inches away, much less 6 feet.

I first prep the chip by deciding if there is rust in the pit or not. Also if there is loose or chipped paint I will remove it with a small needle file. With a toothpick I will dab a drop of Naval Jelly just big enough to fill the chip hole. It is important not to let the Naval Jelly to run on the rest of the painted frame. I fill several chip holes at the same time and wait at least half an hour and then wipe the area(s) off with a wet rag. If you became friends with an auto body shop, you could secure a small bottle of epoxy primer and catalyst. I was fortunate enough to find a can of each at a yard sale...enough for 30 years of filling in scrapes and stone chips. I will mix the catalyst and the resin a couple of drops at a time on the lid of a paint can and again apply the primer with a clean toothpick. Wait about a half hour for it to dry.

The paint products I prefer are from the automotive paint company "Dupli-Color" Although they don't have every color under the sun, their products are LACQUER and the lacquer works better, dries faster, shapes, sands, and polishes better than anything else I have found. I always have a bit of lacquer thinner on hand when I work the touch ups. If the chips are excessively wide or very deep, you must also make the determination of using a 'spot putty', also available at auto supply houses. This stuff is thick and goes over a primer then should be primered AFTER it is sanded smooth.


I fill a small metal cup with the lacquer and slightly thin it, filling up an artists brush till its full. We are not just painting to cover the chip but filling the void. So I give a slight push to the brush and draw it out slowly watching for the 'dome' to show on the filled hole. Lacquer can dry in as little as 10 minutes so there is a chance to do several chips in a single pass. One of the methods I use to level the new paint is to have those flat wooden swizzle strips that better coffee shops have on hand. I usually make about a dozen disappear on a visit. When I get home, I will sand the ends smooth and then super glue 320, 400, and 600 grit strips to the ends. This is what takes off the rounded dome of the chip. If the paint is not 'proud' you will have to do it again. Successive sanding is followed by using the nail buffers that your wife has. If you are certain of your masculinity, you can go to a beauticians supply and pick ups a small pile. The grit of these abrasives are not specified, but will be down to about 1000 grit if you chose right. One one side there is usually a 'buffing' or polishing side without abrasive. This is the final step. Buff out any of the course grit marks and then stand back and admire the work. You then may apply a thin coat of clear if you wish. I just finished a GRANDIS that looked like it was rolled down a cliff and is now almost show-room quality. You can't tell where the chips were from 3 inches."

thomson

The auto parts stores out here have a large selection of touch-up pens. I would bring your bike in and get a flashlight to compare the colors. The best I have been able to do is to get close enough where the touch-up isn't obvious.

One of my bikes is the Bianchi Celeste and even getting Bianchi's touch-up paint only got it close, it wasn't a perfect match.

bryroth

If it is white, don't go to an auto parts store. Just so happens I was touching up my bike this week and I went to AutoZone to pick up some auto-ding paint. The first problem is that there are about a thousand types of white (arctic white, pure white, white, candy white, etc.).

Well, it turns out that all of them that I tried are basically the same shade of white, and none of them are white. They all dried darker than my frame.

In my frustration, I dremeled off the old paint and kept trying, which created a bigger spot to paint over. The worst part is that I bought this bike as an "as-is" beater bike and told myself I wasn't going to obsess, but this paint chip thing really revealed my true obsessive compulsive colors. Here I am trying to perfectly match the color for the dings on my POS bike.

Anyway, if it's white, don't go to autozone for your paint. Go to an art store, I guess. Or use nail polish, I've heard.

StanSeven

If you want a perfect match, get the PPG code. All autobody shops have the catalog and just about any plcae that does painting should have them. You can also find the code from whoever produced the frame.

Order the paint from an on-line source. You can get a four ounce or large bottle cheap. In fact it's so cheap, the postage and handling is as much.

boulderroad

I bought a bottle of touch up paint from Trek.

jfmckenna

Yup works like a charm.