Originally Posted by
darb85
I have an Idea for a Neat bike, I want to sand blast a copper brazed frame and just clear coat it. It looks so cool, but I dont want to do it to a bike that it would just be wrong to do it to.
So what brazed frame would be easy to find, and somewhat ok to do this too?
Hey There,
My guess is that you will be disappointed with the look and the durability of the finish of clear over a blasted frame. Once covered with the clear it all becomes a dank gray. If you polish the frame big time (very hard to do once you've blasted it) it will be a light gray once cleared............ not the shiny finish one might expect or hope for.
There are of course two ways to clear a frame and one is more durable than the other but neither or great. The best way to go is to powder coat the frame. It will seal the frame best and be the most durable. The issue with cleared powder over raw steel is that if you get any chips or scratches they allow moisture to get in and it will make small spider web like patterns under the clear. It's not that bad but it's also not great.
If you paint the frame with clear it will usually look like crap in short order. Clear coat is porous and in time moisture will makes it way through and will, in time, make the bike look very dark gray and splotchy.
I think if I were you I'd want to be sure that you like the look of clear over steel first since it's not really what most people expect. Get a piece of tube, blast it and clear it and see what you think. Unfortunately it doesn't usually show off the lug work very well and ends up just looking like bad gray paint.
I hope that helps,
Dave