Originally Posted by
xiaoman1
WOW, It looks really tiny.....I think that applying the nail polish without sanding may be all that is needed to make the knick less noticable....to apply it use a toothpick and tap the polish in the center. if after dabbing it is still there you might have to wipe clean and "barely" down the knock roughness.
If this were mine, I would use a "pinpoint "of gloss black and forget about it,after a few rides and not looking at it, you won't notice it
You may make more of a problem trying to make it perfect....been there done that.
Not OCD, Ben
Thought you might be interested in some progress photos, or at least test photos. Honestly, I’m a little shocked. I bought this 2009 Allez from a police officer who used to put it in the back of his pickup truck to take it to rides. Not a lot of care in transport. Low miles, but both chain stays were pretty scuffed up, it lives on the trainer now. Wish I had before photos, but I didn’t expect it to go this well. There WERE 3 small scratches (1/8 to 3/16” each) running perpendicular to the chainstay where I’m pointing. The appeared as white stripes. Here is what I did, thanks to the advice here:
1. First, I applied cheapo clear polish with a toothpick. This was harder than I expected. The polish was less fluid than I had hoped, and got tacky very quickly. As a result, it was a much more gooey and less elegant application than I had hoped for.
2. Watch and wonder if this is going to work. I could still see the white through the wet clear, so I was a little skeptical. Decided to leave the premises for 30 minutes.
3. surprise and wonder. When I got back, the white marks were truly gone, replaced by 3 raised (but clear) “scabs” which caught the light in different ways. Better, but how to knock it down?
4. The long road. I admit it, I’m afraid of sandpaper. Woodworking? Total confidence. On my carbon frame? Total cowardice. But I do have some clearcoat safe turtle wax swirl remover which I use on my cars extensively, which is even less abrasive than the turtle wax rubbing compound I also use.
5. my right bicep is now noticeable larger than the left after 10,000 circles over this tiny spot, but I’m more than pleased with the result. I’ ll probably do the rest of the chainstay to practice on spots of different severity before moving to my primary riding frame (when I ride my bikes, they are tools for performance, when I hang them in the house, they become rideable art). Below is the test stay. I have to get my eye about 3 or 4 inches away to find where I did the touch up. That’s good enough for me. Thanks to all of you for the great advice! Now to find an application tool more precise than the toothpick...
The three scratches are below the two small chips I haven’t hit yet.
The three scratches were right where my finger is pointing. I polished the high nail polish spots with swirl remover until the reflected light ran continuously across the spot without waves in it.