mediccody

What is a good media for masking off areas that I do not want to sand blast?

I'm stripping an old Gitane Professional Tour de France and I think that I may leave the lugs unblasted when I go to have it powder coated.

I've heard several layers of electric tape but if anyone has any other suggestions I'd appreciate it....

rmfnla

I'd rather blast the whole thing and then re-polish the lugs.

bikejack

Blast tape.

Bentworker

The powder coat shop has a high temp tape that they use, that way they can leave it on throughout the whole process. When you drop off your frame I would just be very clear that you do not want the lugs blasted or powder coated, maybe even tape it up yourself to give them an idea of what you want masked (making sure that they replace it with the blast tape), and or leave a tag of some sort on the bike to describe what you want done, just to avoid any mistakes.

It is best to have something written, verbal instructions often get screwed up, especially if the shop is busy and your frame will be sitting around for days or weeks. I had a set of car spindles slightly botched by a local shop, but it was an easy fix.

Something else...
Shop around for prices on your powder coat job, here in way Northern California I have had quotes wildly vary (like 30-40%!!!), so shop around, and ask around.
Peter

sweetnsourbkr

It's called bead blasting. You sand blast walls. Unless you have a wall named 'Gitane Professional Tour de France', you're bead blasting.

Cain

For a really soft blast media, some people use walnut shells and the like. But, there are various levels of glass beads that folks use to bead blast depending on the surface underneath the paint. I'm sure that just about any decent body shop would know what to use.

Dr.Deltron

That's NUTS!
Talk about labor intensive, not to mention removal of frame material.

The most efficient & cost effective way to prep your frame is;

A) Using a pressure blaster from Home Depot, fill the tank with #60 mesh Lapis Lustre sand. 100 pound bag is $6-$8 and will do up to two frames/forks. Now blast off the old paint and primer immediately!
Keep in mind that you will have up to 100 pounds of sand blown all over the yard!

So you could minimize the sandy mess by first using chemical stripper FIRST. SOoo...

B) Use chemical stripper and get as much paint off as possible. Rinse the frame. Let dry. Now blast just the rusty spots and the little nooks & cranies to get all the paint out of those spots. Then lightly blast the rest of the frame to give the primer a bit of grip. Primer immediately!

If you want to save chrome lugs. mask them with duct tape. At least 2 layers. The tape should overhang the edges of the lugs onto the tube. Press the tape down really well. Blast carefully around the edges.
~Leave the duct tape, primer immediately.

*UNLESS YOU ARE GOING TO POWDERCOAT*

If you are going to powdercoat:
Leave the frame raw and wearing latex gloves, remove the duct tape.
Clean tape glue off with adhesive cleaner.
Now you'll have to use heatproof tape to mask the lugs, cutting carefully along the lug edges.
The powdercoater should be able to sell/give you some tape to use for this.
Now its powdercoatable. And get the clear coat while you're at it. Extra longevity & durability.
Do the masking as soon as possible and get the frame to the powdercoaters right away.

RUST NEVER SLEEPS!

IF PAINTING;
You've blasted & primered. Now remove the duct tape mask. Clean off any glue. Sand the edges of the primer to smooth them out. Clean.
Using blue painters tape, mask and cut the lugs. Now primer that new, clean edge area.

Now you're ready to bondo all the blems, dings, rust pits etc!
Sand it all smooth. 220 for the bondo and 320 for the rest.
Clean thoroughly.
Spray a complete and thorough coat or two of primer.
If you get booboo's, let dry and sand very lightly with 800 grit

Now spray a couple of coats of color.
Followed by a couple three coats of clear.

Stash it in a warm, out-of-the-way spot for a couple weeks, then build, ride, enjoy!