Rolling "The Mother of all Tube Dents"
 

Rolled "The Mother of all Dents" out of the downtube on my Big Trash Austro-Daimler yesterday.
Big, flat and ugly; it was bad enough where the previous owner put the bike, less wheels, out for pickup.
Interestingly, with a BIG dent in the downtube and a pretty impressive handlebar dent on the other side of the top tube, the frame still measures true.

I always wanted an Inter-10, and hid the frame thinking I would get a couple Bicycle Research blocks some day. Got them and had time to play with the big dent yesterday. Looks good.

Going to work out the top tube dent in the coming week. Big dent's ready for some filler.
Anybody have hints to share?

Oh interesting and timely thread.
I have a Schwinn Prelude with a slight top tube dent I was considering trying this method on.
Did you rotate the frame around the blocks in the vise?
As for filler, I remembered car assembly lines used solder and flowed it into seams between welded panels and then made smooth with large soldering irons and files.
I once asked about this method to fill gouges to a ball burnished AL frame chainstay where Bondo wouldn't suffice. I got no feedback if it would be applicable to frames. Heat might be the issue, needing enough to flow the solder.
Metal filler has definitely been used to fill in small dents and gouges on steel frames. Pics from a LBS website shows the end result. No mention of the metal though, I wonder if it's solder?

Yup, cleaned off the area, lots of white spray grease, then twist back and fourth while slowly closing the vise.

The dent was so long to begin with that I also had to work the block from one side of the dent to the other at the same time.

I used solder to fill a really small dent on a frame I was sending to be powder coated. Works fine.

Fill the dents with lead solder. The melting point is low enough that it won't damage the tubing, and it is easily smoothed and much more permanent than body putty.

This doesn't seem to be as exciting to anybody else as it is to me, but here's the reduction of the BIG handlebar dent that the misadventure must have caused on the other side of the frame.
It really looks better now than it seems in the after picture.

I think it's pretty neat. I've always wondered how well those blocks work. It looks like they work pretty darn good!

I must say it is impressive though I'm not entirely sure how it works. I'd like to see a video of it being done.

That is an interesting site. Some of the prices seem reasonable but some are nuts 55 dollars for this
http://www.bicycletool.com/ProductIm...timages/CP.jpg


That really cool that the blocks worked that well though nice job.

I just saw those black and gold Raleigh decals on eBay UK.

Finished up the filling today. Didn't try lead - Used Loctite Liquid Metal on the big ding, and Bondo Glazing compound on them all. First dusting with primer looks good.
BIG dent, big handlebar dent, and offside handlebar ding ready for primer:

I'd second the request of a video of this being done. Does anyone know if one exists?

Unusually dry today, so I rushed ahead with the paint.
Looks pretty good. Can't find the big dent or little handlebar dent, can find the big handlebar dent if I look for it.
Next step is gold pinstripes around the black bands, then Probably Cyclomondo's A-D decal on the black.

Next step is the build..... Man, I don't have much around that's any good anymore! Should have gone to Frankenbike instead of painting.

You'll have to take some close up pics with the paint.

Hard to take a closeup of a black tube, but here's one! Paint's not rubbed out yet.
Buddy promised to paint the pinstripes around the ends of the black panels.
Decided that where the model name should go on the top panel (Inter-10), if I can get some appropriate lettering I'll label it "Yunker" with an umlaut over the U - because of it's heritage.
Photo of what I pieced together from the spares box for it. I need to find a shorter stem and rounder handlebars. Might buy some fenders if she rides nice.

Any idea of a paint that matches your Inter 10 frame's original paint-job?

you should cross post to framebuilders.....t

Ah, but they are men of Brahma, while we are followers of Vishnu!

Creation vs. Sustaining :thumb:

This thread has been very informative. I've always wondered about the frame blocks and results obtained, never seen it in such detail.

If there is a standard for filling dents, it is silver -- the same as used for building lugged frames. This takes more heat than solder, but is quite a bit stronger, and done correctly does not weaken the tubing. You then have a dent repair that is more than cosmetic and is actually structural.

I've tried a few of the auto paint pens without luck on mine. It's a very particular color--coffee brown in some lights, deep maroon in others. Gratuitous pictures:
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...k/IMG_2718.jpg
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...k/IMG_2717.jpg
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...k/IMG_2716.jpg

Thanks for this thread Chuckk--I've been wondering about the dent rolling blocks myself. True DIY spirit definitely shines on this one.

Puch simply called this color 'Burgundy.' But it's a much more complex color(s) than one word can reasonably define. The Puch SLE also comes in this color(s). My oddball Puch has the same paint as the Inter 10. It looks like an Inter 10 at first. But then one notices the variations in the geometry at play.

I have since installed black leather bar-tape:

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/p...g/IMG_0090.jpg

Headed to the kidz house last night, and stopped at an AutoZone along the way.
Picked up a roll of Prostripe Bright Metallic Gold double striping.
Got started after I got home last night and couldn't stop.
Dragged it out in the morning sun this morning. Patches look great, but now I'm going to have to touch up the rest of the paint!
Photos show the coloring, and the "Giant Bugger of a Dent" spot on the downtube:

Already tested the top tube! While I had it together to test the build, it fell over and wacked the top tube with the BARE handlebar GOOD! Little skuff mark, but no new damage or flying Bondo.
More clear tomorrow, then back together and see how she rides.

Most Impressive.

Duplicates of the photos I posted in "Saved from the Dump" earlier today after "first ride".
Not exactly how I want it built up, but rolling.

Note to self - never buy a frame that has black bands edged with gold pinstriping. :)

Actually, that looks fantastic! Good work.


Would it help if you were able to insert a "balloon" into the tube and pressurize the interior of the tube? This would apply some outwad force and might force the buckled tube wall outward. it doesn't usually take much pressure to remove the buckle. Then you'd just have to roll out any crease that had occurred.

Do you think you repair weakened the tube (or the overall frame) in any significant way?

The problem there is that a ballon is going to expand fore and aft before it exerts a sufficient amount of pressure on the tube to force out a dent.

I remember as a kid we use to fill old beer cans with water and freeze them to remove dents.

Yes, I knew you'd be thinking of a rubber balloon but I was thinking more of a "football". I was thinking of a fiber bag with a rubber bladder. Deflating the bladder allows you to collapse the "balloon" (the bag) and feed it and position it in the tube. The fiber bag would restrict the size of the "balloon" (the bag) as you inflate it, preventing the unsupported ends from simply stretching.

This is what they do as angioplasty.

^^^
Cool idea. Does it have to be pneumatic? Sounds like a hydraulic system would work faster and more off the shelf. Possibly lower pressures too.
Same lateral expanding bladder, non expanding longitudinal ends...use an automotive or motorcycle master cylinder was your pump. DIY hydroforming. ;)

It doesn't have to pneumatic. I think the key to success is the "balloon".

I'd still want that clamp/vice over the OD of the tube. The balloon is just suppose to help. I wouldn't want to over inflate and bulge the tube outward, either.