Are there any good ways to remove paint from a head tube without facing it? I've a Salsa Spearfish frame to build up. There's a good amount of paint on the upper and lower head tube surfaces. Basically, they have as much paint on them as the outside of the frame has.

Would it work to scrape the paint off with a razor knife? Or is that likely to leave visible chips that I'll regret later?

Sandpaper maybe?

Any other ideas?

Urg! Meant to post this in "Bicycle Mechanics".

Lightly hand sand it.

I would probably use some wet and dry sandpaper, a razor might chip the paint around the edge.

I scrape very carefully with an X-acto knife. It allows you to get to metal without taking any metal with it. But then, I have a very steady hand and a light touch.

What's wrong with getting it faced? I got my Salsa Vaya done last year before building it, and there was a lot of paint that was removed.

Neither of the two shops I deal with has the tooling to face anything other than the standard, 1 1/8" tubing. The Spearfish is tapered.

Time to find a new bike shop which has kept up with the times. Tapered headsets have been around for several years now, and are almost standard on full suspension MTB's.

Nothing . . . if you have more money than good sense .

Besides, a facing tool is basically a manually-operated precision machine tool - - which means that it is only as precise as the operator setting it up and putting his hands to the tool. I'd much sooner trust myself than take my chances with a 16-year-old shop rat.

my lbs would have faced it before they sold it. Of course, they would make me do it myself.

I am going to try dminor's X-Acto knife approach.

^^ I put the blade perpendicular to the surface with the edge of the blade flat to it. Then I drag it back toward my thumb. Dragging/scraping give you a lot more control than trying to 'slice' off the layer of paint.

Yep. That's gonna work. Thanks! I've got enough done to convince myself, and will finish the rest later. I've got just enough daylight left to sneak in a short ride before dark, so I'm headin' out.

Nice thumb, btw.