Originally Posted by mgopack42

Hey Andy be sure to do your homework. there are many types of respirator cartridges, with different use cases. find the right one, and remember they dont last forever. I treat the chemical cartridges as one use only for safety (if you store then in a air tight bag, you should be good for one paint job). You DO NOT want the 2K clear hardening inside your lungs!

Originally Posted by Velo Mule

Of course, you will need a compressor and gun. I don't know if this is something that you have or would consider.

Originally Posted by RiddleOfSteel

I am working on stepping up my rattle can paint skillz as well. My most recent endeavor being a couple months ago. Bought a 60cm/biggest Specialized Tricross Sport Triple near the end of last year and after some component/setup testing went well, that was the green light needed to paint it and put gratuitously fancy parts on it. The aluminum frame had been stripped--pretty darn well I might add--by the previous previous owner, and looked dingy. I had plans to do a Cannondale-esque super buffing job, or at the very least, a masochistic multi-step wet sand effort, but the aluminum was having none of it. So paint it was. Picked up some "Pixie Dust" from the brand Color Shot. Lots of fun names that I appreciated, from a company that, through can shape and features, marketing/branding, and naming, is definitely not aimed at, well, guys.

I erroneously thought Pixie Dust was a pearlescent white, but it was actually pearlescent clear. I wanted a whimsical color full of sparkles to contrast with the Ultra Serious Fast Biker parts I was going to put on it and apparently failed at eyesight and reading comprehension. With the frame and fork all ready to go... Grabbed some matte black high-temp enamel paint from the shop/garage and said to myself, "Self, sparkly black will have to do." So I sprayed the black, then the Pixie Dust, and the frame turned forest green.... What is the world anymore??? Anyway, not all, or any, was lost! I had MASSIVE sparkles going on, and I knew that dark green with tan wall tires and black rims would look epic (from a prior build for someone else). I used 2k Clear's little brother, 1K Clear. Not as durable, but also not as nasty. Decals from eBay (definitely NOT Velocals in quality nor price) and away I went to build! Could I have stood to sand between coats, as well as cut and buff (or similar) the clear coat? Very much so. But, I wanted to build the darn thing and this is going to be a gravelly adventure bike.

Started with this:



Puzzled at the green, but hyped for the sparkly green and matching frame and fork (and stem, like all those fancy custom bikes get).



To this end result: 20.8 lbs of Um, Did You Put A Specialized "S" On That Carbon Bontrager XXX Stem???



48mm tires try in vain to fill the vast space between the fork blades.



Is this the cool guy bike pose? Anyway, all that to say, Andy, is that with more patience and planning than me, you can make it look actually legit, not fading in and out of smooth gloss and textured semi gloss finishing (tried hard to get the stuff to lay down well, but I painted it outside, 25 feet from where this photo was taken). Looking forward to seeing it progress! I also like the added braze-ons. I would have done the same.

Originally Posted by Mr. 66

Interesting that the liquid mask had that much trouble, I've never tried the product.

Originally Posted by bulgie

For isocyanate, no cartridges are good enough, you need a supplied-air hood, with air pumped in from somewhere distant, outside the spray booth. The stuff is highly carcinogenic. You can't even take the lid off the can without your hood on and air pump running.

That's the advice for pros, though maybe as a hobbyist doing just one frame, you could get away with organic vapor cartridges. Not HEPA, which are only for particulates. HEPA over an organic vapor cartridge can be a good idea though.

Check the mask fit by covering the air inlets and trying to breathe in. If any air is getting in around the edges of the mask, no bueno. Beards are not allowed.

Originally Posted by RiddleOfSteel

Grabbed some matte black high-temp enamel paint from the shop/garage and said to myself, "Self, sparkly black will have to do." So I sprayed the black, then the Pixie Dust, and the frame turned forest green.... What is the world anymore???

Originally Posted by mgopack42

Hey Andy be sure to do your homework. there are many types of respirator cartridges, with different use cases. find the right one, and remember they dont last forever. I treat the chemical cartridges as one use only for safety (if you store then in a air tight bag, you should be good for one paint job). You DO NOT want the 2K clear hardening inside your lungs!

Originally Posted by Kilroy1988

Yeah, if the one he's currently isn't using almost brand new I'd personally buy new cartridges just to be safe.

Originally Posted by Velo Mule

I like automotive paints because I like shinny finishes. I also sometimes use Rustoleum. I don't remember if I have actually used automotive 2k Clear Coat over Rustoleum, however, I have used it over Koolest Kolors single part enamel and it worked well. I think if you let the Rustoleum or enamel paint dry enough, I waited about a week and then use the 2k clear coat you should be good. Of course, you will need a compressor and gun. I don't know if this is something that you have or would consider.

As for specific clear coat brands, everyone has their own opinions on these. I have been using a value brand that I get from my local auto supply shop. The results are good for the price. If you go to paint forums some people like my choice and some do not. The other issue is the gun. You can do a good job with a Harbor Freight gun. I have one. It doesn't put out the volume of paint, a wide spray pattern or atomize as good as the pro guns, but for a cheap gun on a bicycle frame where you don't need a wide pattern, it does good. I also have a more expensive gun, but it is not one of those high priced pro guns. I am not a pro, or even close. I paint in my driveway.

As you probably know already @Andy_K , prep work is the most important factor and be patient. If you go this route, spray on a cardboard box to get used to whatever gun you use and get it set up.

Originally Posted by Andy_K;22933517It's a [url=https://www.harborfreight.com/p95-maintenance-free-dual-cartridge-respirator-large-67727.html

Harbor Freight cheapie[/url], but they describe it as a cartridge respirator.

Originally Posted by RiddleOfSteel

I am working on stepping up my rattle can paint skillz as well. My most recent endeavor being a couple months ago. Bought a 60cm/biggest Specialized Tricross Sport Triple near the end of last year and after some component/setup testing went well, that was the green light needed to paint it and put gratuitously fancy parts on it. The aluminum frame had been stripped--pretty darn well I might add--by the previous previous owner, and looked dingy. I had plans to do a Cannondale-esque super buffing job, or at the very least, a masochistic multi-step wet sand effort, but the aluminum was having none of it. So paint it was. Picked up some "Pixie Dust" from the brand Color Shot. Lots of fun names that I appreciated, from a company that, through can shape and features, marketing/branding, and naming, is definitely not aimed at, well, guys.

I erroneously thought Pixie Dust was a pearlescent white, but it was actually pearlescent clear. I wanted a whimsical color full of sparkles to contrast with the Ultra Serious Fast Biker parts I was going to put on it and apparently failed at eyesight and reading comprehension. With the frame and fork all ready to go... Grabbed some matte black high-temp enamel paint from the shop/garage and said to myself, "Self, sparkly black will have to do." So I sprayed the black, then the Pixie Dust, and the frame turned forest green.... What is the world anymore??? Anyway, not all, or any, was lost! I had MASSIVE sparkles going on, and I knew that dark green with tan wall tires and black rims would look epic (from a prior build for someone else). I used 2k Clear's little brother, 1K Clear. Not as durable, but also not as nasty. Decals from eBay (definitely NOT Velocals in quality nor price) and away I went to build! Could I have stood to sand between coats, as well as cut and buff (or similar) the clear coat? Very much so. But, I wanted to build the darn thing and this is going to be a gravelly adventure bike.

Puzzled at the green, but hyped for the sparkly green and matching frame and fork (and stem, like all those fancy custom bikes get).



To this end result: 20.8 lbs of Um, Did You Put A Specialized "S" On That Carbon Bontrager XXX Stem???

Originally Posted by Kilroy1988

There are a lot of automotive paints and colors you can have compressed into spray cans or purchase off-the-shelf that way.

-Gregory

Originally Posted by Andy_K

If memory serves, forest green was the factory color for the Tricross in some years. Maybe the bike just really wanted to be green.

It looks great in your pictures, but I know first hand the person who paints a bike is always painfully aware of the gap between how a bike looks in pictures and the flaws they know are there.

Originally Posted by Pompiere

That is the color I have been looking for to paint my FW Evans, but I was for green paints, not black. I had used Rustoleum Cobalt Blue Metallic to paint my Fuji with good results. Their website shows the same paint in forest green, so I was hoping to use it again, but I can't find it anywhere. I see that Walmart has Pixie Dust on the shelf, so I will pick some up and try it over a few different undercoat colors to see which one I like best.

Originally Posted by Kilroy1988

Looks good, Andy! Once I fix the dropout on my Vincitore I'm still not sure which color I'll go with, but it might be similar to the original blue (which appears to be just slightly darker than yours). Will you be doing any contrasting colors on the head or seat tube?

Originally Posted by RiddleOfSteel

Yeah, that Pixie Dust, after my experience, is put in the "Your results may vary" bucket. I'd be interested to see what your experimentation results in. I went quite liberal on the Pixie Dust application. The first finer dust of it was basically barely sparkling black. That would have been neat, but I'm glad I went full Unikitty on it. I still need a bike in a candy fuchsia at some point, because I am crazy, but that will have to wait.

Originally Posted by Andy_K

I've tried a few different kinds. For one project I used green Frog Tape, which I had on hand from having used it for painting walls in the house. It's good for masking the trim on walls. It left a lot of residue on the bike project I used it with, but other than that I think it was OK. For my previous project I decided to try something different. I got 3M ScotchBlue™ Ultra Sharp Lines tape (#2098). This stuff kind of plastic and a bit tougher than the Frog Tape. It tears off the roll easily, but stretches a bit. I find that for relatively simple lines it's a great choice. I used it on the fork crown pictured below on the 1979 Centurion Elite that I painted last year and was very happy with it for that project. For the Vincitore I'm working on now, I couldn't get it to cut cleanly enough for the tight curves and fine points of the lugs, even with a very sharp blade. When I was out getting some other supplies for the current project, I came across 3M Automotive Performance Masking Tape. The packaging said it was good for curved surfaces, so I thought I'd give it a try. You see from the pictures above that it worked well for conforming to the lug edges. It was mostly easy to cut, but on the fine points I kept getting a few fibers that didn't want to separate and essentially had to be scraped away from what I was leaving, sometimes pulling a bit off that I would have preferred to leave. I think for my case that's OK since I am masking chrome that I want to be bare in the end. I'll be able to polish off any minor overspray. If you were trying to mask a color to be kept it would be more of a problem. I haven't found a tape that is perfect for that.

Originally Posted by tiger1964

I wonder for masking of such complexity, if anyone has tried masking fluid that you paint on. I recall modelers using something called "Magic Mask". I see Amazon for instance has various brands.

Originally Posted by Andy_K

At this point I don't even have a working theory on how to pick one that would work well for masking chrome. If anyone has experience and can recommend a brand I would be interested.

I was thinking about this last night and I think I may need to do the masking again because I don't think I'll want to apply decals and clear coat until I've seen how my lug masking looks after paint. It seems likely that some touch up will be needed.