removing paint from aluminum frame

[squirrel]

I'm bike has an aluminium frame. It's paint is in good condition. It's clearcoated. I want a polished look. What's the best way to remove the paint without jarring the frame? I'm thinking solvent or sandblasting?
Squirrel

 

[JonnyR]

if you can use walnuts,glass bead or soda blast for blasting sand would be bad would destroy the frame same with black slag and a few other things with a high grit/hardness as far as solvents go paint thinner as a stripper is a good choice but its messy as is most strippers

 

[culvercityclassic]

Look up Jasco. I use it on all my frames that I end up painting. Very easy to use.

 

[scotto-]

Jasco paint stripper or sand blast with #60 silica sand gently.

 

[Greybeard]

Yesterday, I used Klean Strip "aircraft paint remover" on a bike frame I just got to remove the clearcoat. I did the same on the forks. Sprayed on from a spray can, left on for 30 minutes, used a soft brass wire brush to remove it, washed with dish soap and water, and let it dry. I then used 600 grit, wet and dry paper with WD40 as a lube and worked on the scratches, and then went over it with Neverdull. No "Mothers" yet. It seems to be coming around nicely.

 

[scotto-]

Yesterday, I used Klean Strip "aircraft paint remover" on a bike frame I just got to remove the clearcoat. I did the same on the forks. Sprayed on from a spray can, left on for 30 minutes, used a soft brass wire brush to remove it, washed with dish soap and water, and let it dry. I then used 600 grit, wet and dry paper with WD40 as a lube and worked on the scratches, and then went over it with Neverdull. No "Mothers" yet. It seems to be coming around nicely.

Very nicely I might add! That LTS is already looking very shiney....nice job.

 

[Greybeard]

scotto,

You spotted what kind of bike it was right off. Experience? I bought it because it thought it was very well built and might make a good platform for an e-bike build. For a 16 year old bike it seems to be very tight yet. I'm going to try to get the Marzocchi shocks as shiney. Worked on them for a couple hours after getting the paint and sticker off. Still some machine grooves to work on.

 

[scotto-]

scotto,

You spotted what kind of bike it was right off. Experience? I bought it because it thought it was very well built and might make a good platform for an e-bike build. For a 16 year old bike it seems to be very tight yet. I'm going to try to get the Marzocchi shocks as shiney. Worked on them for a couple hours after getting the paint and sticker off. Still some machine grooves to work on.

Yes Greybeard, the GT LTS-1 was ridden to some (DH MTB Pro) victories in it's day by Mike King (former BMX champ at the time). I do have a bit of expirience from that era....I raced the Norba circuit and many other mountain bike races for well over 10 years. My avatar is of me on the Mammoth Mtn. Kamikazi downhill riding a polished aluminum RC-201 Mammoth Bicycles (elevated chainstay and polished original Rock Shox). Those were some fun times.....

 

[Greybeard]

Couple more pics. Wish I had before and after. I was going to take this stuff down, and out to be powdercoated, but it sure looks OK this way to me. I'm overwhelmed by what a spray can and a few hours of work can do.

 

[culvercityclassic]

Wow that turned out nice...very nice frame and fork

 

[squirrel]

Looks great greybeard!
I think I have a game plan. I will post pics soon. Been having computer issues...
Squirrel

 

[chainmaker]

I always prefer to sand by hand, get to know the metal.

 

[squirrel]

Well I finally got around to stripping the bike yesterday. I went with zip strip. It's a gel I guess. It's working great as far as removing the paint but it has to go on thick and I'm having a problem keeping it on the tubes. It makes the paint sizzle and bubble then you wipe it off. Clean up with water.
I'm thinking if I put it on some paper bags I can wrap the frame with the saturated paper.
Any thoughts?
I live in pretty remote area so I used what was available.
Thank you in advance squirrel.

 

[squirrel]

99% of the paint is off!
Whoo Hoo!!!
I'll post a pic of the bike when I'm on my computer.
Because I used a green scrubber to remove the paint, the frame now has a dull grey finish. Looks nice but I wanna polish it. What to buy? Where to start?
I'm thinking steel wool, then finer and finer grades of sandpaper?
Finish up with a buffer pad on a drill and my dremel. I anticipate this taking awhile.
Thoughts?
Comments?

 

[Ludwig II]

Try this stuff, but first, READ the h & s instructions, it's effective and truly lethal:

http://www.chemetall.aero/pdf/TDS Ardrox 2814_pdf.pdf

I'm not joking, you can't fly it or transport by sea anywhere. It will strip thick lacquer off guitar bodies in ribbons and make a cackling noise while it does it. So, you read the h & s, gather all the safety gear in place first, knowing how to use it; then, no paint in the world will stop you.

 

[tooljunkie]

aircraft remover has to be one of the best on the market.
i have had really good success with DAD's paint remover as well.
the best you will find is elbow grease,the more you use the better the end result.
sanding,or wet sanding up to 600 wet should get you to the polishing point.you could go higher to 1200 or 2000,but it all depends on how much patience you have.
looking forward to seeing the finished product.

i sanded all the paint off a bike when i was quite young,clear coated the bare steel.
my brother took it and wrecked it.i was a teenager.never wanted to put that much time into a bike ever again.til now.

 

[squirrel]

pics!
theres two shots of the bike after initial tear down and two shots of the frame after stripping.
ill go to the local napa and getsanding sometime in the near future.
i also need to get a bottom bracket removal tool.
plans include a lay back seatpost/ gas tank from sportscarpat.
rt carb from dax
i got a buddy who builds electric mountain boards and he's gonna help me out with wiring. gonna go rechargeable with some switches.
check out my other thread in the cruiser section titled "been riding the trek for two years time to go custom" to see what she looked like before.
this morning i dubbed her "Betsy"

 

[squirrel]

It looks like the grey finish is a powdercoat or primer that the zip strip wouldn't touch. I used my dremel with a wire wheel and did a test run. I could see/ feel the difference between the grey and brushed finishes. I'm thinking that a brushed finish might go better with the overall idea I have for the finished product.

 

[Bikeguy Joe]

I'm bike has an aluminium frame. It's paint is in good condition. It's clearcoated. I want a polished look. What's the best way to remove the paint without jarring the frame? I'm thinking solvent or sandblasting?
Squirrel

Brake fluid.

 

[locell]

looks good!