Let's Get Forked!

Now you have a dribble of pictures of recent bits.

I've started painting my first fork (which is imperfect but aligned). It looks much better with paint on - despite being straight legged.

I used a different method to apply the rust converter than with my frame. Converter was applied to a terry cloth which was used to rub down the fork. This ended up with a nice, thin, even coat after it was done converting and dried off. Yahoo!

A light sanding followed by wipe-down with a degreaser/thinner. Then a couple of coats of grey primer. At first, the primer was close enough in color to the bare fork that it was hard to see. Time for a lighting adjustment. Ahhhh!

Wait 30 mins. Then a light sanding with some Scotch Brite (equivalent to about a 0 grade steel wool). Wiped this with a tack cloth. Wiped with degreaser/thinner. Sprayed the blue (more on this in prior post). Things are definitely starting to look better.

Yesterday I lightly wet sanded the fork with 600 grit. Wiped it down with the tack cloth. Then started to spray clear over. So far, it has two coats. So far, the clear needs to go on liquid even more than the color, but its also more likely to run. I have one small run on the crown. Next will be to sand that out, clean and try to build up a couple more coats (I can still fill the edge of the decals). Then it'll be a 1500 grit cleanup.

Already, the clear coat is doing its thing and really sets things off. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it, but I'm getting a nice finish with a rattle can. Very cool. Bet you can't tell I'm excited.

Meanwhile, most of the excess converter has been sanded off of the frame. Two thin coats of converter have been applied. Tonight, I hope to prime the frame out.

Yesterday, I tried to chase the BB Threads. The left side wouldn't go. UGH! Way too much excess silver on that side. I had to heat things up and get the silver out of the way. After it all cooled down, the left side cut clean. BTW, I'm very pleased with my Cyclus tools.

That's about it for now. I may be riding soon.

Cheers,

Rick