Clear coat over raw metal

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Ldog33

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I'm stripping all the paint off a kids bike, was going to paint it blue but after I used wire wheels to remove the rest of the paint, my son now wants to keep it raw. Been doing a little reading, need to clear it somehow. What are the steps after it's all prepped, do I use a clear adhesion promoter first; I see a lot of bikes on here that are stripped, what is the best method????
Thanks
 
There are lots of different ways, of course, but I'll tell you my method, and you can feel free to take it or leave it. Home Depot has boiled linseed oil in the paint section. It's made to protect wood and other material from weather, and it works great on metal. Apply some to a rag, wipe it on, let it dry, boom. Done.
 
Does the oil have an oily feel, do you think this method work for 6 year old that will kind on beat on the bike? Thanks
 
If this is a bike for a 6 year old as you already have experienced in a year or so he will have out grown it. Just spray with any clear coat and enjoy.
 
^^ Yeah, I think I'm over thinking this, I'm just going to clear it like you state and make this easy, even though it has taken me hours to strip this thing.. Thanks
 
Clear coat it. That's what I did to my bike. 2 years later and it's still perfect, no chips or anything. All I did for prep was sand the frame and wipe the oils off it with WD-40. I then let it dry in the sun for a couple hours and cleared it. :thumbsup:


 
Alrigthy, so I did some more research and since I already have Gibbs, I'm going that route. I used it before on a MAG tranny and it still looks awesome. Not sure why I didn't think about this, but saw the can on the shelf, did a quick internet search and it seems that if you wipe it down a few times a year, you are good to go. Talk about easy.
 
There have been a few different bare metal builds in the past couple of build offs. Seems like some people used boiled linseed oil to coat their bike and some even did some gun bluing.
 
I saw the boiled linseed oil trick as well, most swear by it, was going to try that until I found the Gibbs. Penetrol also seems good, but some say it will crack. Clearing sounds good, but since there really isn't any UV protection in the rattle can types, it can yellow, and most say that rust will come through. I cleared an aluminum headlight ring last year after I sanded it real nice, this year it is already cracking. Since this will be my 6 year olds bike, I don't see him keeping the greatest care of it thus I'm going the Gibbs route. Seen some pretty cool all metal rat rods and all they do is wipe it on a couple times a year.
 
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I've never heard of Gibbs. I'll have to check it out.
 
I'm interested in this too. I just stripped down a frame and fork too. I'm gonna paint some of it but I want some to surface rust before I coat it. How do you think the Gibbs will work for rust or what about anyone's experience with linseed over rust and how will the Gibbs or linseed do over rattle can paint?
 
deven_science said:
Just to answer the question, there is no oiliness to the linseed oil finish. It dries completely.
Click to expand...
This is absolutely correct for boiled linseed oil. Untreated linseed will remain oily.

Luke.
 
I took Boiled linseed oil a step further. I sprayed High gloss clear Lacquer over it and WOW it looked like glass. The best gloss for me yet.:grin: If you read the back of the Boiled Linseed oil container it says you can add to clear gloss for a better gloss.
 
outsider13 said:
I took Boiled linseed oil a step further. I sprayed High gloss clear Lacquer over it and WOW it looked like glass. The best gloss for me yet.:grin: If you read the back of the Boiled Linseed oil container it says you can add to clear gloss for a better gloss.
Click to expand...
I don't want a gloss finish myself. Will just boiled linseed leave a glossy finish if it's applied by itself?
 

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