Devistar9 ROCKET

[KickBackCycles]

What color is that green, that's what I need for my Jag. With maybe a little less sparkle.

[oxyjansen]

What color is that green, that's what I need for my Jag. With maybe a little less sparkle.

Its Duplicolor Metalcast annodized green: http://www.amazon.com/Dupli-Color-MC203 ... B00099BJV6

The paint is made to go over bare shiny metal, chrome, or in my case I painted it over silver hammered paint. It must go over something light and metallic. Mine is so sparkly because I went over it with Dupli-Color Clear Effex: http://www.amazon.com/Dupli-Color-EFX10 ... 802&sr=1-1

You can use the Metalcast as a light film, or do multiple layers to darken the effect. If you wanted areas darker, and some lighter its very easy to blend. I did the entire coat of paint in one sitting just waiting for it to get slightly tacky in the sun, and spraying the next coat on with the one before still wet. I did the entire paint job the same way, and it worked well. At first it'll seem like your not getting coverage, but if you wait the paint blends together to show full coverage. Its interesting and easy to work with.

[oxyjansen]

OK, I'm still in the race, but had a few technical difficulties. Computer went down, a minor surgery, and too many other projects in the way, but I'm getting there. I've been working on the bike for weeks now, but have not been able to post pics.

This bike, and you can see in my first post was built originally as an MTB with typical 2 piece caliper brakes. The Alfine 8 speed hub I'm using comes equipped to accept a disc, so I just had to have disc brakes front and rear. It took about 3 days of design and labor to get the system right, but I think it'll be worth it in the long run! .


These pics are showing the mods to the weld to accept the caliper bracket. Getting the brackets to sit flush on the seat stay made the system very stable.



Here's the beginning of the bracket that the caliper rests on, and it installed in its final resting place. Its simply 3 pieces of aluminum angle beveled with a file, and laminated together with JB Weld. The caliper brackets sit flush on the bracket to accept the forward forces from braking. You can see the double caliper bracket ground out for a nice fit and proper height in the 1st pic. .





Here is the before and after for the stainless attachment bracket. Because the dropout is on an angle and does not align perfectly with the face of the caliper bracket there are a couple of washers behind it that are necessary for alignment. The caliper sits perfectly over the disc, which was a major concern with this mod.



Brackets necessary to attach the caliper.


In the process of doing this project I discovered McKittricks hardware and industrial supply! This place it a wonderland of hardware and tools like I've never seen. The entire downstairs in hardware for everything under the sun. You need a bolt, they will most likely have it. Tools and supplies seem almost limitless, and I know I'll be making this a second home for future projects!

[Dr. Tankenstein]

WOW! That is some awesome fabrication there my friend. If you told me you bought them, I would have believed you.

Keep up the great work!

Cheers,
Dr. T

[pick]

WOW! That is some awesome fabrication there my friend. If you told me you bought them, I would have believed you.

Keep up the great work!

Cheers,
Dr. T

+1 I'm with Doc on this one!

[oxyjansen]

Thank you! Its nice to be using my former background to do something creative again. I switched from the trades to reptiles almost 10 years ago, and am now making the switch back. The bikes are sort of therapeutic at this point!

I was concerned I might not get this bike done, but things seem to be back on track. More pics coming soon!

[oxyjansen]

Here's the result of many hours of polishing! I was going for a heavy brushed too, but when I finally hit the frame with Never Dull I found I ended up very close to a polished look. Its not completely perfect, and there were many lines that were difficult to remove, but the pattern is right on. This was a ton of work!

[oxyjansen]

Test

[imagearchy]

this is going to be a nice ride! I like the satin finish!

[tvc15]

this is going to be a nice ride! I like the satan finish!

I think he meant satin

[oxyjansen]

LOL, maybe I'll build the Satan bike next! Either way, thank you! I'm starting to regret that I've planned the next bike for a similar finish too, but I think I'm going to try to stay with newer pieces of Scotchbrite to keep a heavier grain on the finish. I used all my used red Scotchbrite to achieve the fine finish on this bike, though it wasn't planned to be so satin smooth.

[karfer67]

i feel ya i know what it takes to do a frame like that. when i did pay it back i polished the frame and wow it is amazing how long it takes to do a bike with no paint huh? keep going!!!!

[oxyjansen]

I wasn't quite sure just how much it would take, and I could easily take the frame to a whole other level with another 5-10 hours labor! But, its just a bit more than I'm willing to put into it right now. The deadline cometh!

[oxyjansen]

I removed 4 stock cable guides that were completely in the wrong place, and replaced them with these below. They are tiny spring I cut the loops off of, glued them on with Gorilla glue, and then built up the sides with epoxy putty. I hit them with a little hammered silver to bland them in.







After drawing up about 3 designs I finally settled on tapering bands. I felt the frame needed to be broken up with a little something, so I whipped out the black lacquer. Unfortunately this has also turned out to be a tedious task, and I've had issues with the paint tearing on the edges when removing the tape. I re-taped a hair past the ends of the bands, wet sanded , and will re-paint again today followed by a nice lacquer clear coat. Tape will be carefully removed with a razor run along the edges. I can see that taking a good 2 hours alone! It just has to be perfect.











I was forced to polish another crank for the bike due to the frame being an MTB configuration. The biggest acceptable chainring for this frame turned out to be a 46t, so I was not able to use my 2 piece vintage crank. The crank is a Shimano. The Chainring was red anodized, but I gave it a dip in Easy Off. I unfortunately made the mistake of leaving it overnight, and the chemical literally ate away at the surface of the aluminum. I was fortunate that it caused a very marbled pattern, so I painted the ring with black, and then sanded off the surface carefully for about 1.5 hours! Tons of fun, but I like the result. I was a little disappointed that the back of the ring came out very evenly patterned, but teh front did not. The rear was sitting on the bottom of the bucket, so I think having the piece touch the surface of something produces the best result.

[Jake Sensi]

GREAT JOB!! I'M TIRED JUST READING THE THREAD...GET TA BUILDIN'!! PEACE