Thursday, March 29, 2012

 The alignment came out spot on.  I use the same welding pattern that I learned at UBI for welding the titanium frames and it works for my fillet brazing equally as well.  It appears that the tire I want will go into production next month, so there is still hope I will have a pair when the bike is complete.  The gracious Mike Hall has donated a set of Dura Ace shifters for the bike, cool!
I flatted yesterday on my commute.  The tube has a very small hole so I cut it to find out what happened to the Italian sealant I put into it and why it didn't plug the damn hole.  So there it is.  Doesn't look like it is foaming to me.
I finally had the time to braze up Ians front triangle.  As soon as it is out of soak, I'll check the alignment and bend if necessary.  It looks pretty darn good visually though now. I am still getting nowhere finding the Small Block 8 tires I need.  I might have to build a 520 BSD wheel set and run a different tire. 
 Here is a couple of pics of Tinas frame.  I ended up stripping the entire frame and starting over.  I really looks great and lubs the dropouts.  Her pink head set should be showing up soon so the assembly can begin.


Saturday, March 17, 2012

When I applied the metallic pink for the logo, it lifted the maskant and made a mess of the lower coats.  So I stripped it all off.  This particular paint is a solvent and fuel resistant industrial coating, it overwhelmed the other coatings and the maskant.  So plan 2 is is to make it the base coat and apply the "weaker" coatings on top of it.  I did purchase the necessary, but very expensive, hardener and accelerator though.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

My finely laid schedule for the frame paint is up in smoke.  I shot the metallic pink last night for the stripes and BB windows and was to shoot the metallic gray today.  But the pink is still too soft and the masking tape leaves an imprint.  I'll let it flash off another day and try to compress the paint schedule.

Monday, March 12, 2012

 Tinas frame ready for etch prime.  I primed it last Friday but have to wait to start the rest of the painting until today due to the recoat time limits.  I want to time it so the lug and logo masking takes place on this Thursday and Friday.  Being unable to currently get the 1.125" tires I want for Ians frame has stopped work on it until I can find a suitable replacement.