# Advice on how to strip your frame and get a brushed aluminium look



## Nick_M2R (Oct 18, 2008)

Hi all

Last week i bought my mates 08 kona bass
Now im really diggin the gold paint on the front, but the brown in the rear really dosent really look that great. I was planning on getting the frame powdercoated, but after seeing pics, im sold on the look of raw aluminium frames (not aluminum  )

So ive tried searching but didnt really get what i was looking for

First, how should i go about chemically stripping the frame?

Ive read that the best way is to just use a can of automative paint stripper, after removing all the bikes parts, spray it on, let it bubble, wipe the paint off, then repeat if needed. Is this the best way to go about it? The Bass is painted, and after asking other people who have stripped kona frames, it seems to come off pretty easy.

Next question is regarding the finish
With the finish, i dont want it to look like chrome, not liken that.
What id like it to look like is the brushed Aluminium effect. I found and attached pictures of people frames that have got the finish im after. Im not planning to clearcoat it, just let nature take its course. 

Any ideas on how to achieve the finish on my bass that looks like the ones in the pictures
Im guessing you should rub the frame over with steel wool or ive heard 3m pads
Exactly what are these 3m pads because when i think of them, i start getting pictures of dish washing scouring pads, also ive read that to get the effect, you need to use different grades, what does this mean?

Sorry if i sound abit stupid, but i wanna make sure this dosent turn out crappy, and im willing to take it slow and am prepared to spend a week on it if needed. So before i do, i wanna make sure im prepared.

Thanks for any help guys :thumbsup: 

Here are the pics of the finish im after:


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## juanbeegas (Oct 1, 2007)

3M pads are the way to go. You'll want to lightly score the frame, going in one direction only and working in sections. Like toptube will be one section, followed by bottomtube... Etc... This will give you an even finish. You can actually do this while removing the paint.


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## ae111black (Dec 27, 2008)

you should clear coat it and it will be nice forever! thats the finish on my 08' prophet!


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## Nick_M2R (Oct 18, 2008)

Cheers guys
So what exactly are these 3M pads?
Are they like sand paper blocks or scouring pads like what you use for dish washing


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## Captain Snakebite (Aug 17, 2004)

haha thats my kona!!!!


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## Nick_M2R (Oct 18, 2008)

Haha yea sorry bout that Captain, hope you dont mind a bit of publicity!
So may how you got that finish on your stripped kona?


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## sodak (Oct 10, 2006)

I used Aircraft stripper to remove the paint. Then I used a soft wire brush with my DeWalt drill and went to town. It took a bit but it turned out nice. After all the paint was gone and I was "done" I went over the whole frame with 00 steel wool, going in one directon. It gave the brushed aluminum look.


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## Demo-9 (Mar 24, 2006)

Yep stripper, 3M pads or some scotchbrite, cleaning, and steel wool to finish to get that look. The toughest is the welds.

Also for some additional raw references, Sinister does a great polished raw and "true" raw. First is my Gruitr which is polished raw and second is my F-Bomb whcih is just raw.


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## Nick_M2R (Oct 18, 2008)

sodak06 said:


> I used Aircraft stripper to remove the paint. Then I used a soft wire brush with my DeWalt drill and went to town. It took a bit but it turned out nice. After all the paint was gone and I was "done" I went over the whole frame with 00 steel wool, going in one directon. It gave the brushed aluminum look.


Any chance of some pictures of the finish sodak, id really be interested in seeing them :thumbsup:


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## essenmeinstuff (Sep 4, 2007)

I've done two frames now, used circa 1850 heavy duty paint stripper, then fine grade steel wool to finish.

I used a small (toothbrush size) bronze wire brush soaked in stripper to clean out the welds and tight spots.

I would scour the glossy fin on the frames a bit with sand paper first to give the stripper something to bite into.

For the last frame there was an annoying under coat and that needed steel wool soaked in stripper and some elbow grease to get done...

Looks dope though, if you don't clear coat it will dull a little, depending on your environment, like it its wet you'll probably want to clear coat. :thumbsup:


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## SteveUK (Apr 16, 2006)

A lot is going to depend on the finish of your particular frame. My Big Hit - the frame in your first picture - only really needed finishing on the parts where I'd scratched them with the point I was using to pick the stubborn bits of paint off with. The Nitromors stripper I used was efficient to say the least, so most of the paint just fell off. I used a very fine grade (dry) wire wool to clean up the scrapes and sections where the factory finish was slightly uneven. 

My Orange was powder-coated and needed a lot more scraping to get it off, plus the factory finish wasn't very even. I had so many marks at the end that I just opted to wet and dry it back to a smooth, shinier finish, followed by a final going over with Autoglym metal polish.

I'd suggest just stripping the paint from your Kona and seeing what you have to work with, then perhaps practice a few techniques on discrete areas to see if you can obtain a suitable finish. Worst case scenario is that you have to get it painted/powder-coated, which will be all the easier, and perhaps cheaper, as you'll already have removed the old finish.


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## Djponee (Dec 20, 2006)

mine looks brushed and what i did was removed the paint with the spray can paint stripper and then onece that was done, i used i polishing tip(looks like a circular wirebrush) and just polished it up a little bit. This will also work great if you can't get to some small spots with that paint stripper. Ironhorse has some crazy paint so i had to do almost every spot twice, but you shouldn't have much of a problem because kona paint seems to come off fairly easy. 

If you want, you could also try to use a power sander. I used it on an old raliegh hardtail a few weeks ago and took all thepaint off the front triangle in about ten minutes.


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## Prettym1k3 (Oct 11, 2005)

I did my 7point. Used Jaasco paint stripper to get about 85-90% of the paint off. Then had my friend bead-blast it. Worked wonders.


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## Swell Guy (Jan 20, 2005)

Here's a pictorial essay. Use a brush-on aircraft stripper (e.g. Tal-Strip). Don't use the aerosol, it's nasty, dangerous and doesn't do a good job. I found that a couple coats of the Tal-strip works great with touch up by hand in spots.


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## sodak (Oct 10, 2006)

Nick_M2R said:


> Any chance of some pictures of the finish sodak, id really be interested in seeing them :thumbsup:


Here ya go. I don't have many with an "up-close" view. But I think you can get the idea from these pics.

I stripped the Diablo and made it match my Bottlerocket. Had some powdercoating done on both bikes to match. However, the Bottlerocket is factory "raw" with a clear coat. It is hard to see the difference in the two, until you are up close.

The best part to me with the raw frame on the Diablo is that I can just wipe it down with steel wool every month or so and she come back looking like new. I took a litttle digger on our last outing DH-ing and marred up the downtube. It took about 3 minutes of work with steel wool to remove the scratches back to new.

Ohh.. the last photo of just the frame is right after using the wire brush on the drill , as well as a dremel for the welds and tight spots. The is BEFORE steel wool. You can see the difference when you use steel wool (00), plus it is super cheap.
If you have anymore questions, please feel free to ask. 
-Sodak


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## mullet dew (Jun 4, 2008)

I talked to a couple guys who striped their frames by hand(an Uzzi and a Stinky), they both said it would have been worth the 30 bucks the local powdercoat shop charges for their paint striping service.


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## sodak (Oct 10, 2006)

essenmeinstuff said:


> I used a small (toothbrush size) bronze wire brush soaked in stripper to clean out the welds and tight spots.
> 
> I would scour the glossy fin on the frames a bit with sand paper first to give the stripper something to bite into.
> 
> For the last frame there was an annoying under coat and that needed steel wool soaked in stripper and some elbow grease to get done...


This man has some really good advice here. These are thre things I could of, and should of done with my project. The wire brush soaked in stripper..... BRILLIANT! I wish I had thought of that.

Also, a great idea of scuffing the paint prior to using the stripper. It would have more than likely saved me $8 on an extra can of stripper.

Good advice!

-Sodak


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## SteveUK (Apr 16, 2006)

"_The wire brush soaked in stripper..... BRILLIANT! _"

A word of caution: when you scrub with a brush, especially one with stiff metal bristles, whatever fluid your using is going to get flicked all over the place. You can end up with chemical burns on any exposed skin or even in your mouth and eyes.

Whichever hand you hold the brush in, use the other as a cup/shield above the bristles and think about which way the bristles will flick the stripper.


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## essenmeinstuff (Sep 4, 2007)

SteveUK said:


> "_The wire brush soaked in stripper..... BRILLIANT! _"
> 
> A word of caution: when you scrub with a brush, especially one with stiff metal bristles, whatever fluid your using is going to get flicked all over the place. You can end up with chemical burns on any exposed skin or even in your mouth and eyes.
> 
> Whichever hand you hold the brush in, use the other as a cup/shield above the bristles and think about which way the bristles will flick the stripper.


Yes the flicking issue is something I learned about very quickly 

Basically don't go nuts on the brushing speed, have plastic sheet cover the floor and the wall behind, be aware of where your spray might go, and wear eye protection and elbow length gloves...

I found a small circular motion worked fine and its only really if the bristles get to flick straight where you get serious chemical goo flickage (if that makes sense).


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## Nick_M2R (Oct 18, 2008)

Thanks for all the great info and pics guys, i reckon ive got a pretty good idea now of what to do. First ill strip the paint, then see what ive got to work with, then take a fine grade steel wool to it to try and get the brushed look


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## SHIVER ME TIMBERS (Jan 12, 2004)

ae111black said:


> you should clear coat it and it will be nice forever! thats the finish on my 08' prophet!


true dat


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## zarr (Feb 14, 2008)

Good knowledge. Thanks.


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## ronnyg801 (Oct 4, 2008)

Do a search for soda blasting or like mentioned above powder coaters in your area. they will know of a soda blaster or media blaster in your area. It will be worth it to you if you value your time. But if you wanna get dirty and learn what not to do next time get to stripping it yourself a few times.


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## herbn (Sep 17, 2005)

oh sure...brushed aluminum looks kind of "cool" maybe when you do it a couple months later(maybe) uuuuugly, should have just called this thread "how to make your bike ugly:


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## SteveUK (Apr 16, 2006)

"_oh sure...brushed aluminum looks kind of "cool" maybe when you do it a couple months later(maybe) uuuuugly, should have just called this thread "how to make your bike ugly:_"

Who pissed in your Crispies?


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## XSL_WiLL (Nov 2, 2004)

SteveUK said:


> "_oh sure...brushed aluminum looks kind of "cool" maybe when you do it a couple months later(maybe) uuuuugly, should have just called this thread "how to make your bike ugly:_"
> 
> Who pissed in your Crispies?


I did.


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## Nick_M2R (Oct 18, 2008)

herbn said:


> oh sure...brushed aluminum looks kind of "cool" maybe when you do it a couple months later(maybe) uuuuugly, should have just called this thread "how to make your bike ugly:


Got any proof? :nono:


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## sodak (Oct 10, 2006)

herbn said:


> oh sure...brushed aluminum looks kind of "cool" maybe when you do it a couple months later(maybe) uuuuugly, should have just called this thread "how to make your bike ugly:


My friend, I guess you did not read much of this thread. There are even pictures to prove your wrong.???!?!?!?! what gives?

First off- your statement is false and simply just your un-informed opinion.
Secondly - I believe a few mentioned that once you do strip and polish your frame, it takes an occasional rub-down with some steel wool, 3m pads, or what-ever to bring the finish back to the fresh brushed look. It takes literally 3 minutes.

Not everything in this world is "set-and-forget", sometimes it takes a little patience and pride in your work to maintain it. ....................


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## steveohio (Dec 6, 2013)

Cross posted from another thread, hoping someone can offer assistance outta this thread.

What are you guys using to strip your aluminum frames off all the paint?
I have an 01 Gary Fisher Napa that I'd love to strip all the paint off of to match my Debadged Ti MTB for the woman.

I used Citri-strip on the titanium bike to strip off the painted on logos, and it worked awesome.

However, I tried it on a small section of the Fisher frame, near the cranks, where there was already a raw section from rubbing, and it did not seem to have any effect. I did however, only leave the citri-strip on there for about 30 minutes.

I have a whole big thing of this stripper, I'd like to use, will it work if I leave it on there for an extra long time, or am I gonna have to use some other type of paint stripper? I'd really prefer to not have to sand down this bike, other than maybe a light wet sand after its stripped before I clear/polish it.

Thanks!


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## Nick_M2R (Oct 18, 2008)

Since the time i started this thread i have stripped three other frames.

I used Selleys Kwik-Strip on each, the paint came off very easily on the Kona Bass and Bighit that i stripped, but my most recent job was my giant yukon and it was by far the hardest.

Same experience as you, put the stuff on and almost no change to the paint. In the end i just kept putting the stripper on (lol) and eventually the paint came off. 

I think once you break through whatever topcoat is on the frame, the paint will come off.

Goodluck with it!


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## B-Mac (Oct 2, 2008)

As stated above, make sure you wear eye protection. Stripper is NASTY!! (or "Strippers be nasty???")

Also, make sure you buy some legit chemical gloves. Stripper will eat right through latex gloves. 

Oh - don't wear sandals when you do the stripping or you'll wind up with a bunch of tiny chemical burns on your feet. 

Sadly, I still learn most lessons the hard way.


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