Removing A Bike Paint Job

Redi-Strip will strip the paint off of a bike for $30-50 but they are located way past O'Hare and I would have to take the Metra to deliver the bike. Ugh- I don't want to do that. Does anyone know of individuals who are well adept at stripping paint in their garage or another reliable company?

Thanks

Spencer

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Permalink Reply by Arrak Thumrs on June 8, 2010 at 6:03am
Permalink Reply by SlyRed on June 8, 2010 at 6:14am
I don't recommend Redi-Strip. I took my Raleigh Sprite to them and the previously undented rear fender came back with a nasty dent. Now I've got to fix it before it can be painted. Disappointing.
Permalink Reply by Spencer "Thunderball" Thayer! on June 8, 2010 at 6:16am
I emailed UV asking for a quote stripping a Mixte, but I hear they are expensive. Anyone else around $35 range?
Permalink Reply by Arrak Thumrs on June 8, 2010 at 6:46am
Citri-Strip and Scotchbrite from Home Depot. C'mon, the material cost is $35 alone...

Spencer "Thunderball" Thayer! said:
Anyone else around $35 range?
Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on June 8, 2010 at 7:12am
UV is expensive because he does an amazing job and works in a very bike specific manner; he is worth it.

Redi-Strip is excellent, I have been using them in other arenas for years and never had any problems. I have also been sending out groups of bikes to be stripped there every few months as a group buy (the more you do at once the cheaper it is per unit) and had no problems to date.

Keep in mind Redi-Strip is a chemical process and not media blasting so there is no sand in the threads, material loss or risk to sensitive areas; it also strips and removes rust from the inside of the entire frame.
Permalink Reply by Vondo on June 8, 2010 at 11:19am
OK this Redi Strip looks interesting. Now, after one gets their frame stripped where can one get it repainted in an equally economical manner? in these tough economic times, I would like to do things on the cheap!
Permalink Reply by SlyRed on June 21, 2010 at 4:28am
I guess I don't consider $55 economical, especially since I have to do fender repair before it can be painted. What would you consider a good total price for a 'down to the bare metal' restoration? I had a quote of about $300 for the paint job. Add in the stripping and incidentals like new decals and you're not far from $500 for a 'like new' bike. I'll think long and hard before taking on another restoration project like this, 'cause the bike will be nice and I like it, but I could never recoup the money spent.
Permalink Reply by Spencer "Thunderball" Thayer! on June 21, 2010 at 4:55am
I've decided I will be removing my own paint. It's something I should learn how to do anyway. I just placed an order for some low odor aircraft paint remover (http://bit.ly/bGbJyz). I figure a quart is all I need, if I plan on doing more I'll just get a gallon (http://bit.ly/deeulT). It doesn't seem at all difficult. I've been told by a couple people who paint bikes that it's very easy and if you're removing the factory default paint from older bikes the paint will come out usually with your first coating of the remover.


Just remember this shit is toxic as hell.
Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on June 21, 2010 at 5:00am
Where did you get the $55 number?

If you don't want to pay there are a ton of paint strippers available to you for you to do it yourself. You can also invest in a small sand blaster and air compressor and do that yourself as well but both those options will take considerable time and, in the case of media blasting, can cause severe damage to a frame if done incorrectly.

Business who do this sort of work invest in the proper tools and materials, as well as have the experience needed, to ensure the job is done properly and that is what you are paying for when you have work like that preformed.

Strip a frame yourself, after you see the work involved to do a proper job of it you will suddenly appreciate just how cheap it really is. Same goes for painting.


SlyRed said:
I guess I don't consider $55 economical, especially since I have to do fender repair before it can be painted. What would you consider a good total price for a 'down to the bare metal' restoration? I had a quote of about $300 for the paint job. Add in the stripping and incidentals like new decals and you're not far from $500 for a 'like new' bike. I'll think long and hard before taking on another restoration project like this, 'cause the bike will be nice and I like it, but I could never recoup the money spent.
Permalink Reply by SlyRed on June 21, 2010 at 5:08am
$55 is what I paid RediStrip to sandblast the frame, fork and two fenders of my '71 Raleigh Sprite. I got the dented rear fender at no extra charge. I don't mind paying for good services rendered. Careless handling and damaging undented parts is not what I expected. I'm glad others have had good experiences with RediStrip. Mine was disappointing.
Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on June 21, 2010 at 10:44am
I've had over 15 frames done by Redi-Strip as well as countless other stuff over the years and never had a problem with them.

I also never have anything blasted there because why blast when you can have it dipped?
Permalink Reply by Todd Allen on June 21, 2010 at 11:45am
If you have a hand held angle grinder, get a stiff wire brush wheel for it and you can take off most of the paint and corrosion pretty fast. If you don't have an angle grinder, consider getting one as they are great tools to have. You ought to be able to get a decent 4 1/2" grinder for about $40 from Menards or Home Depot. Get a couple grinding wheels and some cutoff discs in addition to a wire brush. A rubber backing pad for sanding discs is another great accessory.

Mechanical stripping is easy on steel frames, but if you have an aluminum frame you need to be a little careful to avoid gouging the tubing.

Anyway, you'll be able to take off 90% of the paint this way and it goes pretty fast. Then use chemical stripper on what's left. Or sand blast. Or heatgun and scrape by hand with a wire brush.

However, if you have more money then time, I highly recommend UV. His powder coat finishes are both tough and beautiful. I think he'll do a complete standard bike frame, both stripping and powder coating for something like $125. If you strip the frame yourself I think it will save you about $50.

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