anyone have a good idea to change the decals on a frameset?

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aidenmoon
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Dec 01, 2015 3:48 pm

by aidenmoon

my girlfriend and i have been trying to change my girlfriend's frameset, cannondale evo hi mod 2013 with white background and gold and silve decals.

the gold and silve decals seem a bit old and countrified now so we are trying to change the colors to black, which we already did with the plain black stickers and scissors and stuff..

we did consider painting but we heard that it might harm the carbon structure..

do we have or try any better ideas?

these stickers look accurate and all but they come off when it gets hot or cold.

thanks..

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KeepinitRIL
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Dec 06, 2015 5:09 am

by KeepinitRIL

I believe you will be fine with the Cannondale because it doesnt use a top layer of carbon (top layer which is often a weave, purely aesthetic) which means youll be painting on top of paint, I dont believe this would harm the carbon structure.
I have worked aerospace manufacturing with lots of projects in carbon, but maybe Cannondales process is slightly different

I have a Scattante, and Ive received so much crap for the brand, I simply sanded down the clear(I hit carbon in several spots)
I had decals made by a friend with a vinyl cutter (the bikes new name will be 'LEGDAY')
sent the frame and decal to another friend with a paint shop where he painted the decals, then did a full clear coat to protect the areas of carbon which I had exposed.

kevosinn
in the industry
Posts: 630
Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2012 7:28 am
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by kevosinn

Painting will not harm it and neither will stripping the paint off.
Www.crypticcycles.com Custom carbon frames, bar/stem combos, repair and component tuning.

aidenmoon
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Dec 01, 2015 3:48 pm

by aidenmoon

thanks a lot, both! its been helpful.

we are doing it then! : )

TheDarkInstall
Posts: 725
Joined: Sun Jan 26, 2014 3:44 am

by TheDarkInstall

Painting the frame;

Unless you do it properly, with proper tools, in a proper environment, it will look shit. Be warned.

Here is how you do it correctly, for adding to existing graphics.

1. Sand down the clear coat until it is level and you have removed all but the very finest layer. Don't go through the clear coat all the way, or you will start cutting into the actual paint, and you have no idea how thin that will be. Clear coat is usually fairly thick, as it is applied with a HVLP gun, and misted over with little care for consistency (especially with Cannondales...)

2. Once you have it level, apply your stencils, which you will have made in Adobe Illustrator, and printed with a Roland vinyl cutting machine, onto micro thin sticky backed vinyl stencil sheet.

3. Mask off the rest of the bike.

4. Tack cloth the area clean of dust.

5. Using your Iwata air brush, with a wide spray, apply a number of coats, sanding down and levelling in between each one, very gently, with 3000 grit well soaked paper. Try not to burn through and only sand down once the paint has flashed.

6. Once you have done all your layers, allow to flash, and dry for a day. Remove the stencils carefully, and take note of any edges which have a lip/sharp edge. Very very gently shape these edges down to a curved edge, looking very close and shining a flashlight at the area are you move over it.

7. 3000 grit the whole area very very gently.

8. Using a HVLP gun, apply clear coat layers, until you can see the thickness of it coming up to meet the original clear coat you sanded down at the beginning.

9. Leave to dry for a few days.

10. 3000, then 2000, then 1200 wet sand the whole area.

11. Fine Compound, then Finish Compound the whole area.

12. Wax.

***

Or, just get a rattle can of black and spray over the clear coat, and get ready for it to scratch off and look crap.

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