Happy new year Weenies

I am starting a project with my Rocky mountain Vertex 50 RSL. I am stripping down the VERY THICK white paint and will either clear coat it or paint it matte black.

I am not telling you guys the parts that will come over later. Keeping a bit of excitement!

Frame weight, size M, with paint, der hanger: 1364g

The setup

photo 1 (2) par devincification, sur Flickr

I am still in the stripping phase and I badly need help with this. I have used carbolift and it doesnt show the results I was hoping for. Here are the steps I followed:

1-Room kept at 25-26C
2-sanding down the part of the frame with 120 grit, also tried 100 grit.
3-Applying carbolift, thin coat, let act 30 min, then applied a thick coat, covered in cling wrap and let act for 12 hours.
4-Removed the wrap and scraped with a plastic paint scraper.

The carbolift has removed a part of the paint but I still have some huge work to do.

Here you can see the DS chainstay, I have done 3 cycles of carbolift on it and there is a thin layer of paint that wont even move.

photo 1 par devincification, sur Flickr

Here is the NDS chainstay, done 1 cycle of carbolift on it

photo 2 par devincification, sur Flickr

What I would need is some advice on how to sand down the remaining paint without damaging the carbon. What kind of sand paper, what grit size, what technique.

Thanks! Stay tuned for some updates!

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2013 rocky mountain vertex 29er
­Twitter
www.cyclingtrainingnuts.blogspot.ca

Scalpel blade?

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My 2008 Scott Scale.

surprised the carbolift hasnt done the job. i recently stripped my frame using cutting blades predominantly. i finished off with light grit (240) but if you are careful the blades will do most of the work. you need patience and time though.
hope the advice is of some use and good luck

Did you use wet paper or normal paper? I used 320 and 400 wet and I can now see the carbon. There are some very tiny scratches on the carbon, is it ok?

Thanks

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2013 rocky mountain vertex 29er
­Twitter
www.cyclingtrainingnuts.blogspot.ca

if your'e throuh to the carbon i'd stick with wet. if you use the finest grit wet on the scratches i reckon you'll be ok but run your fingers over the bare material first to see if you can feel the texture of the weave. if you can then you've gone as far as you should so be careful.

thanks a lot.

I definitly cant feel the carbon. I guess I should try to find some fine grit. The finest I can find right now is wet 600. Wonder if its fine enough.

I am letting the paint harden up for a whole day after carbolift has soften it. I will give another cycle of carbolift tomorrow on the rear triangle and will give a first try on the seat tube. Will update with pictures tomorrow!

stay tuned

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2013 rocky mountain vertex 29er
­Twitter
www.cyclingtrainingnuts.blogspot.ca

That carbolift makes a nasty mess.

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RUEGAMER 5.21kg, 11.48lbs

CRUMPTON 4.40kg, 9.70lbs

yes, lucky the GF didnt kill me yet

but I if my next try works great, I reckon it can save you a load of time. The carbolift guys told me white paint was a pain though

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2013 rocky mountain vertex 29er
­Twitter
www.cyclingtrainingnuts.blogspot.ca

here's a little update of the work in progress.

I gave a good shot of carbolift yesterday on the seat tube and it didnt do much, it definitly wont remove the primer under the paint. I have to scrape it and sand it down. The junctions are a real PITA as well as the drop outs sections.

I posted a photo of the scratches it makes when I sand. I use 320 wet and its stupid long to sand down anything. Are those scratches dangerous? They are superficial, looks like there is a kind of clear over the carbon, under the primer. Should I remove the scratches with a fine grit sand paper?

I plan on painting the whole frame black or matte black, I dont think the scratches would show?

Rear triangle in progress

rear triangle in process par devincification, sur Flickr

seat tube scratches

seattube sratches par devincification, sur Flickr

_________________
2013 rocky mountain vertex 29er
­Twitter
www.cyclingtrainingnuts.blogspot.ca

you should periodically throw it on the scale to see how many g you have taken off.

ah! exactly what I wanted to do this morning and completely forgot about it

frame now weights 1323g

I'd really appreciate if someone could point out if the tiny scratches are a problem? I just want to make sure I am not ruining everything

_________________
2013 rocky mountain vertex 29er
­Twitter
www.cyclingtrainingnuts.blogspot.ca

Are you using the razor blade technique? If so, how are you sure your not scraping off the epoxy resin?

I am using it a little to take off the superficial paint once it has been soften by the carbolift. When I take it off, there is still the primer layer to remove, wich I remove with wet sandpaper. The resin is quite hard from what I can see.

Btw last carbolift cycle was done in very favourable conditions, too bad it really doesnt work as its supposed to.

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2013 rocky mountain vertex 29er
­Twitter
www.cyclingtrainingnuts.blogspot.ca

little update

some more sanding done. The junctions are housing/hose guide are a real pain, dont know how I will sand them precisely. Maybe I will leave a bit of pain here and there near the junctions since I will paint it black.

Tonight I will carbolift the bottle cage hole, front derailleur area and hose guide as well as the BB junction and seatstay to seat tube junction area.

There is about 5 hours of wet sanding done up to date

I also have received a few parts last week, NOT telling you what just now

DS rear triangle

5 hours sanding DS rear triangle par devincification, sur Flickr

NDS rear triangle

5 hours sanding, NDS rear triangle par devincification, sur Flickr

rear view

5 hours sanding, rear view par devincification, sur Flickr

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2013 rocky mountain vertex 29er
­Twitter
www.cyclingtrainingnuts.blogspot.ca

So you need 15 hours more...

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Wilier Cento Uno
Colnago Master X-light
Wilier 18carati