diy paint job on carbon forks?

[meandmetoo]

Ola hubbers.

 

Doing a fun little side project build for a fun track/fixie. They guy who powdercoats for me refused to spray my CF forks (baking will ruin the forks). I know that diy paint jobs are not ideal but I have decided to set myself a challenge and have some fun as I can't afford 1k to get just my for sprayed.

 

I need to paint them myself. Has anyone got any experience with it? Any pointers would help! They are already painted (factory) so I was thinking of sanding it down with 220 grit into the existing paint and smoothing it off with some finer grit(400).

 

Can I apply the paint directly to the exist,sanded paint or do I need to prime?

 

If so what primer is good for cf?

 

Then I will apply a couple coats of paint and finish with clear-coat.

 

I know it will not be perfect. But it will be cheap and I can repaint or change colours as needed.

[V12man]

Ola hubbers.

 

Doing a fun little side project build for a fun track/fixie. They guy who powdercoats for me refused to spray my CF forks (baking will ruin the forks). I know that diy paint jobs are not ideal but I have decided to set myself a challenge and have some fun as I can't afford 1k to get just my for sprayed.

 

I need to paint them myself. Has anyone got any experience with it? Any pointers would help! They are already painted (factory) so I was thinking of sanding it down with 220 grit into the existing paint and smoothing it off with some finer grit(400).

 

Can I apply the paint directly to the exist,sanded paint or do I need to prime?

 

If so what primer is good for cf?

 

Then I will apply a couple coats of paint and finish with clear-coat.

 

I know it will not be perfect. But it will be cheap and I can repaint or change colours as needed.

Sand it with a bit finer than 220 - say 400 grit - then if you use decent 2 part paint you can probably avoid priming on cf - 80% of the work is in prep - quality prep = quality end result.

 

You can use a 2 part filler primer as primer, especially if it is scratched or any 2 part epoxy primer if the surface is good - then shoot automotive paint over that.

 

Stay away from spray cans - unless it is automotive paint.

 

If you do the prep work yourself, you can probably find a spray painter to do the final coats for small money when they are spraying a colour similar to what you want if you are not too fussy on colour.

[Overlord]

Speak to Bogus. He is the man.

[Eugene]

Please show us the end result.

[Skylark]

Use whatever colours you want and rust oleum 2x for the Clear coat, R95 at Builders Wharehouse, very good paint, just be careful - it sprays really wet but one tin goes a very long way.

[meandmetoo]

Speak to Bogus. He is the man.

Thanks for the help. Dropped it off the other day. Have only heard good things. Great price too.

[Skinnyone]

Use Rustoleum paint - found at Builder's. I have found it gives the best finish, in terms of primer use any primer that is compatible with your top coat - some paints are not compatible and the easiest way to check is to see what solvent you need to use to clean stuff. i.e. do not mix paint that needs thinners with paint that needs turps.

 

to get the paint off, use the 220 grit but be aware that this may cause deep scratches that will need more priming. So once the paint is off, spray a coat of primer, then sand with 400-600 grit, then spray primer and check where all the scratches/nicks are and sand again, then spray primer and sand.

 

Basically sand, spray, sand repeat until you get a smooth finish in primer then you can start the color and again it may take 2-3 coats of paint to get an awesome finish. Like V12 said, the more effort you put into the base layers the better your overall finish.

[rock]

by the time you have bought a few cans of proper spray paint, some sand paper and about 10 hours of your time you may have found it more worth while to take it to a 'pro'

 

although I like a challenge too.

[meandmetoo]

by the time you have bought a few cans of proper spray paint, some sand paper and about 10 hours of your time you may have found it more worth while to take it to a 'pro'

 

although I like a challenge too.

Yeah. Took it to Bogus. But my next build I am definitely going to try. Whats the worst that could happen????

[V12man]

Yeah. Took it to Bogus. But my next build I am definitely going to try. Whats the worst that could happen????

You sand it off again and try again..