...Rawhide!
Ah, where was I.......I fancied building a bike after seeing Jonny 69's contraptions and a conversation with Pogweasel brought the unexpected surprise of a couple of folding shopping bikes courtesy of his local freecycle. They were just what I was after as raw material since I wanted something that was going to be easier to take to shows and away camping.
I stripped one of them down, keeping the other whole as a reference as I've never messed with bikes before! In fact I last rode one about 15 years ago I reckon!
Then I cut the frame mostly to bits though I kept the bars joining pedals to rear hub un-touched as I didn't want to mess with the chain length. I changed the angles of various bits and wedge cut the forks to push the front wheel out a bit. I also took about 1/2" out of the forks to get the tyre closer to the headstock. The chain guard also received some attention from file and hammer.
About five or six weeks ago I got on with welding the rest of the frame back together to to give me this:
I decided I wanted to finish it "properly" rather than just matt blacking it but all along I wanted to give it a hot rod / custom flavour rather than going towards lowrider style. I am also a cheapskate so didn't want to buy much if anything for it! Anyway I decided gold metalflake was the way forward using some glitter paint left over from doing my mate's Mustang.
First parts were painted gold:
Then I lightly dusted the glitter paint on so that the flakes landed randomly.
Its difficult to see but at this stage it would all just brush off if touched. So to make it stick I started with very light coats of clear to stick the flakes down - a heavy coat would have made them flow and lay flat. Eventually after several dustings with clear I could put on some heavier coats to try and bury it all.
I'm pretty chuffed with teh way to worked out and keep having nasty thoughts about that Saab's roof....
Anyway, today I pieced it all back together again.
The colour works really well I think although different parts do look a little different as various amounts of the glitter landed where I wanted it too. A lesson learnt for next time
I've left the mudguards and front brake off and have relocated the gear lever (which might sprout a tall shifter ;D ). I've also yet to fit a funky bullet shaped light to the front end and I'll sort out some pretty fasteners too. Details, details.....
Ah, where was I.......I fancied building a bike after seeing Jonny 69's contraptions and a conversation with Pogweasel brought the unexpected surprise of a couple of folding shopping bikes courtesy of his local freecycle. They were just what I was after as raw material since I wanted something that was going to be easier to take to shows and away camping.
I stripped one of them down, keeping the other whole as a reference as I've never messed with bikes before! In fact I last rode one about 15 years ago I reckon!
Then I cut the frame mostly to bits though I kept the bars joining pedals to rear hub un-touched as I didn't want to mess with the chain length. I changed the angles of various bits and wedge cut the forks to push the front wheel out a bit. I also took about 1/2" out of the forks to get the tyre closer to the headstock. The chain guard also received some attention from file and hammer.About five or six weeks ago I got on with welding the rest of the frame back together to to give me this:
I decided I wanted to finish it "properly" rather than just matt blacking it but all along I wanted to give it a hot rod / custom flavour rather than going towards lowrider style. I am also a cheapskate so didn't want to buy much if anything for it! Anyway I decided gold metalflake was the way forward using some glitter paint left over from doing my mate's Mustang.
First parts were painted gold:
Then I lightly dusted the glitter paint on so that the flakes landed randomly.
Its difficult to see but at this stage it would all just brush off if touched. So to make it stick I started with very light coats of clear to stick the flakes down - a heavy coat would have made them flow and lay flat. Eventually after several dustings with clear I could put on some heavier coats to try and bury it all.
I'm pretty chuffed with teh way to worked out and keep having nasty thoughts about that Saab's roof....
Anyway, today I pieced it all back together again.
The colour works really well I think although different parts do look a little different as various amounts of the glitter landed where I wanted it too. A lesson learnt for next time
I've left the mudguards and front brake off and have relocated the gear lever (which might sprout a tall shifter ;D ). I've also yet to fit a funky bullet shaped light to the front end and I'll sort out some pretty fasteners too. Details, details.....
why oh why did I not take a photo?
