Saturday, July 5, 2014

Dented B-side...

Michael sent a frantic email...

Rody,

I hate to ask because I know how busy you are and I know you aren't taking repairs in anymore, but can you maybe take a quick look at Karen's B-side... I knocked over an unused lally column I had in the basement and it dinged the drive side chainstay. No cracks as far as I can tell, but kind of a deep dent. It's certainly not a high end frame, but Karen is kind of attached to it (she named it).

He's right, I am busy and don't do repairs for folks anymore, but since he was in a bad way after crunching his wife's bike and is local, I made an exception.  Gave up riding with my daughter tonight, but got it done.

Before:

After:

Paint was removed three inches to either side of the dent so I would not have to breath that stuff when the stay heated up.  I had to drill the crease out at both ends using a center drill, then methodically fill the gaping dent using the tig torch and two sticks of stainless filler (used because it flow/feathers out).  The area was then filed smooth and a bit of 45% silver was flowed into the uneven areas and sanded.

The paint edges were then sanded for a seamless transition and then primer, color, and clear feathered on to match the existing paint.

Total time - 3 hours.

Hope Karen is happy with her frame and Michael is out of the dog house :)

rody

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