Carbon forks - refinishing?

[Proto]

Building up a new bike for my daughter and found a lovely Fuji Team Issue frame. Super, super light, carbon seat stays, great condition. It came with some Cannondale Slice full carbon forks (made by Time). Only downside is that there is a big 'Cannondale' decal on each fork leg which clashes horribly with the frame.

So I'm thinking of using some very fine emery cloth (240/320 grit) to go through the lacquer and decal, gently, gently does it, then use some aerosol car type lacqer to refinish.

I'm confident that I'd get an excellent finish, but slightly worried that any solvents/propellents in the lacquer may damage the carbon/resin.

What do the experts think? Good or bad idea? Thoughts please.

 

[domtyler]

I have no knowledge of this particular scenario but I feel that you wouldn't do much harm by following the steps you've described.

 

[Destry]

Not sure this is a good idea

I'd be a bit nervous of doing this - it is supposed to be easy to compromise the integrity/strength of a piece of carbon fibre with what looks like quite superficial damage. Would be horrible if the forks snapped.

Also, the stuff is noxious, so if you are going to sand it, do wear a mask...

That said, Oval Concepts say you can touch up any light scratches in their bars with clear nail varnish -- that suggests it isn't too sensitive to solvents or light scratches.

No sure this helps you much with your conundrum!

Cheers,

Tom

 

[llllllll]

I did something very similar with a set of Easton carbon TT bars recently. I was very nervous about it at first but actually it was pretty easy.

I started by scratching the transfers off with a razor blade (Stanley Knife blade minus the knife), keep the angle shallow and push it away from you. It'll look horrible when you're done, but you only end up taking the transfer off rather than putting scratch marks in the laquer around it. I then used 400 grit wet 'n' dry to smooth it out. Put plenty of effort into getting the edges smooth, last thing you want is a step around where the transfer used to be. I finished it with 600 grit, again go around the edges, the idea is to feather the existing laquer. I know it's boring but as the old saying goes 'it's all in the preperation', don't be tempted to rush it. Dispite the obvious concern of taking away to much material, it's not hard to avoid damaging the carbon.

Like you're suggesting I used car laquer, I've used several brands in the past and can recommend Hy-Cote. I don't know why, but the smaller (250ml?) cans give a much better finish than the larger ones, prehaps they've got a different nozzle, I don't know, but there is a difference. Have a practice before spraying your forks, put too much on and it'll run, too little and you'll get the dreaded orange peel effect. If you've got the spraying right it won't need any further finishing. If you can, put the finished forks aside for a week or so, to let the laquer harden (they say 24hrs on the can, but I've put thumb prints in other parts having left them 24hrs).

 

[Proto]

Thanks all. I'm off to the shed.