Here are a couple more pictures of Bill’s carbon frame. I showed some build shots last week but skipped the wrapping, compacting and curing process because I prefer to keep them to myself. When I post the second part of my “rant” I’ll go into more detail about why.
In these pictures the frame is fresh out of the oven and no finish work has been done. The next thing I’ll do is knock the flashing off with a 3M belt on a Dynabrade with a bow, then it will be ready for paint. Ideally when a frame is built well it should need little to no finishing. In carbon, many builders will over-build with carbon and then sand it down until it’s smooth. I prefer to put on only the carbon that is needed and not sand at all. That requires producing a paint ready finish straight out of the cure oven. If I was to sand this finish it would cause the weave to look blurry and inconsistent. Once this is clear coated it will have a high gloss and very consistent weave pattern.
Looking good Carl. Excellent detail.
Indeed, that frame does look very nice!
In the last picture, is that a headset cup already pressed in?
Nope Dominic, that’s a plug I put in the DT during cure to keep it from deforming.
Don’t want to speak for Carl but the piece in the bottom of the headtube is more than likely a plug so the pressure from the vacuum doesn’t crush the tube. Speaking from experience, that superb finish is not easy to achieve straight out of the oven.
Wow! Looking good Carl… as always.
nice work Carl.