cudak888 

Have to give our one and only Drillium Dude massive thanks for the inspiration (and the advice) on how to paint flutes. These early Dura-Ace cranks never quite looked right as-is, but they pop so much better with the black flute.

Now it's time to dig up some proper black chainrings for it (and ditch the half-heart shape of the second-gen 600EX-style rings).

BEFORE:



AFTER:

pastorbobnlnh 

Beautiful!

Bianchigirll 

They look great

cudak888 

Thanks! Just won a first-gen, black outer ring on eBay for it. Hope to get an inner sometime - couldn't find any listed at the moment.




-Kurt

non-fixie 

Nice!

conspiratemus1

The low-lustre black (maybe even flat? -- can't tell for sure on my monitor) really suits. Well done.

The Golden Boy 

A long time ago, I saw a video of a guy filling in the lower portions of a Cyclone derailleur- as I recall, he used a blade or a card to swipe off the paint off the raised portions. Is that how you did this- or were you just "careful?"

repechage

to fill the spider flutes you need a Leroy lettering pen, 1.5 or 2.0 tip. Often called a "mouse" It with very thinned paint will allow you to just paint the base of the indentation.

Salamandrine 

Nice. I feel the 70s-ness of it.

The usual trick for filling flutes etc is to paint in with oil enamel reasonably carefully. Then take a folded up paper towel into a pad, and dampen it with mineral spirits. Wipe off the top of the painted part. Fold to expose a clean surface. Repeat as necessary.

cudak888 

I used the @Drillium20%Dude method: Paint, then hit the raised areas with a rag and Goof Off. Works perfectly.

It's flat black - not even satin. I roughly masked off the arm, sprayed it black, and used the method I mention above to remove the excess.

I'd do it on Campagnolo flutes, but not these. They're not defined enough to look good, IMO (and I don't think I'm good enough at it to get the edge defined below the beveled section).

-Kurt

Drillium Dude 

Super job - the lettering pops like crazy! And I was wondering, too, about doing the spider flutes until I saw the "undefined edge" and then realized why you didn't go there.

That ring would look super-awesome with some golf-ball drillings; I think the original version was decorated that way?

DD

cudak888 

Some of them were...want a job?

-Kurt

P!N20

Very nice. Love early Dura-Ace. Were those cranks available with back flutes out of the factory? I'm sure I've seen them before.

repechage

that is why the Leroy pen- only for the flat bottom area- the way the depression terminates on the Shimano crank you are correct, not enough definition.

Drillium Dude 

Once I would've said yes, but I found out recently I don't have the precision required anymore

Oh, well - I had a brief, shining moment where I had skillz. Moving on

DD

OldsCOOL

Very nice! A touch of class to classic.

I did similar with a Campy crank on the Colnago...

xiaoman1 

Wipe only in one direction...no cleanup yet paint is not dry enough!

Here is my attempt, I do not use a ruling pen, I use a pinstriping brush and either a "high" quality nail polish or "One-shot" sign painters paint.
I will lightly skim the excess while the paint is still wet...I do this in order to minimize the amount of paint I will need to clean up after its dried.
Then as already suggested above, I use just a drop (so almost dry) mineral spirits or acetone on a block that is tightly wrapped with either a paper towel or the sacrificial t-shirt. I also make sure that the surface of the towel or "t" is as flat as possible in order to only wipe the areas that need paint to be removed.
Works for me.
Ben

cudak888 

No idea, I think this is my second set; first came on a Schwinn Voyageur II.

I'll give the Leroy pen a try on a crank (not this one; I'm pleased with the end result) sometime.

Methinks it's possible with some ingenuity - a jig for a drill press that'd hold a bottom bracket at a set distance. BB would be adjustable up or down to get the corresponding "helper" crankarm to rotate the chainring just right, and a degree wheel would be installed behind the crank to aid in even spacing.

What do you think?

Haven't done it with any of my NR cranks yet. I think I'd go overboard and start filling all of them

Ben, I've seen yours before when I was researching how to do mine. Looks great. Any color for the arm itself, or just the spider?

I used Testors paint pens on a pair of Moser shifters recently; worked great. The Dura-Ace arms were, of course, sprayed; given the large surface area. I haven't tried One Shot yet, but I've heard it's the best for this. What would you say?




-Kurt

P!N20

Velobase seems to think they were available in black: https://velobase.com/ViewComponent.aspx?ID=1C1D2C9F-A24D-4C98-9FA2-BD42116574BF&Enum=115&AbsPos=36

xiaoman1 

Kurt,
"One-Shot" is the best but pricey and hard to find.
I usually get mine from sign paint suppliers, and have had some luck recently at art supply stores...it is thick and need to be reduced but flows out extremely well.
If you use a stripping brush you can go from thick to thin to fill large areas tapering down to a fine line.
Try buying primary colors and mix your own, they also have gold paint that is really nice looking...not that cheap look that a lot of golds are known for.
The arms are coming just trying to decide on the "colors"..stay tuned.
Pin stripping and detailing on regular parts is the best way to add a little individuality to stuff...
BTW nice job and the shifters
Best, Ben

cudak888 

Oh - you meant black chainrings. Interesting.

I went straight to looking for the previous generation's rings when I got these. I didn't even look at the EX rings, as I resolved to change these the moment the cranks became mine. I have no love for the heart-shaped crankset pattern that became the norm in the mid-1980s, and - personally - I think it kills the visual interest of the crank.

-Kurt

P!N20

Sorry I posted the wrong link - fixed that now.

Black flutes with black rings.

Salamandrine 

They were available. I remember them. Velobase didn't make this up. Several of the 'smaller' manufacturers did black chainring cranksets in the 70s, at least partly to differentiate themselves from Campagnolo.

Ronsonic 

One-Shot is an excellent paint for this sort of thing. I dabbled at pinstriping once (I really want a box striped bike) and discovered it. Flows, adheres and stays where you want it perfectly.

jbchybridrider 

Not a flute but filled this with a fine tip brush. Let it dry then buff over the top with a rag on the end of my finger.