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How to Paint Stripes on Wood Rims with Zero Skills

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Most restored or new wood rims are finished as plain wood with varnish. They look great but I feel that something has been lost in the process. Back in the day, bikes could be ordered with all kinds of fancy stripes painted under the varnish. Here are two pages from the 1918 CCM catalogue showing some of the frame colour options and the painted rims that went with them:

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Here is a similar colour page from the 1922 Hyslop Catalogue (Toronto) showing rim striping done for them by an American supplier:
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Let's be clear that I have zero talent for painting pinstripes. In my opinion, pinstripers are up there with the Greek Gods for their magical ability to do something that no ordinary human is capable of. So, today I tried an experiment to see if I could pull off replicating one of the above styles of rims. I wanted to test my theory that I could put the wonders of electrical tape to use in place of masking tape. Why electrical tape? - because it's very pliable and forgiving and is capable of hugging curves in 3 dimensions, and so it's perfect for applying to wood rims, curved as they are. Also, it occurred to me that the glue on electrical tape could be perfect for this, because it's strong but also easily removable. Here is what you need:

  • A dining table when the wife's not around. Who needs a workshop when you've got a perfectly good dining table that's near the fridge and coffee maker?
  • Water based acrylic paints in colours of your choice. I chose matte paint because I will apply varnish over top later and was afraid the varnish would not adhere properly to glossy paint.
  • Camel hair brushes, which are really made from squirrel hair. Don't ask me, as the Internet! Apparently they are what pinstripers use. If they're good enough for the gods, they're good enough for me.
  • Wood rims. I'm using the darker ones because they're not in pristine condition. I placed some brand new rims from Noah Stutzman next to them for comparison. I'm told they are made of maple. I have no idea what the darker ones are made of but they look like a different type of wood (maybe someone can tell us?). I sanded them last night.
  • And the secret ingredient, electrical tape!

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I've chosen to paint style 72 from the 1918 CCM catalogue (top right corner of page). I chose it because it will work on a black bike or a maroon bike, and because the center red stripe is about the width of a strip of electrical tape - happy coincidence!

First, using a single strip of electrical tape (one for each side) for the whole circumference of the rim, mask off the outer edges of both sides of the rim. Take your time and carefully ensure the tape precisely follows the curvature of the rim. You can leave the other side of the tape hanging in the air for now if you wish. When you've gone all the way around, press down the other side of the tape so all of it is sticking to the rim around the entire length. Then run a third strip of tape down the middle of the rim, again carefully making sure it's lined up and centered perfectly.
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Paint the exposed sections of wood in matte black. After trying and failing to paint the gold pinstripe along the edges, I gave up at half way around, sanded it off, reapplied the black, and went back to the art supply store to buy a gold paint pen. The colour was wrong anyway. I was suckered in by the name "antique gold" but it's too yellowish. The paint pen works wonders!:

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I had never used electrical tape in place of masking tape before so I had no idea of it's ability to prevent leaking of paint under the tape. Eureka, it works!:

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I was tempted to leave the rims as they were at this point, but since it's an experiment I decided to see it through to the end. Another thing I didn't know, was whether the glue on the electrical tape would peel off the newly applied paint. I decided to try though, having learned from my above mentioned failure at pinstriping that I cannot paint stripes without help from tape. The paint is called Deep Burgundy. I was a little concerned when it went on as lipstick red, but it dried into a nice burgundy colour like the original:

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The tape didn't remove the black paint or gold stripe! I love electrical tape!!!

Success! ...It's not perfect, but as close to perfect as I can get it. with my non-existent painting skills.

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If you give it a try, or have had success with other methods in the past, feel free to post your pics!
cheers,
-Brian R.

Nice work, I absolutely Love your DIY mentality.
Here is a decent video I'd like to share since you asked.
When I lay down stripes on a bicycle rim or tires, I utilize a stripping brush while the rim is spinning very slowing in a true stand, or fork blade stand.
Same concept here but utilizing a Beugler tool.
I prefer brushes over Beugler tool because the paint coming off a brush is more consistent, precise, and predictable as you pallet the bristles with paint more or less as needed.
I made an axle Mahl-Stick out of bicycle kickstand/ back scratcher to assist my hand.

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First, I'm not a pro painter, and I would agree a true sign painter or pin striper is a good investment. But I have learned a few tricks painting two and three tone graphics on my restored vintage camper trailers. These are not my ideas, just things I have learned by asking questions, and watching pro sign painters. This is a very old craft, and there's not much that has not been already tried.

First, I use One Shot slow drying enamel sign painter's paint. You can find it online or in any art store. The small 1/2 pint can, will last you for years. It's also good to have a quart of slow drying reducer for thinning, brush cleaning, and for wiping off mistakes. The main advantage of this paint is the slow drying, allows the paint to lay down overnight and the brush marks disappear. The paint has good UV fade resistance if it has to take any sun exposure like my trailer graphic's do. You want to remove the masking tape "before the paint is dry". There's a sweet spot on the time, depending on ambient temperature, surface temperature, and humidity, maybe as little as only an hour after painted. I remove the tape ASAP which allows the wet edge to lay down over night. There's a right, and a wrong way to remove masking tape from a freshly painted object. You need to pull the tape at a ninety-degree angle to the fresh paint, NOT UP which will lift the fresh paint. One Shot offers a good selection of basic colors, and they can be mixed to thousands of shades. They also sell flattening agents to make semi-gloss or flat colors.

Like has been already stated, "the secret to amateur pin striping is the type of tape". 3M sells a special tape specifically for this work. It's not cheap at about $20/roll but well worth it. It comes in 1/8", 1/4", 1/2" widths. Likely other widths as well, but the 1/8" and 1/4" is what I use. The tape is sold under the 3M Fineline Brand Name. It's dark blue in color. It's a plastic tape (not to be confused with the blue paper 3M masking tape. This tape will produce a very sharp demarcation line with no bleed under. One word of caution, DO NOT OVER STREACH THE TAPE while you are applying it. The adhesive will delaminate from the plastic if the tape is over stretched during the layout period. As with any normal masking tape, NEVER LET IT SIT IN THE SUN after it's applied. Apply it, paint, remove in a maximum for two to three days to get best results.

Layout. The way I would layout a single 1/8" pinstripe on a rim edge would be to use the blue 3M Fineline tape to position the line exactly where it's to be placed. When your happy with the placement, use another Fineline tape on each border side of the first 1/8" tape. Lay these down smoothly and exactly adjacent to each side of the first tape. Then pull up the first tape and you will have a perfectly spaced line waiting to be painted. If your spraying your lines, you will need to add more normal masking and paper to protect from the overspray. The Special Fineline tape is only used next to the painted pinstripe line.

A word about masking tapes. Do not buy the #2090 3M tape off the shelf at your local ACE or Big Box store, you have no way to know how fresh it is. Go to a real auto body shop supply store and buy the #233+ green masking tape. They go through tons of this product and will have fresh tape. It sticks better, removes easier, and does not have any bleed under. The #233+ comes in all the different widths down to 1/8". It's well worth your trip. When using the tape, be very careful when you lay it down. The side of the tape roll is sticky and will pick up dirt and debris to be transferred into your fresh painted item.

Happy Painting
John
 
@Schwinn Sales West thank you for these tips. Excited to give this a try. Do you give yourself faint pencil registration marks as targets for your layout tape? Or just eyeball it?
Soap stones work for me. Just like a Taylor would use.

Black grease pencils also work on light colored back ground's but you have to wipe the surface clean with a degreaser before you paint.

John
 
Dopey Dean "Full Throttle Saloon" sign painter for "Micheal Ballard," taught me to utilize these Bistro Chalk markers. Whereas once I have chalk lines drawn, I go ahead and paint right over the top of the chalk line. And if necessary, the chalk lines easily wipe away. I use black or white.

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Tried so many techniques over the years, but nothing has gained such a good result as with Finess pinstriping tape. It's a template tape with pre cut stripes, you can choose width, how many stripes you like in their catalog or special order to your specific need. This is one of the bikes i did with it:


Only downside is that it's time consuming to apply straight and neat, but well worth the effort.
 
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