Two Colsons

[the tinker]

Was up in the attic and spotted the Colsons sitting in the corner........all by themselves with only 3 Columbia s for company. Decided to bring them out to the garage and put them together and join "the fleet."
I'll keep you posted with the progress

 

[jd56]

Wow...

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[the tinker]

Wow. I am amazed how many folks like Colsons. Just posted this thread and am getting PM'ed already on them.
Sorry, gotta keep these fellas. The last two swaps I sold about 30 springer forks that were up in the attic and I have"post part-em" blues about them. Imagine if the old tinker got rid of these? Wouldn't be a pretty site, no sir.

Just finished digging out parts from about 5 different places. This is one of the reasons for wanting to put these bikes together. I will not restore these bikes. Just want to get them together to see them back on the road. When stuff sits for too long with parts scattered bad things happen.
I am debating about sticking both these frames in oxalic acid for about 6 hours. That red paint may be a problem......
Would like to bring out the graphics a bit and the O.X. does a fine job of that.
Anyway here is what I have in parts. Enough for one complete Colson.......... But which one?

The odd one out may become a fender-less "rat" rider for this stage of it's life. Got a different guard and chain ring shown in photo I may use....... decisions, decisions.........?

 

[jd56]

Red and blue one for sure!

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[the tinker]

Got kind of a late start this afternoon but got both bikes broke down and ready for the O.X. bath.
First I built a box outta some scrap 1x8 and 2x8. .Because I used some hunks of wood that were laying around I did not cut them to size and used them " as is". Should have had the 2x8 a bit longer as it is a tight fit. The bigger the box the more O.X. solution you will use . So you don't want it too big.

Next I lined the box with plastic with 3 layers thick. [I did this once during the winter in the basement with only one layer and it wasn't a pretty sight with a lake of O.X. on the floor.]

Next I filled 4 five gallon buckets with hot water, each with 4 heaping tablespoons of the Oxalic Acid [wood bleach] mixed in. It is important that whatever you do, that the object be completely submerged in the solution. You cannot say, because of container size restrictions, soak only half a big object. Deciding to soak the other half afterwards.
There will be a definite line showing between the two soakings. [ learned that the hard way]

Notice on this next photo the pin striping on this frame. Very rusty. In some cases not visible.

Now look at the last photo of this same area after being in the solution for FIVE MINUTES! While I was dumping in the 3rd. bucket of solution the O.X. had already brought out the whiteness of the striping .

I started the soak at 7 p.m. tonight. I have the alarm set to remove at 1 a.m. tomorrow morning.
I have found out that 6 to 8 hours works best. More then that we start flaking paint off. Because the acid attacks Iron oxide[rust] it is not real friendly to some red paints.

 

[WES PINCHOT]

HOW AND WHERE DO YOU DISPOSE OF THE OX. AC.?

 

[the tinker]

I use the O.X. in my wife's cocktails. It makes excellent Lime Ricky's ! Some of it I dump in my neighbor's yard ....all over his yard. He can't figure out why his grass grows so "patchy" HA HA HA !

Anyway one really has to watch this oxalic acid when soaking red painted parts. The pin striping and what's left of the red paint came out of the rust. The red was starting to get that pink look so I pulled everything out and hosed and wiped it off.
Will go over it with a light compound and wax tomorrow . Go to the Bicycle Restoration Tips Thread and look up the April 29 ,2015 post " Seeing is Believing" to see what an overnight O.X. soak will do to a severely rusted fender.
I love this stuff but as I said earlier it's not kind to red paint with iron oxide pigment.

Total time in O.X. bath 2 hours +

 

[Jesse McCauley]

HOW AND WHERE DO YOU DISPOSE OF THE OX. AC.?

Seems like an Important point-

I've heard the acid can be neutralized, I believe with baking soda. Anyone done that?

i think it can then safely be dumped, ideally not in some poor gardeners yard.
This concern has stopped me from soaking in OX acid in the past so I would love an environmentally responsible insight from anyone who has it.

 

[the tinker]

We have talked about the disposal of this stuff in past posts. I think the word "acid" scares folks or at least gives cause for concern. I think the term "Acidic" is more like it. This stuff is faster and cheaper then using Lime juice or molasses but hardly an "Acid" that comes to mind such as sulfuric. We are talking more like grape fruit juice..I think using rock salt that is dumped everywhere by the mega ton every winter on our streets and sidewalks here in the Midwest is something of more concern. [ I won't use it on my walkways]
I have in the past and will this week soak everything I have laying around including small plated parts. The solution will be pretty well spent when done .
I won't sweat a little O.X. on my lawn.

 

[the tinker]

I was up until the wee hours watching these parts. Got up early and washed everything down with bar keepers friend to remove the residue and crud from last night's soaking. The total soak times for everything was approximately 2 hours.
I just kept an eye on everything and when the striping was showing up nicely I called it quits on the soak time.
There were some surprises. The paint on both frames looked pretty close in color before soaking.
Afterwards there was a definite difference. One turned out a brownish hue . The other a lighter lipstick color.
The tank and fork revealed some some nice pin stripes that were not visible before.
After washing down with a light rubbing of Bar Keeper's friend I let all the parts dry off.
Everything was a "flat" color. There was no gloss to anything. I tried some cleaner type wax to no avail.
After hearing so much about WD40 I sprayed some on an area of one frame and let dry.
The results look good so I did everything with the W.D. The frames are now dry at the time of this photo. Time will tell ................

The rusty rims the forks are resting on are original to the tank bike. They will be replaced. the bent fork on the left will be straightened using the fork jack.