Brushed finish on Stainless lugs

[dubrat]

Hi guys

Thought I woulda ask to see what the method of getting a brushed finish on Stainless lugs.... I have seen it used a lot on Dave Andersons beautiful frames and on Sasha and a couple of others.

Couple of pics below of what I mean...





Cheers

Adrian the Aussie

[Dave Anderson]

Hi Adrian,

Thanks for your kind words. There's a deceptive amount of work involved. The lug needs to be uniformly smooth throughout, (meaning filing it down smooth and even, followed by various grades of emery....often backed up by a file.), and it has to be very smooth before brushing it out (with Scotchbrite). I do pretty much everything that's necessary for a full polish before brushing it...in fact, in some ways, its almost easier to just polish the darn thing. When brushing a lug or etc. out, I am careful to pay attention to which direction I am going as I am working around the lug because I want the "scratches" to be uniform and to "flow" along and around the lug in a pleasing and logical way.

Dave

[dubrat]

Thanks for the reply Dave..

Best part about this forum is the amazing access and generosity with knowledge for the best framebuilders in the business...

Thanks to everybody that share here...

[seankanary]

Dave, do you follow a "grain" on the lugs or tubes? When I brush aluminum on cars at work, I follow the grain like pattern in the metal. Does stainless have a similar process? Your stainless work is top notch by the way.

Sean Hendrix

[Dave Anderson]

Hi Sean,

Tubes typically have a grain, but not lugs. The grain on the tubes comes from the MFG sanding the exterior of the tubes around their circumference. Stainless lugs are typically investment cast and have a rougher "orange peel" kind of surface (assuming they weren't pre-polished or something). Its that rough surface that needs to be filed and sanded smooth. You can then make the grain go any which way you want....ie..whatever looks best to you. I do, however, typically follow...or more accurately....replace the grain on the tubes in its original direction. (it has a tendency to get altered a bit during the build, particularly when brushing out the lugs, etc.)

Dave