This entry is the @#$%* entry of a @#$%* part series (if Murphy’s Law has anything to do with it) on upgrading an old Schwinn Collegiate to a practical and pleasing daily bicycle for transportation.

Well … we just had to go and taunt Murphy, didn’t we? And judging by how long it has been since the last update on this project, you might have guessed as much.  Basically, we set out to do the simple job of removing the old paint on our Schwinn Collegiate … and about 3 weeks later the job is finally done.  Here’s the story of how Murphy finally made a contribution to the project:

On our Renaissanced Bicycles, we always use a professional grade blasting media to strip the old paint and primer before a new paint job.  For a high quality paint job, it is important to start with a blank canvas for a solid primer foundation.  But for this project, we had the bright idea of imitating what a “normal” consumer might use to strip paint — we invested in a few dollars worth of chemical paint stripper.  Since we have used this process before, and had good results, we were confident in our success.  Of course, Murphy had other ideas.

Paint stripper is really nasty stuff.  It doesn’t take a genius to recognize that any chemical strong enough to remove paint is not exactly G-rated.  So we took the necessary safety precautions of moving everything outside, donned the proper chemical protectant garb, re-read the directions (yes, really), acquired the appropriate scraping / adhesive materials, and brought along a bucket of warm soapy water just in case.

After about an hour of vigorous work (and a second dose of the chemical stripper) we realized that this paint and primer meant business.  As we are fond of saying, “They don’t paint ‘em like they use to.”  But never ones to back down from a challenge, we soldiered on …

And finally, after another half-an-hour and no noticeable progress, our common sense caught up with our soldiers.  Apparently, our chemical stripper was no match for the durable paint from the Schwinn factory.  We briefly considered just trying to just remove the paint and not the red primer … but this would leave us with a less-than-satisfactory canvas.

Time for Plan B:

Not ready to concede defeat, we took the next logical step in a home-remedy.  With our air compressor serving as a the “lungs” of the project, we purchased an inexpensive media blasting attachment.  At about $20, we opted for a smaller media volume, but one that worked within the limits of our air compressor.  The only challenge in the process was locating good blasting media; since we were spraying outside The Shop door, we didn’t want to use the usual suspects of alumium oxide or silica based blasting media.  Like the chemical stripper in the first attempt, they are just bad news and best avoided if possible.  For another $25, we located a 50lb bag of finely ground walnut shells … which is exactly what it sounds like.

Unfortunately, it would have been a better use of our time to just to drop the 50lb. bag of walnut shells on the frame.  Despite the walnut shells hurling out of the blasting gun at a skin blistering 110 PSI, they had no effect on the remaining paint.  No really … no effect at all.  We didn’t even bother to take a picture because it would look just like the one above, only with walnut shells scattered about.

Is there one piece of helpful advice a user might glean from our experience?  Don’t waste your time blasting with walnut shells:  Environmentally friendly — Yes.  Effective — No.

Time for Plan C:

Like many people, before we started this bike business, we were not versed in the power of using soda (also known as sodium bicarbonate) as a blasting media.  To say the least, it is very effective.  In fact, this video from a media blasting supplier gives a pretty good visual demonstration.  Thankfully, clean-up is a warm water solution with a flavorful hint of vinegar.  The results on our frame speak for itself.

The cost of professional soda media blasting is actually pretty reasonable.  For posterity, we called a few local automotive body shops.  Estimates for a service like this ranged from $45 to $85, mostly depending on the amount of blasting media that would be consumed in the stripping process.  In our experience, this additional expense is well worth it.

Basically, we walked away from this segment of the project with two lessons:

• While many home-based solutions are adequate, using a professional for certain tasks is both efficient and less expensive.
• Never taunt Murphy.  After all, he is the one that makes the Law.

Anybody need some finely ground walnut shells?

For the next installment, we’ll offer up a virgin sacrifice to Murphy, and then just hope for the best — The Murphy’s Law Project — Spray Paint, Not Just for Graffiti Anymore