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Its probably been discussed numerous times before, but is bead blasting an aluminium frame a safe way of stripping the paint?
I can imagine it's ok if it's a fair old lump of frame, but what about something fairly thin walled?
if it's a very, very, very fine medium, then yes. But probably best to stick with sand blasting.
I have bead-blasted a couple of aluminium frames now without any issues.
As mentioned, I used the finest grade we have at work.
Don't have inputs regarding bead blast.
But what you mention, "fairly thin walled" new frame stuff:
the old hardtail frames I have are monster solid and heavy. Thick wall tubes. No way that I would worry about blasting.
Guess the manufacturers changed to higher quality aluminium now?
New aluminium frames are thin wall, like master pieces... - so yes - your question is very valid. I would be a bit concerned with these thin wall new frames and "bead blasting"...
"the old hardtail frames I have are monster solid and heavy. Thick wall tubes. No way that I would worry about blasting.
Guess the manufacturers changed to higher quality aluminium now?"
It's not really about new Vs old, but type of frame and intended use etc.
Some of the older Alu frames (Cannondale CAAD4/5, Klein, Principia etc.) are pretty thin walled and it's more about whether it's a lightweight XC frame or a burlier kind of frame.
Tube manipulation techniques have changed and improved over time but the Aluminium grades/alloys used haven't really changed much and tube wall thickness is mostly going to be dictated by type of frame and intended use, there are some specific areas and bits where it's possible for things to be 'a bit thinner' than older frame, but that's more about being able to control where the material is, but on average there's not a huge difference between old vs new in terms of wall thickness, certainly not in terms of 'old' frames being safe to blast and 'new' frames not being safe. A light weight XC frame is still going to be thin walled and a burly trail or enduro frame is still going to be thicker.
Anyway, yes it can be OK, but depends on the specific media used and who's doing it...
I think soda blasting is an option as it uses bicarbonate of soda and is less harsh.
Someone on retrobike did a GT and it looked like a Ti frame. Cant find link just now.
Soda blasting or ground walnut shells.
Definitely not sand.
Ok, so supposing it is a road frame, one of the recent lightweight offerings....say a recent CAAD or a Kinesis Aithein? As an example. The kind where you flick the frame tubes and it sounds akin to a can of coke rather than a gas pipe.
When I enquired about this local powdercoater said they chemically dip frames to get rid of paint so that is probably safest option.