Tips

Shellac.

Shellac is a brittle or flaky secretion of the lac insect Kerria lacca, found in the forests of Assam and Thailand.
Freed from wood it is called "seedlac".
Once it was commonly believed that shellac was a resin obtained from the wings of an insect found in India.
In actuality, shellac is obtained from the secretion of the female insect, harvested from the bark of the trees where
she deposits it to provide a sticky hold on the trunk.
Shellac is a natural polymer and is chemically similar to synthetic polymers, thus it is considered a natural plastic.
It is soluble in various organic solvents. When dissolved in alcohol, typically blends containing ethanol and
methanol, shellac yields a coating of superior durability and hardness.
It is used in the traditional "French polish" method of finishing furniture, and fine viols and guitars.
Until the advent of Vinyl in 1938, phonograph records were pressed from shellac compounds until about 1950.
Sheets of Braille also used to be coated with shellac to help protect them from wear due to being read by hand.
Shellac is edible and it is used as a glazing agent on pills and candies.
Shellac is now considered obsolete as a molding compound, but its use in industries continues as there are
no synthetic or natural substitutes in a number of processes. For examples, it is used as an outer fruit coating to
prevent post-harvest decay (e.g. apples); in dental technology it is used in the production of custom impression
trays; it is used in the optical trade.
AND it is used by many cyclists as a protective and decorative coating for their handlebar tape.

Working with Shellac.

It looks very nice to have shellac on your handlebar tape. It is easy to apply and it last for years, when it gets older you just repaint it and it is like new again.
Flakes are the best you can get and there are different colors on the market, blond and amber. You can use alcohol to make the flakes in an old fashioned clear coat.

Best is to grind the flakes first before you put them in the alcohol, it saves you a lot of time
and stirring.
Still you have to stir a lot to bring it to a good solid paint.
Wait a day or 2 before you start to use it so it can settle and dissolve completely.
Make the lack to a milk thickness and start to paint the tape with a soft brush.
The first layer will be absorbed completely and it will dry in 30 minutes and you can
repaint it again and again.
Because the alcohol will vaporize the lack gets thicker and he handlebar tape will start to look better.

50 grams of shellac is enough to do two handle bars and repaint it for years.
It is possible to color the shellac with other pigments and create new colors.

Restoring old chrome.

Often on older bicycles the chrome is getting bad and brown rusty.
There are more possibilities to restore it to an acceptable level.
When the chrome is gone it is not possible to restore it but hiding is possible.
One of the best ways is to use Brillo steel scouring-pads with soap.
With a little water on the pad you can get the chrome to a real shinning state.
When you rinse the chrome with hand-warm water there will be a film left and will protect the chrome longer.
Most of the time this is good enough for the chrome-work on a bicycle.

It is also possible to use aluminum foil and wrap that into a ball than use the ball to clean the chrome.
Turn the ball around and re-wrap it frequently so you will always have a fresh piece of foil.
The chrome will start to shine and cover the bad spots.
When the rust is hard and the chrome is completely gone it is no longer possible to restore, so don't expect miracles.
The chrome quality on bikes is most of the time good and will stay for a long time in good condition.

Re-chroming is very difficult with a bike frame, often only the rear end is chrome and that can't be chromed again.
It is important not to leave any paint or dirt in a chroming process, or the process will not work.
Front-fork and loose parts can be chromed easily.
All the old chrome must be removed with a sand-blasting gun, and buffed until it shines like a mirror.
Every little scratch you leave behind will be like an existing scratch in your new chrome.
At last the parts to are being chromed must be cleaned very thorough before the chroming process can take place.

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