Learning how to wrap a bike frame with vinyl begins, of course, with choosing the right tools. You need the knife, squeegees with buffers on them. You'll also need Knifeless Tape, this is for cutting directly on the surface, safely and, of course, cleaners.
Bike frames naturally have a lot of oil that builds up on them, so put extra focus on cleaning to ensure that the surface as a high surface energy and the wrap film can stick.
Next up is to prep the frame with 3M Knifeless tape. Here it is being placed at the front because the idea is to leave this exposed at the very end to highlight the logo and the color. Now here at the bottom of the bike frame, is where there's going to be an overlap, so the pieces are going to be cut separately so it has good long term hold. Because this is a direct cut on the body Knifeless tape as best.
Now we measure the bike frame. Make sure you have enough material left to right, top to bottom, place the film on a work table that is clean with the lighter side facing up. Once the piece is cut, remove the liner exactly halfway.
And you can either have someone hold the frame for you at this moment or place it on a vice, then flip the panel over the top of the frame. Once it is set at the halfway point. Now pick the frame up and lay it on the table. Using a squeegee with a buffer, lock the material on the top side of the frame. Then for the front section, because this is the curviest, give it a little heat, then form it onto this wide section. One hand holds the material off the surface safely as a material squeegeed into place. Once it is firmly here that it can be fed back in towards the middle part of the frame?
Now, go to the front of the frame where the Knifeless tape is and take it just to that point. Make a relief cut here to access the Knifeless tape, release the line and then remove the excess film low and flat away.
And as you can see with this material from Rvinyl, it has air egress features so bubbles and wrinkles are easily pushed away.
Here at the front, lock the material up to the table coming at the squeegee and make a long squeegee stroke towards the front. Now the material sits in place, so the inside portion is set. And now the materials relax towards the underside of the frame. Because the material is bunching up, make a relief cut so it can relax to the Knifeless Tape, which is then removed safely and cleanly without cutting directly on the frame.
Now, move on to the left side. The material is relaxed just past the middle area, if for here there's an open area, so a relief cut can be made and this will make this section much easier to install. Material is cut flush to the back post, and now everything is on the frame itself.
Areas in the middle can be cut safely away and this will help form the film further onto the inside portion. For this big area, the material is being float cut, which means a freehand pulls the excess film away, while the material is cut roughly a quarter inch past the edge. This then allows the film to be wrapped around with no tension and full coverage.
With the back session to complete, we move on to the large open section where the film is cut away, leaving two to three inches of film on all sides. Then it's formed into place. You see application of. Heat can be added to soften the film and be sure to focus on the deepest corner areas first. These are what's called mouths. If you feed these first, there's less tension. Now here the knife is cutting away the excess film once it's wrapped roughly to the other side of the frame, the blade is running alongside the bike frame, not on it.
And now, with one half of the bike frame wrapped, it's time for the other side. Once it's started correctly, remove the entire liner and install with the exact same protocol.
For the key areas where the hardware is going to go back onto the frame, always be sure to cut these out. If you put the hardware on top of the frame it can cause the material to shift over time and actually come off the surface, so it is always a good idea to cut it flush, clean and symmetrical so it looks super professional. So here at this section, always run the blade alongside the gap, so it goes in nice and clean. Same thing for the top.
With everything cut out and sealed, the final step is to wipe it down with the after care cleaning product from Rvinyl to make the finish pristine.
#Rvinyl #Rwraps #BikeWraps
8 авг 2024
