I've got a hypothetical question about giving a frame an "interesting" finish. Y'see, I got this idea to try and finish a frame kinda like... well... spalted maple or pale moon ebony. Here's a link to a bass guitar that has a spalted maple top and a pale moon ebony fingerboard:

http://www.thegrooveshoppe.com/Basses_In_S...dera_VW4-4.html

So I guess my question os, how difficult would it be to try and do steel up in an approximation of that? Exotic woodgrain finish? Could it be somewhat protected from actually using the frame to ride?

I would say you could do it, but you will not be able to see the detail unless your frame has really big tubes. If you want an exotic finish you should check with a good powerecoater. They have some awesom candy colors, and they have a process that looks like anno, but its powdercoat.

Woodgraining metal is a very, very old technique. Real popualr in the 20's - 40's on metal dashboards & interior trim of cars, metal radio cabinets, early guitar amplifiers, etc.. Still done today for restorations & stuff. Looks like real wood when done right! Go on some antique automotive message boards (NOT muscle car sites, most of those guys are arrogant, ingnorant rednecks), or do a Google search for "woodgraining metal" or "woodgrain dashboard restoration".

By the way, have you seen some of the new school parts (hubs, pedals) that actually do come in a woodgrain finish? Crazy!

Here's a link to the process you'd want to use.

http://www.immersiongraphics.com/home.asp

There are woodgraining services out there who specialize in re-woodgraining antique car dashboards and sill trim, but it's pretty expensive. To woodgrain a dash and sill trim from an average sedan would cost more than $2,000. The film immersion tecnique is far cheaper, and far mor durable to boot. Think about all the camoflauge patterned shotguns you may have seen in a sporting goods store. This is the process they use to produce that finish. The object is submerged in a bath with the film pattern floated on the surface of the bath. As the object is raised from the bath, the film conforms to the object, no matter how complex the geometry. It's pretty cool!

There is also a bike painting place that is doing just what you want to do. I will come back and edit this if I can find it..

The one that caught my eye on their website was a bike that they painted up to look like it was made of Bamboo! They build up the rings and everything.

Leme see if I can find it....

Found it....

http://www.cyclart.com/paintfoto.html

Under the new photos link, the bamboo job is the one I was thinking of. But it looks like ...if it can be done, they have done it.....

[ November 22, 2005, 04:17 AM: Message edited by: Ringer ]

Looks like a bike made on Gilligan's Island!

that is awesome...

Some pretty cool paint jobs there eh!?....

leather would be cool...or bones. Green astro-turf is always nice. Marble.

A buddy of mine does custom airbrush work, and he did a custom paint job on a Mazda sport truck a few years back that was all wood grained. I'm trying to find a pic to post to this day its still one of the hottest looking trucks on the show circuit. The license plate reads Lolumbr.

I recently saw a Cannondale MTB with some kinda Maple finish on it...looked factory. But you want spalted huh? Woodgraining was an actual profession back in the 1800s when wood like that was impossible to come by. Still, spalted wood is expensive because it happens as a result of the tree decaying and the dark mineral stained areas caused at random by fungi.
There are rollers available that you can buy at home centers that have a woodgrain pattern embossed on the surface. You can paint a light base color first and contrasting darker color with the woodgrain roller but I don't think this will yield a realistic looking Maple. I read somewhere that the folks who are good at woodgraining employ feathers to get the subtle grain patterns that you will need to duplicate Maple...the spalting can be drawn on. I recently made a quarter sawn Maple top for a kitchen island that had some random spalting and it required additional inlays...in order to blend these areas I was able to faux the spalting with a dark brown pen.
I have also painted a Stanley metal door which had a woodgrain embossed fiberglass surface. The technique for this is to use two different shades of gel stain applied by brush. It looks very realistic but primarily because of the pattern already present on the door. I wouldn't recommend this technique for a frame because the stain dries very slowly and most likely won't be compatible with any automotive grade clearcoats.
Another possibility would be to take Maple contact or shelf paper and apply it in sections to the frame. You could hide the joints on the underside of the tubes. Around weld joints or inaccessable areas you could paint a contrasting dark color to imply lugs like on a roadbike or starburst effect like on a guitar. You could also hide joints with a dark pen when adding spalting or faux in some knots. I'd recommend using spray glue on the backside of the contact paper as well as the frame to get a better bond.
Sorry, probably too much information for an arrogant redneck muscle-car guy like me to be dispensing.