H: Hubs, Wheels and Tyres Which rims & spokes?

[Alyson]

Another detail about likely masking before sandblasting and lining in the factories: What was available in 20ies and 30ies for masking tapes - if at all?? I only remember from youth these horrible texile black sticky tapes electricians had in 50ies . Not very suitable for masking in paint shops I think. So how did they apply lines or paint fields on tanks, chromed or painted ? Even today lines are painted by orientation on chalk lines or some such, no masking tapes anywhere, see YT clip at the Enfield factory in India - pure art !!

Vic
tank lining India:
tank lining

Enfield hand lining

just my thinking: what if, at the paint shop, they had a pressed plate that fit over the rim (two halves ?) and then painted the center. Remove the shells and paint the next one and so forth. Next off to the red stripe paint station where they have two rollers with a crank handle, also a comfortable plate to rest ones hand that held the brush, spin the rim while holding your hand still and paint the termination red stripe. Job done and no awful masking tape. The stuff I remember, back in the '60s, was the white ish sticky stuff that was just awful. Just thinking out loud here...

 

[Michael Vane-Hunt]

Read all about it. Breaking news. Revolutionary new discovery of a masking tape invented in 1928 to solve the problem of painting two tone cars.
So for almost 100 years there has been a masking tape for paint.

 

[Alyson]

But his first version of masking tape only had adhesive on the edges. When the painters used it, it fell off. They allegedly told Drew to take his “Scotch” tape back to the drawing board, using the term to mean “cheap,” a derogatory dig at stereotypical Scottish thriftiness. The name, so to speak, stuck.Jun 20, 2019

and there you have it :O

 

[Michael Vane-Hunt]

I guess it depends on which alternative facts one digs up. It probably did not work so well at first but I bet it improved quickly.

 

[oexing]

In the first period of automobil production paint was applied by brush and polished a lot for a nice finish - very time consuming and space blocking while waiting for dry paint. When air spray paint guns were used I can see masking tapes were essential for multi tone colours on vehicles. But I imagine lines were hardly ever masked, not on chrome and not on paint , too much time spent on this stage. Instead they had specialists trained for smooth lines in one go, orientation by chalk lines or just parallel to edges for finger following. Below a short clip from BMW factory lining at the Berlin works in the 70ies and 80ies on the /5 to /7 series air heads, like they always did half a century from first types on, don´t know about later types, not my concern. They had a number of girls who did all linings by eye, no adhesive decorative plastic lines on BMWs then. May have changed in more recent times though . . .

Vic

BMW works lining:
BMW factory

 

[Bill Cannon]

I went to Berlin factory for a dealer visit in the the late 90s and they were still doing this on the R1200C. We all got to have a go and we were all rubbish!

 

[greg brillus]

Still makes no sense to me that the factory painted/lined the post war rims, yet not the pre war bikes........You would think it should have been the other way around.

 

[oexing]

During the Korea war chrome and nickel were short in supply or rationed. So in that period on all motorcycles paint was used instead of chrome. Might be one reason for painted rims , not much chrome on Vincents anyway. And certainly customers had some say about finish and state of tune when ordereing a new bike.

Vic

 

[Speedtwin]

So to build a set of stainless rims for the touring rapide given 19/18 rims what would the shopping list be?
Rims,spokes, spoke flanges and hub front hub rear?
Is that the lot?
Yes I am lazy why reinvent the wheel????
Anyone have a list?
Al

 

[Michael Vane-Hunt]

Looking at pictures of American cars made during the Korean War, 1950 to 1953, one would imagine no one told American car makers there was a chrome shortage.