Head Tube Cure and Finish

After applying 10 layers on the mandrel I used the lathe to hold the it in place and slowly turned it by hand to apply the release coated shrink tape. I'm carefully overlapping 75% with the previous turn for better compressive force and a smoother ridge free finish.

Into the oven it goes...


Here it is straight out of the oven with the shrink tape removed. Notice the left hand end, that's where the masking tape holding the shrink tape in place let go and allowed it to slip. Good thing I made the tube a little longer than required.


Back in the lathe I hand wet sand the outer surface and square the ends with the lathe tooling. Wet sanding eliminates the dust issue (as long as you protect the lathe from the splashing).



The finished headtube. It is ridiculously stiff and weighs 50.3 g.