Everything is Dirty

As in filthy. Grimy. Gross. Accumulated road guck.

I took a little break from work at noon today (I work at home) while my lunch was warming up, and removed the front brake assembly. I'm doing everything incrementally, one step at a time, because I'm not at all confident in my ability to remember where everything goes. I'm taking pictures of everything as I do it for later reference when I try to put it all back together, then bagging everything in labeled plastic zipper bags. I know, it sounded anal to me too when I read this bit of advice online, but so-help-me, it has SO helped me. I'd never remember where all the little washers and nuts and doo-dads go if I didn't label everything.

The main point of all this is that every piece that I take off is really dirty. I clean up the surface of everything fairly regularly, but I've never delved into the guts of the bike, and as I'm doing that, I'm realizing how filthy everything is. I'm also realizing that whoever had this bike before me did a lot of "improvising" when it comes to little parts. There are a lot of washers that don't seem to fit quite right, some nuts that are cross-threaded on bolts, etc. Anyway, I haven't cleaned the parts I took off yet, maybe tonight. Then I'll really know how dirty they were. The photo above gives some idea of the grime.

How to Adjust a Sturmey-Archer Three-Speed Hub

Sometimes I actually post useful information. Sometimes.

So, I've kept kind of quiet about it, but ever since I put my Columbia Sports III back together last, uh, November, I've been having trouble getting the hub adjustment right. This is mostly the result of the fact that I experience problems while on a ride, stop to quickly make some stop-gap adjustments, then realizing later that it's still messed up, and just keep repeating the process. Finally, I got fed up with it, and decided to devote some time to getting everything adjusted exactly right.

As usual, Sheldon Brown has the definitive guidance on the subject, but I wanted to make things a bit more explicit and illustrated for you fellow first-timers. So, here we go:

Correct hub adjustment is extremely important. First, it allows you to take full advantage of all three of your gears. Second, it prevents "freewheeling," which isn't nearly as much fun as it sounds. Freewheeling on a 3-speed occurs when the internal gizmos in the hub align so that the pedals can spin forward without engaging the drive. In other words, the pedals are turning, but you're not moving the bike forward anymore. This can be extremely dangerous when you think you're solidly in a gear and pedaling along with resistance and suddenly your legs start spinning uncontrollably. This throws your whole bike/body alignment out of whack and you are certain to at least wobble, and possibly lose total control. Not good for riding in traffic or crossing an intersection, certainly.

Proper adjustment is actually pretty easy, provided you have an ample dose of patience. There are basically only two parts to adjust: the indicator spindle, and the cable tensioner. The indicator spindle is the little rod and chain that emerges from the right side of the three-speed hub. One end of the rod is threaded with tiny threads, and this end screws into the hub itself (see photo). This is where you make your first adjustment.

Disengage the shifter cable from the indicator spindle so that you can unscrew the indicator spindle and take it all the way out of the hub. Check to make sure it's not bent or damaged. If everything is okay, reinsert the indicator spindle and tighten with just your fingers until it stops, then back it off a half turn. This is really important, because if you back it off too much, the indicator spindle doesn't fully engage with the gearing mechanism inside the hub. This was my problem, and caused me no little amount of frustration before I realized it. If the indicator spindle isn't seated properly in the hub, no amount of adjustment to the cable will help.

Now, reattach the cable to the indicator spindle. Tighten the cable tensioner (the barrel on the end of your shifter cable) by screwing it on to the indictor spindle, and use the little locknut on the indicator spindle to hold the tensioner in place. It should look something like this:

Now comes the tricky part. I'll let Sheldon Brown explain it, with particularly important passages highlighted:

For best results, adjust the cable by tension. When the trigger is in high gear position, the cable should be totally slack. Shift down to middle gear, while watching the indicator chain-it should clearly move as you make the shift. Then shift to low gear; again, you should see more chain coming out of the end of the axle. Sometimes the internal parts line up in such a way as to prevent downshifting. If you have trouble getting the hub to downshift, turn the pedals slightly forwards. Once you are sure you are in low gear, take hold of the indicator spindle chain and try to pull more of it out of the axle. If the adjustment is correct, you should be able to get just a tiny bit more movement from the chain. If it is completely taut, the cable is too tight. Make sure to tighten the knurled locknut on the indicator spindle so that the adjustment will stay as you have set it.

Double check the adjustment in all gears. In low gear, you should be able to see that the sprocket moves faster than the wheel, and the hub should not make a ticking sound while being pedaled forward. In middle gear, the sprocket should move at the same speed as the wheel, and you may hear a slow ticking as you pedal. In high gear, the wheel should turn faster than the sprocket. The same slow ticking may be audible in high gear.

If you hold the trigger halfway between middle and high gear, the hub should disengage so that you can spin the pedals forward without going anywhere. If it freewheels forward in high gear, the cable is to tight or has too much friction to release properly. If it freewheels forward in middle gear, the cable is too loose.

If you're anything like me, you will have to make many minute adjustments to the cable tension until you get it just right. The key points again: 1) properly seat indicator spindle in hub; 2) freewheel in high gear means cable is too tight; 3) freewheel in middle gear or low gear means cable is too loose; 4) there should be no ticking sound when pedaled forward in low gear; 5) hub should freewheel between 2nd and 3rd gear.

If you would like to read Sheldon Brown's original article in its entirely, go here. Sheldon also has lots of other great information about three speed (a.k.a. planetary, or epicyclic) gearing, including diagrams that show what's going on in there.

By the way, my experience related here is based on the Sturmey-Archer AW hub that is original to my Columbia, I have no experience with other S-A models or other hub-geared systems.

How to Care for Leather Saddles

A couple of goes with saddle soap did so much to improve the look of my new old Brooks B-72 that I wanted to post an after picture and also solicit comments from readers about what they use to clean and maintain their leather saddles, especially the old ones.

For the Runwell's saddle, which I originally thought beyond redemption, I used a combination of several cleanings with saddle soap and then several applications of neatsfoot oil, which is what I always used on my horse tack back in my equestrian days. While still very much showing its age, the saddle cleaned up very nicely.

But that was a hard case, and this new saddle came out looking much improved with just three applications of saddle soap and then buffing with a soft cloth. I'll do a couple more applications before the Huffeigh is assembled (which will still be some time), and then occasional saddle soaping and maybe a light oiling now and then. What do you do?

New "How to" and "DIY" Labels

In my ongoing attempts to make this blog useful, I've been at work adding some labels to old posts that will make it easier to find the information you're looking for. There are new labels for "How to" posts, which generally contain useful information about working on some aspect of old bikes, and "DIY" which are more often ruminations on DIY philosophy or links or something. These categories will undoubtedly grow, if slowly, so keep checking them. Along these lines, the "Tips" label also still provides smaller tidbits of info about painting, cleaning, etc.

By the way, if you fancy yourself particularly expert at some bit of bicycle repair or maintenance, or if you have a time-honored method for truing wheels handed down over the generations (or whatever) that you would like to share with a broader community, I would very much like to hear from you. You can even be a guest blogger! Oh, the glamour!

Huffy/Raleigh Chrome Before

While I procrastinate putting the wheels back together and starting the sanding and painting, I'm going back through all the parts I have already cleaned and doing a second, more thorough cleaning and inspection. The brake calipers and levers are the pieces in the worst shape. These photos are after two cleanings with steel wool and oil, followed by rubbing compound and then polishing with a clean cloth. Trust me, this is as good as they're going to get:

The only chrome bits on the bike that aren't bad are the crank arms and chainring. The stem and handlebars were quite terrible, and after my adventure with the stuck stem bolt, they've been replaced anyway. I'm going to try the silver paint trick for these and a few other once-shiny bits like the frame clips for the cables.

I found this in William Love's How to Restore Your Collector Bicycle (which is now out of print, darn it). Love is talking about cadmium or nickel-plated bits like fender braces, kickstands, etc., but I'm going to try it with chromed pieces. I figure they can't look any worse than they do now.

Good old "chrome" silver (shinier) or aluminum (duller) spray paint works wonders to touchup these...plated parts, but not necessarily by spraying them. First, wash and thoroughly dry all of the parts.... Spray the paint liberally on a paper towel, and rub the paint on the affected part.... The deteriorated portions are a bit rough compared to the rest of the surface, and the paint sticks to these areas while blending with the original surface nicely (Love p.64).

We shall see. This is probably going to be this weekend's project. I'll let you know how it works.

Priming: Fenders & Chain Guard

Today I finished sanding the chain guard and primed it and the fenders. I strung a rope in the car-hole (garage is too elaborate for what we have) and hung the fenders by their braces, which I taped-off with masking tape (Photo #1). To hang the chain guard, I used a "modified" wire hanger (Photo #2). I primed both sides of everything (topside and underside) to protect against rust and wear. I'll paint and clearcoat both sides, too.

I put three light coats of primer on all three pieces, which seemed to give me good, smooth coverage. Supposedly, you can start applying paint within 15 minutes, but I'm going to wait at least 24 hours just so the primer has a chance to get really dry and hard. I'm also storing the parts in a very warm laundry room--still hanging up--to maximize drying.

By the way, I'm using Ace Rust Stop products for this paint job--so far, so good.

Oh, and if you're working in an enclosed space with poor ventilation, always wear a mask. Fortunately, our car-hole is so small that ventilation (if not a cross breeze) wasn't too much of a problem with the door open, but I was still glad for my mask, and took frequent breaks to step outside. Still might have done some brain damage-amage-amage.

Reader Project: Mark's J.C. Higgins

I got a nice email from "Mark" the other day, who's working on an old J.C. Higgins 3-speed. He originally asked about removing rust from spokes/rims. My response went a little something like this:

I've found that a very fine grade steel wool ("0000") and lots of patience is good for removing rust on spokes and wheels and other non-painted metal surfaces without scratching or damaging the metal. For lightly rusted surfaces with just a few spots, it should work fairly quickly by itself, but for the heavier rust, you might try a few drops of oil applied to the spot you're working on (whatever you use to lube your chain is fine, as long as it's not WD-40) . Make sure you wear gloves when working with the steel wool, however, as thousands of tiny metal splinters don't feel so nice under your fingernails. I believe Menotomy Vintage Bicycles also sells a rust removal kit with a special formula solvent, but I haven't used it so I can't personally vouch for its effectiveness.

Mark wrote back to say that the steel wool worked just fine, and sent me some photos of his J.C. Higgins:

Thanks Mark! I hope you'll keep us updated on what you're doing (and where you're going) on your bike. I'd love to hear from anyone who's working on a project, either with questions/solutions/tips or just with photos of their machines. Help make the Old Bike Blog something more than just me randomly posting bicycle-related miscellany. And for goodness sake, don't worry if your bike isn't some rare, top-notch old velocipede--any ol' bike is good enough for us!

Huffeigh Front Fender Paint

This is after the first three coats, and I'll probably do another two or three just to be safe, then the clear coat. One thing I learned repainting the Columbia is that you should probably add at least two more coats than you think is necessary, and also that clear coat is best applied in many very light coats, or else it will run and/or crack. Anyway, I'm hoping to start making faster progress on the Huffeigh now, so it may not be too much longer before it's finished. Barring any unforeseen (but nevertheless inevitable) problems, that is.

Reader Project: Lissa's Blue Bombshell

Lissa from New York posted a comment about my wife's Schwinn Suburban a few weeks ago, saying that she has one of her own that she has recently invested in as a supplemental and possibly alternative form of transportation to her car. Her beautiful "Blue Bombshell" as I dubbed it (a name that's stuck, apparently), needs a bit of work to get it going again. As she reports (with a few helpful tips on cleaning):

Up until now, all I've done is clean her up a bit -- steel wool and a combination of vinegar and water have cleaned up the rust on the wheels, the handlebars, and all of the little metal bits that surely have specific purposes, but which I don't have particular names for. My friend has all of the tools necessary for restoring her to functional use, so with his help I'll be removing (and possibly replacing) the gears and the chain, the brakes and brake housings, and the inner-tubes....While he has the bike in pieces, I'll do some other cosmetic stuff with the kickstand, rear rack, wheel hubs, and underside of the seat beneath the fabulous leather saddle, making a CLR-based paste to work on some of that rust.

Lissa also wanted to know what would be a good surface treatment to protect the paint. I suggest a few coats of a quality automobile polish which will go a long way to protect against scrapes and scuffs. However, a slightly scruffy-looking bike is a surprisingly good theft-deterrent, so don't make it look too nice!

Lissa is planning a move to New York City and is looking forward to using her bike to haul herself and her accoutrements around the city. She promises pictures of herself tooling about the city with stuffed panniers and baskets full of produce. We'll look forward to it, Lissa, and happy riding!

Who's That Blogger?

I'm pleased to announce a new periodic feature on the Old Bike Blog, written by Shelly from Riding Pretty. Shelly will be guest-blogging about green products and methods for cleaning and fixing-up your old (or new) bike. I'll be returning the favor by guest-blogging at Riding Pretty about some basic tasks to confront at the beginning of an old bike refurbishing, including changing tires and tubes, adjusting saddle and handlebar height, chain care, brake maintenance, and lots of other things.

Both features will be aimed at helping new cyclists get to work on that old Schwinn or Huffy that's been collecting dust in the garage, but more experienced gear-heads might benefit too, especially from Shelly's green tips and tricks. So, watch this space over the coming weeks for Shelly's guest posts, and check out Riding Pretty for my bike care basics.

11 Tips for the Everyday Urban Cyclist

Alex from Hank and Me has posted an open letter to Chicago's new wave of urban cyclists. The entire post is just fantastic and is available here, but I wanted to excerpt the main points, since they apply to anyone on a bike in any city:

1. time for a check-up [for your bike]
2. get loaded [racks and bags]
3. stop being ms. nice gal/mr. nice guy [be assertive, claim your space]
4. ignore the horns
5. check it or wreck it [your temper, that is]
6. the most direct route is not always the safest
7. slow the $%^& down
8. it can be your fault
9. they did not put ramps in the sidewalks for you
10. put away the ipod
11. be kind to your fellow bikers

Link

Salvaging a Hub, Part II

The final cleanup on the salvaged Sturmey-Archer TCW III was accomplished by scraping the remaining rust off with a razor blade, then several rounds of polishing with rubbing compound and Brasso. Some areas of the chrome have been cosmetically damaged by the rust, but not the scraping. There has been no structural damage to any of the exterior pieces of this hub. In fact, all cleaned up, many of the bits are in better shape than those on the Huffeigh. I don't post this to gloat (okay, maybe a little), but to demonstrate that even a hub that looks as bad as this one did may be worth a try to salvage and make useable again. Don't give up on bike or on salvage parts just because they look a little rough!

Guest Blogger: Green Clean Your Bicycle

This is the first post by guest blogger Riding Pretty on environmentally friendly ways to clean your bicycle. Visit her blog for the first installment of my series on how to get started on an old bike project.

[Dr. Bronner's Soap, aluminum foil, a lemon, cream of tartar, old socks, toothbrushes]

All of the above items are things I have around my house. I chose them because I didn’t have to go and buy any of it, just stuff I have around anyway.

So roll up your sleeves and I’ll go through how to do a green clean on your bicycle.

If your bike is totally crusted with dirt, wipe it down first with a rag to clear away all the crud that easily wipes off. Next take your Dr. Bronners’s Soap (I like the Almond), and put a smallish dab of it on a super soft rag (I use old gym socks) and wipe across the surface of your bike. Follow with a slightly damp rag and start wiping off, repeating the process until you have removed all the surface grime and dirt from your bike. Use a tooth brush and q-tips if you really want to get down to it and clean all the tiny areas. No need to hose down your bike, or slop a bunch of soapy water from a bucket all over your bike, which will pollute groundwater runoff, streams, lakes and oceans. Just wipe away.

Next, grab the aluminum foil and fold it or wad it. Moisten it very lightly with some drops of lemon juice. Work all the chromed parts. You can shape the foil into any little special shapes you want. For instance, try some wedge shapes to really get into the small little areas, like the wheel spokes. Polish away. Elbow grease required!

Still stubborn rust spots on your chromed parts? Take the cream of tartar and add just enough water to make a paste with a consistency slightly runnier than toothpaste. Apply to the stubborn rusted areas. Leave on up to a few hours. Use an old soft, dry toothbrush to brush off the paste. There will be cream of tartar dust on the ground where you’ve brushed it off, but it’s harmless. Use a rag next and wipe off whatever remains. Repeat aluminum foil step for a final polish.

I’ve gotten amazing results using these very simple methods! This method is urban/ apartment dwelling friendly, too. No need to go outside to clean up your bicycle unless you want to.

In the second installment, I will cover the green clean way to degrease, lube/re-lube or oil your bicycle, and in future installments I will cover even more useful and handy eco/green ways of caring for your bicycle.

Reader Project: Diane's 1963 Schwinn Hollywood

Diane left a comment a while back asking for help dismantling an original Sturmey-Archer grip-shifter on her 1963 Schwinn Hollywood. She eventually figured it out herself (with help from the OBB and its readers, yay!), and her success has energized her efforts to clean up and restore her beautiful old bike. Here's what Diane has to say:

The bike had a tremendous amount of rust on her from top to bottom I mean on EVERYTHING! I didn’t know where to start or what to use that wouldn’t take the whole thing down to the metal…I began with a regular hairbrush to get the flaky rust off. Then I took a product called Rust Cure and extra fine steel wool from Ace Hardware which I read was perfectly safe for the chrome areas and they did shine up like a new penny (or nickel)…but the spray dripped onto the paint on the fender (also covered in rust) right where the decals are…I panicked and rubbed the area with a golf towel (husband wasn’t very pleased with that choice) and shockingly it also shined up like a new penny! No damage to the paint or the decals! After I followed this process on every inch of the bike…she looked exactly the way she did when mama let me have it as my “big girl bike”. It’s a pretty awesome product used sparingly and with caution… I also repaired the brake by myself, the chain & the tires…the grip shifter is the finale…but then I get to begin a much more thorough cleaning and restoration of the chrome and such.

I love hearing stories like this from readers who aren't "bike people." Diane says that before she started this project, the only thing she knew how to do with this bike was ride it. That's just like me when I started this blog, and now fourteen months and four bikes later, I've learned so much more than I ever expected. Folks, it is possible to work on your own bike, and fun too, and you don't have to be a hard-core mechanic to do it. Having the bike to ride is important, but it's also the sense of accomplishment and feeling of pride that comes along with doing your own work on your own bike. And, as you gain confidence with each new task accomplished and skill mastered, you can move on to more complicated projects. Sure, there will be setbacks, but even occasional failures are instructive. It's all about learning, doing, and overcoming challenges--lessons that transcend working on old bikes.

Surprise! Reassembly!

I had planned on doing the second clear coat today, and even started on it, but the first piece I coated (the front fender) got all bubbly and cracked and spotty-looking. I think I must have put on a too-heavy coat, but I decided not to push my luck with the other parts. So, instead of doing two coats of clear coat on everything, I'm calling it good with just one. Tomorrow, I'll buff off the botched clear coat on the front fender and then try to reapply it more smoothly. I put a coat of Turtle Wax on everything else, which will also act a protecting layer. Then, I took off the masking tape from the bearing cups and head badge and started putting the whole thing back together. As you can see below, I got the fork and handlebars, the seat, and the crank put back on the frame.

Nothing too technical here. I just put the seat back on so I could flip the bike over later to work on the crank, fenders, chain, etc.

Here's how I put the fork and stem on: 1) pack the bottom bearings of the fork and set on the bottom bearing race; 2) insert the fork into the tube and let the frame rest on the fork; 3) grease the bolt and expansion wedge on the stem and pack the top headset bearings; 4) insert the stem into the tube and tighten the stem bolt.

Tips on the process: 1) don't tighten the bearing races too much, just enough to hold the bearings in the cups. If you tighten the races too hard, they won't turn freely; 2) same goes for the stem bolt; it should be tight, but not so tight that it affects the steering of the bike; 3) try to line up the fork and handlebars with each other and with the frame; you can fine-tune once the bike is ridable, but the straighter everything is now, the easier it will be to make fine adjustments later.

And then, the crank. Pretty straight-forward: pack the bearings and grease the cups, lightly tighten the bearing race on the left (non-chain) side, and put the hardware back on. Again, when you tighten the nut on the outside of the left side, don't make it too tight, as this will push the bearing race into the bearings and affect the turning of the crank. Remember, the nuts and the bearing race on the crank turn counter-clockwise so they won't spin off while you're riding, so they don't have to be made too tight.

So, there you go--clear as mud, right?

Light at the End of the Tunnel

10/13-UPDATE. Arg. It's rainy and humid today--going to have to wait on that second coat of lacquer. I'm outta here for 3 weeks. See you in November!

Ah, the end is in sight! All my parts and tools for the reassembly have finally been purchased, and today I put on the first lacquer coat, or clear coat. With the exception of one area on the frame which dripped a bit, it went on really well. I had buffed out the paint to a dull matte finish as recommended before the clear coat, and I was really happy to see the clear coat bring back the gloss and deepen the color. For the buffing, most everything I read said to wet sand with extremely fine sandpaper, but that made me nervous, so I used my "0000" steel wool (dry) to do the job, and it seemed to work fine.

I'll do the second lacquer coat tomorrow (24 hours, says the can). Then, I'll be away from the project for about three weeks (got actual work to do). When I get back, the clear coat will be nice and hard and I'll buff up the finish with some car wax and start putting it all back together. We'll see if I can remember where everything goes!

PS--I'll be in Chicago for about a week coming up, and I hope to snap some photos of old bikes around the University of Chicago while I'm there to post when I get back--love to see old bikes getting used!

How to Change a Tire/Tube

Since I've been doing quite a lot of this lately--what with my front tube blowing out a few weeks ago and just recently discovering (after I got everything put back together again) that the rim was just a teeny bit out of true--I thought I would post a how-to on this very helpful skill. Problem is, that only occurred to me after I'd already done everything, so I didn't take any pictures of the tire/tube changing process. So, instead, I post an excerpt and link to a very helpful article at BikeWebsite:


Let all remaining air out of the bicycle's tire.

First, try removing the bicycle's tire without the use of tools. Set the bicycle wheel on the floor with the valve at the three o'clock or nine o'clock position. Grab the top of the tire in one hand, and try to pull it sideways, over the top of the rim. With fat tire bicycles this is generally quite easy. With thin tire bicycles, you may find it nearly impossible.

If you cannot remove the tire without tools, use a couple of tire levers if you have them, or the backs of some forks or spoons. Try to avoid using sharp screwdrivers. Start by inserting one tire lever anywhere between the tire and the edge of the rim. Insert the lever just far enough to pry the edge of the tire over the edge of the rim.

It is very easy to poke a hole into the bicycles inner tube.

After prying the edge of the tire over, insert one more tire lever about four inches (10 cm) from the first one and pry a little more tire over the edge of the rim. Take out this second lever and re-insert it another four inches away and pry over the edge of the tire again here. Soon the whole side of the tire will be loose enough to finish prying over by hand.

Pull the inner tube out of the way and finish by prying the other side of the tire off the rim.

Read the rest of the article here.

Shocking! Rust Removal Technique

UPDATE: Here's a couple of photos of part of the rig, before and after:

An OBB reader sent me a couple of before and after photos of a rusty kickstand he cleaned up with the rust removal technique linked below. FYI, he used an old 12v laptop power supply, which he says worked just fine. I've not used this technique before, but it sure looks effective. Anyone else have any stories/photos/recommendations to share on this method?

Electrolytic Rust Removal at Instructables.com

The Old Bikes of Spring

Now is the time to haunt Craigslist if you're looking for an old bike to restore or refurbish this spring. As people clean out their sheds, basements, and garages for spring cleaning, they just want to get rid of these "rusty old clunkers" and put them up for just a few bucks. In the last few days, the following CHEAP old bikes have been posted to my local Craigslist, along with several others without photos, all for $50 or less. Alas, with two almost-finished projects, and one long-term unfinished project, I can't justify rescuing any of them. Sigh.

Cycleworks Tyseley, Birmingham, England, single-speed ($30)

Murray 3-speed ($20)

With bikes like this, you can be pretty certain that they're not stolen, since the photos are clearly taken in someone's back yard, and they look to have been just recently pulled from the shed, which is probably just out of the shot. I've bought several (the Runwell, the Huffeigh, and the Mundo project) from people cleaning out their sheds, all for around $50 or much less.

If you don't have a bike rack on your car, bring along your tools (and some old sheets or towels to cover the seats), take the wheels off, lower the handlebars, and you should be able fit the whole works in your trunk or back seat without a problem. If I can fit 'em in our little Hyundai, anything is possible. Happy hunting!

Sanding the Primer

Okay, the heat has passed, time to get back to work. I sanded the primer today with a combination of the fine side of the sanding sponge and the "0000" steel wool, but mostly the steel wool. There were a couple of rough spots in the primer on the frame, which smoothed out nicely with a very light application of the sanding sponge. The key is a very light touch, basically don't apply any pressure at all--the result is more like buffing than sanding. As near as I can tell, the goal is just to take a bit of the dullness out of the primer coat, to smooth it out so the paint has a nice, smooth surface to adhere to.

Maybe I'll start the paint in a day or two, but in the meantime I have to do actual work. Also, I'm really nervous that I'm going to screw up the paint royally, so I'm waiting for just the right time. And then screw it up.