Striping and tools

[Knotthed]

I happened onto a neat piece that came out of an estate. It is called Master Painters' Striping Tool made by the Wendell Mfg Co. Chicago 18, Illinois.

It made me wonder if the cycle companies might have used it back in the day. Here is a picture of it.

Wendell Striping Tool.jpg

I did some searching online and found a company that had patents at the same time frame in the early 30's for a product that does the same thing. It is called a Beugler Pinstriping Tool and the company is still in operation today. http://www.beugler.com/

It appears the inventor was quite the motocycle guy here is an excerpt from the about page on their website.

"The company’s tradition of excellence and pioneering spirit has survived unbroken for three generations, just as the spirit of integrity and product quality ruled the founder, a gifted and colorful Tennessean named Samuel Beno Beugler. Born in Dayton, Tennessee in 1890 and later moving to McAlester, Oklahoma he early showed his mechanical gifts by building the first automobile in the area, before any factory produced models arrived.

Then, in 1913 S.B. Beugler rode his Indian motorcycle across the U.S. to the West Coast and back, when roads were mostly dirt and mud, or boards crossing the sandy desert of the southwest."

Does anyone know for sure if these tools were used at the cycle factories? If they were used it might make a really neat article for the magazine.

There is some really neat information on the beugler site.

Just thougth I would share.

[c.o.]

D.J..... I don't know zip about the history of that piece but I do agree that it's pretty neato alright!! Good find!!

[jim d]

When I visited the Harley fiberglass plant about 15 years ago they were using one to do there striping with a template they put over the item to be striped and then used the guide bar that was attached to the striping tool. I would think that they may still do it the same way. The person doing it was fast and would zip around a tourpac lid in one nice smooth pass. The template was made of fiberglass and provided a nice edge for the guide bar to follow. I have one and you will need to practice a lot to free hand it. They do put down a nice clean line or even 2 depending on what head you are using.
Thanks Jim D

[Knotthed]

Very neat, I wonder if they used them in the mid 30's just after these units got their patents.

Anyone with original paint stripes - maybe they can distinguish between a brush stoke and a more uniform line without brush marks?

I'll be on the lookout for examples at the next meet I go to.

[Steve Slocombe]

I've had one of the Buegler striping tools and they are neat but the paint viscosity needs to be just right, and you have to fill up the paint chamber each time you switch colours. A similar tool may have been used later, but 1930s striping was by hand. There is a wealth of information to be inferred from page 60 of the 1932 Harley Dealer Accessory Catalog under striping brushes: 11652-X The Quill Striping Brush is for the 1/4" broad line striping on the tool box and mudguards; 11651-X No. 2 Sword Striper, the proper tool to use for the thin hairline stripe in the center of the broad stripe on the tank, mudguard, sidecar body etc.; 11653-X The Metal Tube Brush is for the 3/4" broad stripe on the tank, mudguard, sidecar body etc,; 11650-X No.4 Sword Striper. This brush is used for the hair lines on the outside of the wide stripe. In other words it is used for edging the stripes on the tank, mudguard, sidecar body etc.

[Knotthed]

Steve,

I would agree that 32 was likely by brush. Buegler didn't start producing his units untill 33 and I would think it would take some time to get on the market. What do your later 30's dealer accessories catalogs say if you have them?

I would also guess that a "dealer accessory" would be used at a smaller frequency than production in a plant and therfore the same equipement may not be used.

Speed would have been important on the assembly line - I couldn't imagine a bunch of people lined up painting stripes on tanks/fenders, etc...

[Rubone]

Speed would have been important on the assembly line - I couldn't imagine a bunch of people lined up painting stripes on tanks/fenders, etc...

There are many pictures of humans hand striping sheet metal on bikes well into the current era. H-D bragged about hand striping throughout the '90s and likely still do. A skilled human would stripe much faster freehand than fooling around with a mechanical striper. I have had several parts striped by professionals and they are faster at laying it down than I can feed parts to them!
All BMWs were hand striped, so were all British and other European bikes. And H-D, Indian, etc. Hand striping is faster! Tools like that were for novices, not professionals!
Robbie

[bobdo]

I used to have a roller striper like that years ago, but mine was earlier. It had a very similar roller but it was permanently attached to a plunger tube made of copper. Pretty cool piece, it came in a cardboard tube with instructions and everything. I agree with Robbie, much better using a striping brush.
I believe the roller was marketed to guys that just did it on rare occasion.