Sounds like the mechanic made the common mistake of thinking he needed to face the headtube down to the point where he had a nice flat, square surface all the way around. All he really needed was to be able to see clean metal in a 360 degree circle. It doesn't matter if it's 3 mm thick on one side and whisker-thin on the other, as long as it goes all the way around. The headset has a flat on it that will seat against the machined surface.
The time to face the frame is before painting, not after. True, paint buildup inside the headtube can make it difficult to get the cups in, but this can be removed with an exacto knife. Remove the paint from the headtube faces and you run the risk of rust later on. The paint layer on these surfaces should be even and will compress evenly beneath the headcups. With the exception of the Stronglight V4, most headsets will tolerate slight misalignment anyway. I really think that the need to see shiny steel on the headtube and BB is one of those customer demand things and not founded on any science. This was the opinon expressed to me many years ago by Giuseppe Marinoni, and, after thinking about it a bit, I agree with him.
Just for fun, want to see Steve Bauer, Dominique Perras and Marinoni
"racing" this year?
http://www.geocities.com/
Classic content: probably no more than Eddy holding a carbon frame...except, like Eddy, these guys ARE looking good! This should be an inspiration for us to get out and ride our classic steeds and keep the "spare tire" strapped to the back of the seatpin, where it belongs.
Steve Barner, Bolton, Vermont
> Date: Fri, 10 Sep 2004 22:44:04 GMT
> From: "richardsachs@juno.com" <richardsachs@juno.com>
> To: dmart84815@yahoo.com
> Cc: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Subject: Re: [CR]Damage at Bike Shops.
>
> the problem there, with "those" masis, is that the
> head tubes are machine cut at an angle due to the
> lip on the head lugs. the interior is beveled in-
> board. if, IF, you use campagnolo/var hand tools
> that only plane off at 90 degrees (or so) on a frame
> that was bevel cut at the ht interior, you will risk
> facing everything down until the lips just plain
> disappear.
> e-RICHIE
> chester, ct
>
> -- dave martinez <dmart84815@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Hello All,
>
> Back around 1990 or so I had a early Cal. Masi repainted by Brian Bayliss.
As expected, Brian did a stellar job. I took the Masi frame and fork over to
Wheelsmith in Palo Alto to have head tube lugs faced and the NR headset
installed.
> I returned a week later to pick up the Masi frame, paid for the work and
as was leaving, admiring the frame, I noticed something terribly wrong with
the headtube lugs.
> The unique columns that were on the ends of the headtube lugs were almost
gone!! Virtually machined off!! My heart sank. What to do?? Ric offered me a
refund (REFUND!! REFUND!!). The Masi is still here and Wheelsmith is long
gone.
>
> Regards,
> Dave Martinez
> Fremont Ca
> where the week long heatwave has passed,
> but feeling for our countymen in Florida.