Craft Meets Alchemy: Agave Finishworks’ Peter Julien-Sehl’s Anodized Titanium Art
There’s nothing quite like titanium. Its strength-to-weight ratio, durability, and exceptional ride quality make it an ideal frame material. It also offers versatile finishing options—including paint, powdercoat, and anodizing. For truly standout anodized work, few match the artistry of Agave Finishworks’ Peter Julien-Sehl.
Anodizing is a chemical reaction that occurs with titanium when exposed to certain chemicals and an electrical current. The process creates an oxide layer which shows the human eye a range of colors based on light reflection. A range of colors can be created by varying the voltage during application.
From that starting point, Peter utilizes a variety of masking and media blasting techniques to create some of the most ornate finishes you’re likely to see. We sat down with Peter to learn a little more about where he came from and what he does.
Q: How did you get started in anodizing?
When I was trying to find my way forward in the cycling industry, I'd initially been pursuing the path of custom framebuilding. After taking a trade course at UBI, I pursued the journeyman's approach to build experience by working for an established builder. The job that I found was at Moots, but not in mitre or welding as I'd hoped, but in finish. As it was described to me at the time, most employees began in finish and worked their way to other departments, so this is what I thought I'd do.
Once I was in the finishing department, however, I found that I loved what I was doing. At the time, Moots was just figuring out the craft of ti anodizing and how to apply it to their business model, and I learned the essentials during this period. Moots is a large builder, however, and needed to be able to apply their anodizing work consistently and predictably across volume. Given that anodizing was still very much being figured out, this limited the practicality of complex and custom finishes - completely reasonable at the time.
I'd had a background in printmaking, however, and saw a potential to apply what I already knew in order to push the boundaries of anodizing as it was presently being practiced in the industry. I got to put this to the test with the first bespoke finish that I'd created, which I came up with for my Moots Frosthammer. The finish is a tulip and carnation design, done in the Iznik style of 15-17th century Turkey. During that period, the Ottoman court had had a fixation with fine ceramics from China, and artisans of the city of Iznik sought to cater to this interest by creating similar ceramics - only using more traditional Islamic subject matter and local green, blue, red, and white pigments. Seeing the potential to create a similar color scheme using ti ano, and always having been enthralled with the Iznik style, I used it as an opportunity to see how far I could push fine detail in ti ano.
Later on, when I'd moved back to Durango, I had some free time. I decided to build some tools and continue the experimentation and learning process that I'd started in Steamboat - this organically became Agave Finishworks.
Q: What makes anodizing titanium unique compared to aluminum?
Peter: Ti anodizing is a bit different from aluminum anodizing - where the process for aluminum uses dyes to saturate the pores in the metal, the process for titanium uses electricity to build a crystalline oxide layer on the surface of the metal. Light refracts through this oxide layer to create optical color, similar to the way a prism does. As such, only a set selection colors are achievable. In order on the voltage scale: bronze/brown, purple, deep blue, ice blue, gold, rose gold, pink, violet, turquoise, and green. We can do fades and splatters between colors which are adjacent on the voltage scale, as well as across any range of colors in their order. I can also use different types of masking material to layer and build colors into graphics and descriptive compositions.
Q: Your gallery has some very complex layered frame finishes which seem to defy what I thought was possible with anodizing. Is there a trick behind that which you'd want to reveal?
Peter: I've accumulated a lot of sleight of hand that leads to clean and consistent outcomes, to be sure. But while it's always tempting to seek a quick path to faculty in a craft, the trick is really practice and experimentation. There is no better way to master a craft than to put in the hours, whether we're talking about anodizing, fabrication, embroidery, or anything else that you'd want to do between hand and eye. I've certainly put in the ten thousand hours with this craft, and I'm grateful that folks see value in what I'm now able to do. In my evaluation, if you try to take a shortcut to efficacy, you won't find yourself making work which feels like it speaks in your own voice.
Q: How is the 80's inspired splatter effect created?
Peter: I've experimented with a number of different masking materials to create the splatter anos. Some materials are better in some situations than others, but with the right materials and the right touch we can achieve a number of different effects.
Q: In your galleries there are a number of finishes which look like fine art. Are those concepts that customers brought to you, or is that original Agave art?
Peter: All of the finishes that I've done have started with a client concept. Sometimes folks come to me with a very detailed idea of what they'd like, and I do my best within the capabilities of the medium to bring it to life as they've described it. Other times, they'll come to me with just a loose concept, or perhaps only a subject matter which they'd like represented, and assign me the creative freedom to pursue it. I enjoy both situations, but it is a treat when I'm trusted to pursue a subject matter as I see fit - this is when I feel that I'm given the opportunity to create finishes that speak in my own artist's voice, and often when I feel that I've done my best work.
Q: For riders looking to get an anodized Haley, what should one keep in mind in terms of what's possible, and what's not?
Peter: There is a great deal that we can do with the titanium anodizing process, but it does have its limitations. If you choose to pursue a custom finish with me, know that I have a very open communication style: we'll talk throughout the process to set expectations about the medium and its capabilities, and how it can be bent to meet the rider's vision. I'll be candid and transparent when I feel that a certain objective isn't a good use of the medium and explain my reasoning, but am always interested in using riders' prompts to find new ways to push the craft. At the end of the day, we'll do everything we can to bring the rider's vision to life on their new bike.
Q: What are a few finishes (frames, cranks, stems, anything) you're exceptionally proud of and why?
Peter: I'm always proud when I can create a finish which matches up with a client's expectation and helps them be even more excited about their new bike. That said, of course I've got my favorites. One which I'm particularly happy with is the Gambel Oak finish which I'd done for Jen's Sanitas - a finish with a Colorado midcountry inspiration done to evoke the Arts and Crafts style. This finish is subtle in its impact, but pushed beyond what I thought was capable of craft and material at the time - applying a very wide voltage spread with very fine cut masking, while preventing imperfections such as color bleeds or haloes into lower voltage colors. It took me three attempts and several weeks to execute this finish with first quality results, but I was very happy with the ultimate outcome.
Another which I'm particularly happy with is Greta's Pennsylvania Mountain Laurel. This is a situation where the client trusted me to take the concept and run with it, and I was able to use it as an opportunity to push my ability to combine textures and techniques to create a composition on the metal which had depth and emotion. I look back fondly on this finish.
A third which I'm very proud of is Caseys long tail fat bike, this one for a different reason. In this instance, I'd collaborated with Bicycle Pubes to actualize BP's original artwork, created for the frame. This client had recently lost a member of his community, and commissioned this finish to memorialize his friend.
Q: I see on your site you sell titanium stems, posts, cages and cranks. Two part question:
1. Tell us about the components you make/offer:
Peter: I do offer a house brand of components, called Juniper Components, which includes stems and seatposts, seat collars, and soon, ti valve stems. I have these produced with the help of several Asian production companies who have been common industry partners for many OEs here in the states. I give all components a careful quality check before anodizing and have constructive communication with the builders to correct aspects of the quality for which I've seen room for improvement. I've been really happy with the results, but also have the stems and posts tested to ISO4210 standards that they're up to domestic industry standards. The intention with the Juniper brand is to provide component options with a top shelf, semi-custom feel at a slightly more accessible price point to compliment the US made components also available in the Agave webstore.
2. So would it be possible to get a Haley with a matching bar, stem, post, crank and cages finished to match?
Peter: Certainly! The colors of this medium will be consistent from workpiece to workpiece, so it is completely possible to create a matched finish across a Haley frame, a set of Meriwether handlebars, an eeWings crankset, a Juniper kit, and a set of King Cages.
Clients of many of the custom finishes that I've done in the past have added components in this way, I feel that it is a really effective way to put together an overall build which feels cohesive and well curated. For folks not looking to commit to a fully custom project, all of the components available in the Agave webstore are also stocked in several colorways which match perfectly across brands and components. The intention here is to provide to opportunity to put together a matched off-the-shelf kit which, in the same way, feels cohesive and well curated.
Thanks Peter!
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