SMC Discussion Areas

Fellas, How do I bring these back to life? What's your suggestion?

(http://www.design46.com/mycokemachine/update01/shelves01.jpg)

I would blast them and powdercoat them

soak em in Muratic acid and water.. 1-4 ratio is enough, leave em in for at least 30-45 minutes maybe longer,, (won't hurt them to be in longer)  they will be super clean.. rinse them off as soon as you pull them out, dry them off to avoid a bunch of flash rusting, a little wont hurt and then get them powder coated.

Do I have some time in between the soaking in the powder coating or do I have to do the powder coating immediately after the soak?

As long as you dry them well to minimize the flash rust, you can wait as long as you need. Comprssed air works well for getting in the grooves. Just keep them dry untill you go. Might as well take as much as you can all at once!

You could zinc plate them.

Just dry them off after soaking and rinsing... I use a Hair dryer if the sun isn't out... towel, then dry with dryer.. they will then be fine till you have all your stuff together for powder coating.. most powder guys will still do a little blasting on them too to remove surface oxidation anyway...

I have been calling places in Chicago all morning and no one can do the powder coating on the shelves. I keep hearing "we do big jobs, not small custom jobs." I'm coming up empty!!!

So, is there any way that one of you guys can do this for me or send these to your guy? I'm going to the Chicago show and could meet you there and give them to you then. Please let me know if anyone would be able to help me out on this one. In the meantime, I'll keep looking for a local source.

Thanking you in advance.
-Pete

look for a car club or hot rod shop. They deal  with these parts all the time, and can do it, or  steer you to trusted people who can and will
don't give up yet

If you run out of options... I am sure I can throw them in a batch of my shelves.. if you don't mind metallic silver...
I'll be in chicago.. and could ship them back to you when done.

John

Thanks John,
If i keep running into dead ends, I'll take you up on that offer.

Thanks!!!!!!

John,
Does this dissolve the surface rust...?
I'm looking for a better solution to remove rust prior to zinc plating because when you finely sand blast, it etches/textures the metal which leads to poor looking zinc plating. Perhaps another medium may be best to remove the rust but not texture the metal too much... I realize the rusted areas will remain rough, but I was trying minimize overall surface texture!
Does the acid solution dissolve plastic parts...? I have some parts that have plastic washers riveted in place and removing is out of the question...
Thanks for any direction!

Jim,
I use Muriatic Acid (swimming pool acid) to strip all my parts prior to zinc plating. I use it undiluted. Rinse the parts in soapy water afterwards to neutralize the acid and dry immediately.
It will eat plastic, aluminum and potmetal right up, so watch out what you put in! If it is magnetic, then you are OK. Rust is no match for it either - heavily pitted pieces might need a longer soaking.

Thanks Tom!

Jim, the aluminum brighter I used doesn't effect plastic or at least it has never harmed any of mine. It comes in a plastic jug and my dipping trays are plastic. It will desolve rust, zinc and galvanize. I watch aluminum and potmetal close but haven't had any problem with it either. It may took a little longer than muratic but is more user friendly.

Thanks for the suggestion Johnny!

My powder-coater uses an aluminum cleaning solution that may be similar; I'll sample a piece in the solution and see how it does with the rust...

Nothing will be left of the rust . Remember to wash with soap and water and dry ASAP!

Jim, looks like you got your answer before I checked back in.
but I use a dilutted amount.. like 4 to one or so... it works, just slower and I find the fumes are as bad.. I still do it outside..
in my experience, if it 's rusted.. it will remove the rust, but the pitting caused by the rust will still be there.

Nothing like a whiff of acid in the nostrils!!  :veryangry:

Yeah, it's some nasty stuff.. I got a caught in a cloud of fumes last night and it hung with me for a while... nasty stuff...

I know it's been offered but I also have access to a local power coating.  I'

I don't know how that got sent... but anyways,

I just had 4 cooler shelves, and one air duct cover painted silver for a WD-10 for $70.00.  I also had my whole machine blasted, primed and powder coated.  The rate for blasting was $1.80 a minute at 40 minutes.  They used glass beads, and 70 grit.

If you need more information or need a place let me know.