The last step before removing all of Ms. Rusty’s paint by bead blasting is to protect threaded and machined areas. I’m choosing to use heat resistant tape and silicone plugs so they can stay in place during the powder coating step, which requires Ms. Rusty to bake in an oven at high temps to cure.
The flat areas are best covered by the heat resistant tape, as shown in the photo below.
One particular area that was tough to cover was the exposed surface in the bobbin area.
To cover this I cut a piece of tape larger than the area to be covered and placed in over the hole.
Then using an Exacto knife, the excess tape is cut away
All other flat/rounded areas were covered in this way
Plugging holes was relatively easy using the variety of plugs I recently purchased (see previous post). I used the caps to fill in longer holes like the one shown here:
However, some longer holes were an odd size and instead required the use of two plugs. This next photo shows how one plug was the right size in diameter, but wasn’t long enough to completely fill the hole.
So I took two identical plugs and cut them in half so I had two shorter plugs of the same diameter.
The two shorter plugs covered both ends and protected the interior from bead blasting & coating.
For added protection, I covered/plugged several of the interior holes. I’m not sure these will be actually exposed to sand blasting or powder, but I figure it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Photo inside of arm:
For those of you interested, here are 12 photos of Ms. Rusty from multiple angles so you can see what holes were plugged and/or covered.
Top on my agenda for tomorrow – blast and coat Ms. Rusty!!
Ms. Rusty has moved from my workbench in the garage to my kitchen table. Partly because I felt guilty for neglecting her for so long, partly because the garage is still full of stuff from the kitchen remodel that is destined for a huge garage sale, but mostly because of comfort. This time of year it is MUCH warmer in the house than out in the garage!
Ms. Rusty looks happy, don’t you think?
The next step in Ms. Rusty’s make-over is prepping her for bead blasting. The good thing about bead blasting is that it is a fast way to remove paint and surface rust. The bad thing is that it removes the paint using an abrasive powder that can get into all the nooks and crannies and it isn’t selective to just paint. This means you need to protect surfaces that require tight tolerances, like smooth machined surfaces and threaded holes.
I recently tried out my chrome powder coating material. Here is a picture of the parts that I’d like to refurbish.
I decided to tackle the needle plate first. The reason for choosing this piece is because a) I can easily find a replacement part if I mess things up too bad, and b) it’s pretty scratched up and could use a facelift.
The first step was to bead blast it and rough up the surface so the powder coating would adhere better. Also, I wanted to smooth the plate out as much as possible. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of this step. Blasting this part was not very easy, but I’m not sure if it’s because the blasting media needs to be changed, or if this part is just really tough. Eventually I was able to scuff up the surface enough to do some powder coating on it. Here is the after photo -
I can’t say that I’m thrilled with the results. After thinking things through more, I think the chrome powder coat may work better on the nickel parts better than the polished steel. I think I’m going to try one of those parts next, like perhaps the bobbin winder lever.
Now I’m debating with myself what to do with the needle plate. The way I see it I have three options, live with chrome powder coat as-is, buy a new needle plate, or take off the powder coating and try polishing the surface. Right now I’m leaning towards the last option, but I need to change out my blast media first so I can cut through the powder coating easier. I’m also going to get a polishing wheel attachment for my drill so I don’t have to polish the surface with just elbow grease (not my idea of fun!).
I’ll think about this more while I prep Ms. Rusty for her final stripping.
Powder coating is a type of coating that is applied as a free-flowing, dry powder… The coating is typically applied electrostatically and is then cured under heat to allow it to flow and form a "skin". … It is usually used to create a hard finish that is tougher than conventional paint. Powder coating is mainly used for coating of metals...The reasons I’m choosing powder coating vs. painting is because powder coating provides a tougher finish than paint, is less likely to run, and (in my opinion) looks more like the original Japanned finish. The big down-side is that powder coating requires special equipment. Since my dear husband has a powder coating set-up I really don’t really see a down-side at this point.(Disclaimer: if you ask me when the project is done I may have a different opinion – we’ll see!)
This weekend I decided to wrap up some loose ends on pieces that needed finishing. This gave the wonderful opportunity to learn how to bead blast (aka sand blast) and powder coat! My husband’s hobby is building airplanes, so he happens to have all the equipment I need right in his shop. If you don’t have such a convenience, then you can either contract it out at a local body shop purchase the equipment yourself. I don’t recommend purchasing the equipment if you are only going to use it once, but if you plan on using it on a frequent basis then it may be something to consider. If there are enough questions about it, I could do a post on what equipment I used and how to purchase it. However, for now the focus will be on the process rather than the equipment.
Here are the parts I wanted to strip and refinish (clockwise from upper left): terminal bracket, rear and front gear covers, lamp shade/housing, bevel gear front cover, and tension indicator.
view 1 
Each of these pieces have been previously soaked in kerosene to remove any grease, and then soaked in Evapo-rust to remove any surface rust, and brushed down to remove any loose paint. Some of the pieces look like they are in pretty good shape, so you may wonder why the bead blasting is necessary. The primary reason for it is to make sure the surface is smooth, yet textured enough, to promote adhesion of the powder coat.
Here is a photo of me bead blasting the other parts in the blasting booth. The parts go into the booth from a side door. Then after it is sealed shut, my hands go into gloves from the outside, so the person doing the blasting is completely protected. There is a window in the top to see what you are doing.
Here is what the front gear cover looks like before and after bead blasting:
Before 
Surprisingly, it only takes off a very thin surface layer and doesn’t have any negative impact on details like engraved SIMANCO part numbers.
Before 
To better demonstrate this, I’ve posted a video on YouTube showing my husband bead blasting the lamp shade. Here are a few photos for those who prefer pictures to video – see how just the layer of paint is removed from the surface?
Here are the parts after blasting. I was careful to not touch them with my bare hand to ensure no trace oil was left on the surface which can mar the powder coat (or paint if you choose to go that route). Aren’t they pretty!
Next time – Powder coating!
