Painted chassis (was: Re: Removing duct tape residue.)

From: Joe <rigdonj_at_cfl.rr.com>
Date: Mon May 19 11:29:41 2003

At 10:42 AM 5/19/03 -0500, you wrote:
>On Sat, 17 May 2003, Joe wrote:
>> At 10:01 PM 5/16/03 -0500, you wrote:
>>
>> > I guess you could say these have a pebble finish. The texture is
>> > pretty fine and you don't notice it right away. I have a bead blasting
>> > cabinet, but the metal underneath the paint is smooth. I guess the
>> > texture is only part of the paint.
>>
>> Correct. They call it splatter paint or something like that. It has
>> lumps in it and you spray it on that way. I guess the size of the lumps
>> control the size of the bumps in the finish. I used to work in a paint
>> and body shop and we used the stuff to re-pain the insides of trunks of
>> 60s and 70s cars that had that finish. The stuff they used left a
>> greyish finish with large spots and streaks of very dark color.
>>
>> You can sandblast or bead plastic the base material (metal or plastic)
>> and then paint over it and get a rough finish but it will have holes and
>> dips in it instead of bumps (pebbles) so it's not the same.
>
>It sounds like the best thing I can do for now is leave it alone until I
>can find out what kind of paint to use. I wouldn't mind repainting it, but
>I don't want to mess it up. I have a number of these units, and would like
>to preserve a consistent look.
>
>Since the thread is already on the subject of paints...
>
>How difficult would it be to touch up scratch damage on a painted metal
>chassis?

   It shouldn't be difficult at all if you have a decent paint gun and a
GOOD compressor.

Specifically, I'd like to repair some transit damage on a SGI
>IRIS 1400, which has an off-white lightly textured paint. The paint
>differs from the drive chassis that has sharpie marks, in that the paint
>on the SGI is very hard (and easier to chip/scratch) and the texture is
>much more coarse. Also like the drive chassis, the texture appears to be
>part of the paint and not the metal.

   Again, I would suggest taking it to an automotive paint supplier and
letting them see if they can match the color an texture. I'm sure they can
match the color and I expect that they can match the texture as well. If
you're not handy with a paint gun then you could even take it to a paint
shop and have them do it. I had one piece repaired that way. They kind of
chuckled when I first brought it in but eventually painted it for me for
$12. (that was a long time ago!)


>
>I also have a rack-mount device that was originally painted with a rubber
>like paint that got "sticky" and made a mess.

   I've seen stuff like that. I'm not sure what it was but I expect that it
might be an epoxy paint that didn't get mixed properly. Some of that stuff
can be a real B*****D to get off! If you can't strip it with paint
stripper, MEK or something like that you might try taking it to someone
that has a tank where they dip and strip furniture. If that doesn't get it
off then you're probably stuck with it.

 I've been trying to strip it
>off of all the metal surfaces so I can repaint it with some regular
>spray-on paint, but some of the metal is textured. What would be the best
>way to get that nasty rubberized paint off the metal? The paint came right
>off the non-textured metal with some paint stripper and a plastic scraper.
>
>> > > I see on TV that they now have lasers that can burn off dark spots
>> > > like freckles and tatoos without burning the lighter color skin
>> > > around them. I wonder if something like that could be used to burn
>> > > off dark marker stains without damaging the lighter surrounding
>> > > area. Yeah I know that kind of equipment is expensive but I wonder
>> > > if it would work. If so there are some of us that could build their
>> > > own lasers or modify existing ones. Just an idea.
>> >
>> > Thats an idea. That type of equipment turns up at local auctions every
>> > year or two too. The last time that kind of gear turned up, one guy
>> > picked up all 3 laser units for a total of $5.00 simply because no one
>> > else wanted to haul them off. They do tend to be kind of bulky. He
>> > later told me they worked fine, though one needs a supply of liquid
>> > helium or liquid nitrogen to operate. Oh, and they use *lots* of
>> > electricity...
>>
>> I've never seen any of that stuff close up. What's the liguid mitrogen
>> for?
>
>These units were all cart-like and had wheels. They were of course older
>units, and were not very small. I think they averaged about 1-1/2 to 2ft
>square and about 3ft high. The liquid helium or liquid nitrogen was needed
>by one of the units to cool part of the laser. The laser levels could be
>adjusted for different things, and the guy who bought them told me he had
>no trouble cutting 1/2" steel plate with one of them. Other than that, I
>don't know too much more about them, but I wish I would have had room so I
>could have bought them myself ;)
  

    Yeah. Sounds like a NEAT toy!

    Joe



>
>-Toth
Received on Mon May 19 2003 - 11:29:41 BST