acid dip or sand blast or both?

**Eevo** · 2nd April 2016, 09:30 PM

Originally Posted by LandyAndy

Hey Eevo.
Are you going to put some LED lights in the bores????
Ive always liked the "Top Gear" coffee table.
Andrew

i probably wont go down the led route

**Pedro_The_Swift** · 3rd April 2016, 05:41 AM

Originally Posted by Eevo

i probably wont go down the led route

**stealth** · 3rd April 2016, 07:20 PM

Originally Posted by 350RRC

I'm a big fan of phosphoric, especially being able to buy 20l of 83% for $65. Way faster than molasses.

I have a 240 / 12V convertor and am interested in the details of the electrolytic method. Can you elaborate please?

cheers, DL

You can get washing soda at supermarkets for about $1.50 a kg. I filled a 120 litre wheelie bin with water and tipped a kg of washing soda in it. There are different arguments on the ratio of soda required, being a little or a lot. This worked for me without any problem. Suspend a sacrificial piece of steel, or stainless steel is best apparently to the side of the bin and attach the positive terminal from your power source. Suspend your rusty piece of work to the negative terminal. Make sure the work and sacrificial metal don't touch. You will soon see bubbles of hydrogen frothing to the surface from e rusty piece. You may need to remove and scrub a filthy black scum off heavily rusted work during the process to assist but all rust will be removed. It will either soften or strip paint. When clean, pressure wash or wir brush to clean metal. The solution only needs topping up as the water evaporates. I have used my currecpnt batch for two years without adding any extra soda. Great for small and delicate items. Non toxic to dispose of. And doesn't stink.

**Eevo** · 17th March 2017, 06:17 PM

hmm

finally got around to doing this.

got the block acid dipped an bead blasted, $160
got some enamel black gloss paint $15
i tapped up the surface the head goes on and splayed the rest of the block. this part im happy with
got a glass top with beveled edge $60

today i took off the tape and splayed the entire block with some acrylic lacquer clear coat $15

but i'm not happy with the clearcoat. its not really thick. its not running off, but its not really there either. not sure how to describe it or where i went wrong. pics tomorrow when its dry

i'll let it dry over night and use the rest of the can tomorrow.

any ideas?

**PAT303** · 17th March 2017, 07:00 PM

The splash plate in our kitchen is a sheet of copper that I left outside to stain,I scrubbed it and finished it with clear coat,it's called Patina and looks excellent.That block would look awesome clear coated. Pat

**Toxic_Avenger** · 17th March 2017, 07:04 PM

Originally Posted by Eevo

any ideas?

Whack a crank, rods, pistons, and an RB30 head on it. Give it a stonkin' big turbo, and make it earn its keep.

**Eevo** · 17th March 2017, 07:18 PM

Originally Posted by PAT303

That block would look awesome clear coated. Pat

with or without the black?

**fitzy** · 17th March 2017, 07:38 PM

When you say " I splayed it" is that a lisp or a technique I am yet to hear about

**Eevo** · 17th March 2017, 08:31 PM

Originally Posted by fitzy

When you say " I splayed it" is that a lisp or a technique I am yet to hear about

i think my keyboard has a lisp.

i sprayed it. using a can of spray paint.

**BMKal** · 17th March 2017, 10:15 PM

Originally Posted by stealth

I've used molasses, phosphoric acid, rust strippers etc but found electrolysis the quickest and simplest. Get a 240/12 volt converter, big wheelie bin and some washing soda. Strips rust and paint, cheap to operate and the solution last for ages. You need to operate outdoors as it produces hydrogen which might go BOOM in a confined area. Sandblasting I use on projects where I want paint to really stick.

For this project I would use electrolysis after thoroughly degreasing and when the block is totally cleaned then get it sandblasted to bring up a clean grey metal finish then clear lacquer. Might cost a bit more but the effort would be worth it. After all if it is going to be a coffee table you would like to be looking at the table you would rather have, not the table you would rather pay for.

I'm with you on this one. I have an electrolytic cleaning set-up outside my shed at the moment, and have been using it to clean quite an assortment of things over the past couple of months - from an old cast iron bench vice and other old tools and workshop gear, to camping / cooking gear. Seems to work well on just about everything.

The one thing that I have done differently though is to use a solar panel instead of a 12 volt power supply or battery charger. I have an 80W set of folding solar panels, and I have simply removed the voltage controller and run direct from the solar panels to the electrolysis tub. I realize that I'm only getting current when the sun is out (about 17 volts most of the time) - but I'm not in any rush and it is costing me nothing (except for the occasional packet of sodium carbonate from Woolies).

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