Paint removal

You got 'em, we know how to clean 'em
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snoekjaeger
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Paint removal

Post by snoekjaeger »

Hi,

This is not really about cleaning old reels, but I guess some of you might have experiance with this.

A friend of mine has some 1980-90's fishing reels he has used for fishing a lot. Technically they are still perfect but optically just looking terrible... He wanted to repaint them but found it is very hard to remove the paint of some and near impossible to remove the paint with sandpaper (would take forever and is very difficult in some hard to get to spots).

Is there something like a mini-sandblaster ?
Other methods ?

I did see some posting here about a Vibrasonic cleaner, but could not find it on the internet, only something about a molechaser...

Note : these are not collectable reels, I will always recommend to leave those as they are !

Jean-Paul
woody osborne
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cleaning paint off reels

Post by woody osborne »

i have some zebco cardinal with a few remnants of tan paint on them that need help badly. i haven't done any thing to them yet. i was informed that if sandblasting is done on aluminum you will be very unhappy with the results- bad erosion of aluminum , not just the paint. glass bead blasting was recommended but i haven't checked into it yet. best of luck with your reels, woody
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Ron Mc
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Post by Ron Mc »

here's a Medalist that has been bead-blasted.
http://classicflyrodforum.com/forum/

the key is using the right conditions and the right abrasive material. Sand is obviously the wrong choice. Crushed walnut shells is probably perfect.

You might want to contact FFPapa on that board - he is offering cleaning and repainting as a service.
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snoekjaeger
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Post by snoekjaeger »

Hi,
Looking good, but what is the machinery used for this ?
I haven't seen any sandblaster here in Europe other then the big commercial-purpose machines ?
Brand/type ?
JP
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Ron Mc
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Post by Ron Mc »

there are smaller glove-box size machines that you can find in many paint shops, foundries machine shops.

contact FFPapa and get some details from him - tell him I sent you (bulldog1935)
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SilasTerry
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Removing paint

Post by SilasTerry »

If you are not worried about discoloring the metal underneath, you can try using regular automobile DOT-3 brake fluid as a paint remover. This stuff will dissolve paint like magic and you can just rinse it off. Test it first, though.

Dan
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Ron Mc
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Post by Ron Mc »

any be careful of any plastics - handles, etc.
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snoekjaeger
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Post by snoekjaeger »

Thanks for the tips, I'll tell him the do's and dont's
Jean-Paul
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