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Tower might look better bare


Ndawg12

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This is probably a stupid question but my tower is pretty scuffed up and there's bare metal showing in some small places, these places have not rusted that I've seen so my question is this: since I have access to sandblasting equipment at work, could I just blast the black coating off and go with a stainless finish? Is there anything I would need to do after that, ie steel wool, some kind of clear coat??

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This is probably a stupid question but my tower is pretty scuffed up and there's bare metal showing in some small places, these places have not rusted that I've seen so my question is this: since I have access to sandblasting equipment at work, could I just blast the black coating off and go with a stainless finish? Is there anything I would need to do after that, ie steel wool, some kind of clear coat??

I talked with a dealer and they tried soda blasting and then polishing, but it took a long time. They now use a product called "Klean Strip" which is an aircraft paint remover and then polish. They say it takes about 10 hours to do.

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We used to strip AirChair foils with that stuff. Your gonna need a rubber suit, gloves & a respirator. That stuff is nasty.

I've been thinkin about having my tower re-powdercoated for the same reason. I have a neighbor who owns the shop & will do the stripping & powdercoat for a good price. Definitely a winter job.

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martinarcher

That Klean Strip is nasty! I was sprayed in the eye by a can and it took about 3 days for my vision to fully clear up. The can fell off the workbench and landed on the spray nozzle and then rolled under the bench. I stooped down to look under the bench and reach for it and the nozzle way stuck in the down spray position and the can rolled back out from under the workbench and got me across the face as it came out. Man did that hurt - I thought for sure I would have permanent vision damage from it, but thank the Lord it all came back after a couple days!

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This is probably a stupid question but my tower is pretty scuffed up and there's bare metal showing in some small places, these places have not rusted that I've seen so my question is this: since I have access to sandblasting equipment at work, could I just blast the black coating off and go with a stainless finish? Is there anything I would need to do after that, ie steel wool, some kind of clear coat??

If it is stainless, stripping and polishing are going to be a pretty big job. I think it would be cheaper to sand and blend, maybe fill in the major scuffs after sanding of course and have it repainted or repowdercoated. Powder coating will cost much more but will be worth it in the long run, sandblasting may be the way to go if you decide to repaint but I wouldn't sandblast if you plan on polishing, you'll create much more porosity to sand/polish out.

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Years ago on MBO, there was a guy that stripped his Titan....by hand. He polished it by hand as well & IIRC he left it polished. Looked fantastic in the pictures. I would think that maybe media blasting would be an option, but if it were me I'd seal it somehow afterward. Either clear powder coat, or just a straight up clear coat. Something to seal & protect it, & keep you from having to polish it all of the time to keep it looking good.

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I'm starting to think that sandblasting it would leave it too rough and sanding that down would be even more work, so I might go the airplane paint remover stuff. What kind of paint do people use? We have some commercial grade stuff here at work but it seems like it still scratches and gets marked up easily.

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martinarcher
Years ago on MBO, there was a guy that stripped his Titan....by hand. He polished it by hand as well & IIRC he left it polished. Looked fantastic in the pictures. I would think that maybe media blasting would be an option, but if it were me I'd seal it somehow afterward. Either clear powder coat, or just a straight up clear coat. Something to seal & protect it, & keep you from having to polish it all of the time to keep it looking good.

When I bought my Titan it was just unfunished tubing bent for my boat. I saved money by not having Titan finish it. I polished it myself. It was very time consuming and took a while to get it where I wanted but it looks great. The bare polished stainless will show water spots from spray, but a quick wipe with the chamois at the end of the day takes care of it. I would never coat my tower with anything. Polished stainless is maintenance free! Thumbup.gif I would imagine I'll hit it with some Never-Dull at the end of the year because I can't leave anything alone, but boy it really hasn't needed anything since I polished it.

Edited by martinarcher
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Powder coating is best taken off with a "media" blaster...basically a sand blaster that uses plastic vs. sand. You could then polish after media blasting no problem.

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