Wednesday, July 11, 2012

I need a grinder.

I got myself a hacksaw and finally got the tub, handles and stand away from each other. The handles will definitely need to be replaced, as they have tons of rot on them and are likely the originals. Good thing they're real cheap. Apart from a few bolts I had to destroy to get the barrow apart, the handles will probably be the only other pieces I have to buy to restore it, not counting any tools needed for the job.  This brings me to the title of this post. I have a cheap 18v drill that I bought from Harbor Freight a couple of years ago, and a few wire brush attachments. I used this drill and it's attachments on another project of mine to great success.  Unfortunately, the barrow is a little farther along in the rust department than the control panel on that arcade machine. It's got tons of rust on it. The wire brush attachment I have was working, kinda - but I decided to move to a circular sandpaper attachment. It did a much better job. You can see the difference here. The first picture is the stand, which was done with the wire brush attachment. The second is with the sand paper attachment.



As you can see, the sand paper attachment is working a lot better. Also, ignore the mess in my garage. At any rate, I've realized that I need an actual grinder if I'm to do this on my own. I really don't have the money for one though.  Especially since I'm not really going to use it a lot more apart from this project, at least at this point in time.  So, I'm thinking what I'm going to do is look into a sandblasting service.  I have to check prices on that though. I seem to remember calling a place about sandblasting that arcade control panel and I think I was told somewhere in the area of $75. This is a larger (and dirtier) job so I know it will likely cost more. Bummer. Also a bummer, I was hoping to do the work myself. Honestly after the rust is removed there won't be much work left on it but to hit it with a rust stopping primer and a few coats of high quality paint. Still haven't totally decided on a color though. I wanted to paint it blue because it used to be blue when I was a kid. But it also looks like there was green paint on it. Also, most wheelbarrows you see are a nice bright red, so there's that too. I've got plenty of time to decide on that though.



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