Reply With QuoteI’d take the metalwork and get it shot or sand blasted. Would save a lot of time, effort and chemicals.
I picked up a really solid cast iron garden bench from a local freecycle post
It was super heave but has seen better days - I could literally hardly carry it
So I ve removed the broken slats and cut some new from 22mm pressure treated timber
And am 3/4 way through taking it right back to the bare metal
Could the bare metal be finished as is - if not I have some galvanising undercoat and black tractor paint
I’ve been using some ancient nitromors that was in my late fathers garage - great stuff but I’m nearly out
Bought some Screwfix own brand but it nowhere near touching it
If anyone has and experience I’d welcome advice
Untitled by biglewie, on Flickr
Untitled by biglewie, on Flickr
Untitled by biglewie, on Flickr
Untitled by biglewie, on Flickr
I’d take the metalwork and get it shot or sand blasted. Would save a lot of time, effort and chemicals.
Last edited by David_D; 12th August 2024 at 11:15.
This, plus the new chemicals are rubbish vs the old school stuff, as you are finding out!Originally Posted by David_D
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I wouldn’t bother with chemical strippers- they’re horrible to use apart from anything.
The advice to get them blasted is good.
For smaller cast iron items, of which I’ve restored a few (most recently a set of grocer’s scales), I like to use a vinegar bath, but this might not be practical on something of that size unless you have a suitable sized shallow container. It’s certainly an easy way but can take a few days. You can get vinegar by the gallon quite cheaply or indeed sometimes I just buy multiple litre bottles of the cheap Lidl stuff.
The other thing I do is use a rotary wire brush in a small grinder or drill- after the vinegar treatment this cleans it perfectly back to bare metal for painting.
Modern paintstripper is poor compared to the old stuff that contained chlorinated hydrocarbons, not great for your health but v. effective for stripping paint. If using paint stripped a good tip is to paint it on then wrap the item in tinfoil to prevent the paint stripper evaporating, there's only one place it can go and that's into the paint (slowly!).
Far better to have the metal items beadblasted and powder-coated IMO, if you don't fancy powder-coating ask for them to be painted in primer if possible, the freshly blasted metal will rust immediately otherwise.
A great idea but at £140 - not
I’m not looking to invest £100’s in this just hard work
Well that would buy an awful lot of vinegar! If you have or can (using plastic sheeting and bricks or blocks) contrive a big enough bath, and have the space to do so and the patience to leave it there possibly for a couple of weeks, you should find that a reasonable alternative.
Here are before-and-after pics of an Evertaut industrial chair I restored a few months ago. It was badly rusted to the point of heavy pitting, plus coated in layers of old paint and some cement for good measure. The steel components came up pretty well using the vinegar bath and rotary wire brush treatment.
Wow fantastic job
Thank you. It was a labour of love to be honest. I bought it a few years ago for the princely sum of 10 euros from a local flea market to prove a point to my sister who said words to the effect “there’s nothing but rubbish here”. So after she said to me “what the hell did you buy that piece of garbage for?” I showed her how much Evertaut chairs in good condition sell for.
It took rather too many hours to fix. Every nut and bolt was seized solid - some responded to a blowtorch and gentle persuasion but most had to be ground off. Having evidently sat outside for a number of years the wooden seat base was split and rotted beyond saving so I used it as a template to bandsaw out a replacement from a piece of some indeterminate but very hard hardwood I had lying around (possibly iroko) which I then shaped to accommodate my ample buttocks using a flap wheel in a grinder. I cut, glued and stitched (badly, don’t look too closely) two pieces of 4mm thick cowhide to make the seat back pad. The fixings were replaced throughout with new ones, which themselves got the vinegar bath treatment to remove the zinc coating, followed by a severe attack of blowtorch to darken and age them. All the metal components and wooden seat were finished using Tru Oil, a marvellous varnish sold as a gunstock finish but incredibly useful for all sorts of other things.
Good luck with the bench- it looks like a fun project.
That's a lot of hard work in this heat.I picked up a really solid cast iron garden bench from a local freecycle post
It was super heave but has seen better days - I could literally hardly carry it
So I ve removed the broken slats and cut some new from 22mm pressure treated timber
And am 3/4 way through taking it right back to the bare metal
Could the bare metal be finished as is - if not I have some galvanising undercoat and black tractor paint
I’ve been using some ancient nitromors that was in my late fathers garage - great stuff but I’m nearly out
Bought some Screwfix own brand but it nowhere near touching it
If anyone has and experience I’d welcome advice
We had a couple of similar benches, the wood rots but the cast iron lasts forever.
I did look into restoring them but proper hardwood is so expensive, I chucked the wood and gave the cast iron to the recycle men.
Cheers,
Neil.
Maybe an alloy wheel refurb place will let you acid dip them for not much outlay?
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I’ve done this. Wire brush it back. Red Prime and spray hammerite.
"Bite my shiny metal ass."
- Bender Bending Rodríguez
Nice result
Very nice result
The irons is in great condition and not rusted
I am I’d say 90% stripped now - yeh it’s hot work- I’ve been in the shade of the shed
Call it a day for today and head down to the beach with the kayaks and gas stove for tea on the beach
Only had bead blasting done once years ago and can’t recall what the cost was - it certainly didn’t make my eyes water. £140 sounds like a p*** take for three small pieces like yours. That said, guess it also depends how much you’re willing to pay for materials to DIY and what value you put on your time.
Last edited by David_D; 12th August 2024 at 15:52.
Thanks.
My wife wanted it binned, but to me it’s an heirloom (from my first house).
The most expensive part were the slats - £80 of oak cut to required spec then carefully treated with Osmo oil.
"Bite my shiny metal ass."
- Bender Bending Rodríguez
Love to see items like this brought back to life.
Love the chair earlier in the thread.
My wife is getting rid of my first bbq from my first house & I feel the same. It is in great shape but has been used as a pot for the last 23 years in the garden.
Small, lidless and was rubbish as a bbq, but it’s always been in every house I’ve owned. Never been so attached to a pot before!
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£52 buys you the kit, apparently!!
https://www.toolstation.com/draper-p...apacity/p77804
Looks like a great result. I like people who are prepared to have a go at things, like the leather on there. I love restoring things, especially making new 'old' parts for them.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
It doesn't buy you a compressor with a 300litre tank and the required CFM output to use with it. Which from experience is very high for a shot blaster/sandblaster.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
You could try using a heat gun and wire brush to get the rest of it stripped. I'll bet that someone you know will have a virtually unused 20 years old B&D heat gun sitting in their shed :-)
I'll be doing a similar project in the future as the previous owners of our house left a nice pair of ornate bench ends behind. I'm hoping to find some cheap hardwood at a bootfair rather than throw a shed load of money at the project.
I'm in no rush to do it as we have far more garden seating than we need anyway.
Last edited by catflem; 13th August 2024 at 09:27.
This has given me the urge for a bench. Strange how most threads on here end up with us spending money on things we probably don’t need!
Yes I’m the guy with the mostly unused heat gun
Going to try that today
I bought some inexpensive pressure treated timber (£10) if I come across some hard wood it will be a simple swap
Heatguns have their place but I’m not a big fan and would generally use one only as a last resort, mainly on account of the fumes.
True story- some years ago a local carpenter who was also a friend was repairing my balconies here in Malta. At one point I found him stripping very old paint (likely lead based) with a blowtorch and scraper, his face inches from the work, no mask and for good measure breathing the fumes through the roll-up that was permanently between his lips. I remember saying “for God’s sake Charlie wear a mask and don’t smoke while you’re doing that job, it’ll kill you”. He replied that he has been doing it that way for 40 years and hadn’t come to any harm yet. A year or so later I went to his funeral. Lung cancer.
If anything, a lot of good paint stripping on metal components can be done just by tapping with the blade of an old chisel, no fumes or chemicals at all.
You really can’t beat a decent bench to sit on in the garden. Much better than almost all other garden furniture.
"Bite my shiny metal ass."
- Bender Bending Rodríguez
I’ve done this. Wire brush it back. Red Prime and spray hammerite.
That's a lovely job - nice bit of oak too!
Cheers,
Neil.
I have a heat gun which sees occasional use but mostly I use this when I need some quick heat.
Mainly used for heat treating springs as it’s quicker and easier than using the kiln.
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Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
Yeah. I think he still wants a single bench which can be reassembled.I have a heat gun which sees occasional use but mostly I use this when I need some quick heat.
Mainly used for heat treating springs as it’s quicker and easier than using the kiln.
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"Bite my shiny metal ass."
- Bender Bending Rodríguez
A local dip ‘n’ strip would do it for £20
I've used these with some success in the past. A corded drill works best, I have found.
Hardwood?
"Bite my shiny metal ass."
- Bender Bending Rodríguez
That's when the hot air gun comes out of the cupboard.
Always nice to have options though!
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
No…. The iron bits
I couldn’t really find anything and £20 sounds extremely cheap to me
I need a wrought iron gate stripping and lots of people say get it shotblasted or stripped, but never know anywhere that will do it!
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
Maybe not your area but an example of a company who’d do it https://premiumdoorstripping.co.uk/p...s-metal-items/
Based on my local guy who’s done doors and all sorts for me…. Just search for strippers in your local area 😂
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