fretless6 Posted September 2, 2004 Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 Got some Hipshot saddles made of brass. Some of the black finish (powdercoat?) is badly scratched. Threw some paint stripper on it but it isn't working. Any advise on how I can remove the powdercoat? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted September 2, 2004 Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 I did something like that once. I had this black dome knob off a Squire strat that was scratched-up and crappy looking, so I put it in a jar with this chemical stuff and left it soak in that for a day or two. When I took it out, I scrubbed it with a toothbrush and all the black coating came off, and I had a brass colored knob. That black coating was pretty thin to begin with. The chemical was some kind of stuff used for treating rust. It turns rust into some kind of gray zinc or something like that. I can't give you the exact name, because I'm away from home right now. But that same chemical, I used for other things. I once had a trem spring that had some moderate surface rust on it. after using that chemical on it, I had a rust-free trem spring that was dark gray. Probably great for someone making a "gothic" looking guitar. I also threw a bunch of rusted screws in that chemical stuff and then had neat looking dark grey screws that I even used for my neck-jig tool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretless6 Posted September 2, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 Patience is not a virtue of mine Got annoyed and sanded the finish off. Indeed, the coating is very very thin. Comes off completely with a few swipes of 400grit sandpaper. Polished up the brass saddles, and viola! Before (minus one) After Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genbloke Posted September 2, 2004 Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 Apparently Coca Cola is very good at stripping rust and some other finished from metal! (yep, I thought it was a joke too when I first heard it). There are several people who are into car restoration who swear by this technique to remove rust on small parts. Havn't tried it myself so can't vouch for it working. Genbloke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted September 2, 2004 Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 Apparently Coca Cola is very good at stripping rust and some other finished from metal! (yep, I thought it was a joke too when I first heard it). There are several people who are into car restoration who swear by this technique to remove rust on small parts. Havn't tried it myself so can't vouch for it working. Genbloke Coca Cola... If I recall good, that was dissmissed as a myth on the MythBusters TV show... Good job, got a close up look... did you polished them too. I was going to suggest you sand blast them, this will also give it a more satin look if you don't like the shinny one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlGeeEater Posted September 2, 2004 Report Share Posted September 2, 2004 Apparently Coca Cola is very good at stripping rust and some other finished from metal! (yep, I thought it was a joke too when I first heard it). There are several people who are into car restoration who swear by this technique to remove rust on small parts. Havn't tried it myself so can't vouch for it working. Genbloke Coca Cola... If I recall good, that was dissmissed as a myth on the MythBusters TV show... Good job, got a close up look... did you polished them too. I was going to suggest you sand blast them, this will also give it a more satin look if you don't like the shinny one. Grr you beat me to the mythbsters thing. But didnt they use the coca cola to remove grease and oil from that truck engine? i dont think it was rust but it mite have been. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted September 3, 2004 Report Share Posted September 3, 2004 they tried the rust on the bumper too. Enough with the thread jacking, I insist on a close up pic... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretless6 Posted September 3, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2004 Polished with autosol after sanding down to 2000 grit My crappy digital camera can't take close up shots, though. This is the best I can do... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted September 3, 2004 Report Share Posted September 3, 2004 But didnt they use the coca cola to remove grease and oil from that truck engine? i dont think it was rust but it mite have been. If they claimed to , it was a huge lie. That stuff is mainly carbonated water with flavoring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
american_jesus Posted September 3, 2004 Report Share Posted September 3, 2004 sanding down the finish would be the easiest way to go, i'm sure. you could always go to your home depot and get some aircraft stripper or some other heavy duty stuff and rip the junk off like that. and to all the coke stuff...snopes.com will tell you everything you need to know under cokelore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank falbo Posted September 3, 2004 Report Share Posted September 3, 2004 Don't forget to spray it with some kind of brass lacquer, or it will tarnish up and you'll be polishing it once a month forever. There're lots of product you can use. Defthane clear satin would put a nice satin finish over it like sandblasting. Otherwise most clears will work but they sell special brass lacquer. I don't know what makes it different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oYx Posted April 21, 2006 Report Share Posted April 21, 2006 I did something like that once. I had this black dome knob off a Squire strat that was scratched-up and crappy looking, so I put it in a jar with this chemical stuff and left it soak in that for a day or two. When I took it out, I scrubbed it with a toothbrush and all the black coating came off, and I had a brass colored knob. That black coating was pretty thin to begin with. The chemical was some kind of stuff used for treating rust. It turns rust into some kind of gray zinc or something like that. I can't give you the exact name, because I'm away from home right now. But that same chemical, I used for other things. I once had a trem spring that had some moderate surface rust on it. after using that chemical on it, I had a rust-free trem spring that was dark gray. Probably great for someone making a "gothic" looking guitar. I also threw a bunch of rusted screws in that chemical stuff and then had neat looking dark grey screws that I even used for my neck-jig tool. what chemical is that? wonder if it will actually help make hardware look like the cosmo finish that is on ibanez hardware? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted April 21, 2006 Report Share Posted April 21, 2006 Assuming the black comes off as easily as the gold does, you could always try a dremel tool with one of those circular "wire" attachments, whatever they're called. It's like a disc-shaped wire brush. Stripped off the gold from a few screws I needed in a jiffy. Due to the shape of it, it was tough to get into small crevices, but overall it worked quickly. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted April 21, 2006 Report Share Posted April 21, 2006 IIRC the coke thing was that it works, but it doesn't work any better than normal products. I've seen an old plane de-rusted very well by being immersed in 3 liters of coke for a week, and we've all cleaned pennies in the stuff. Regular 'ol weak acid should do the trick, though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted April 21, 2006 Report Share Posted April 21, 2006 what chemical is that? Unless they've made some kind of change to it, since I've bought it many years ago http://www.eastwoodco.com/shopping/product...=OXISOLV%2CRUST Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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