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19-Aug-2015, 22:52
(This post was last modified: 19-Aug-2015, 23:18 by Manoet.)
Belly pan didn't strip as well as I'd hoped. Too many small nooks & crannies for cured powder to hide in tho the caustic solution did soften it up enough so I can now take another day and soda blast it with the case after a serious rub-down with a red ScotchBrite pad. Red is a single increment, 15-20% more coarse/aggressive than the green ScotchBrite pads everyone's familiar with. When Devialet preps these for powder coating they use a very coarse sandpaper on an orbital sander and on the rear cover extensions a file. Yes, a FILE! Very distinct 'filing' marks. I can tell by the file and tell-tale orbital scratches and how rough/coarse the uncoated part feels to the hand. It is nowhere NEAR as smooth as the powder-coated part! They don't worry too much about coarse finish as they can rely on a thick coat of powder when it contacts the heated plate to melt and flow evenly over all the scratches left by sanding and filling-in and smoothing out all the coarse sanding. But it's that thick, thermally insulative coating I wanna rid the Devialet of! With anodizing I don't have that luxury as anodizing is actually acid-etched into the surface rather than any kind of coating applied "on" the surface. Anodized parts come out of the tank "smaller" than they went in. Only a few microns but none-the-less, smaller. All other paint, powder or plating options are larger after treatment and powder is the king of thickness aside from finishes like rubber protective and spray-on bed liners for trucks et al. I couldn't care less about the underside of this piece looks-wise but I do care about the finish appearance on the outside of this piece. Not to the extent of the top, sides & face mind you but enough to pass the aesthetic of a well-prepared and professionally finished part when completed.
There goes the 1 day ahead of schedule I earned yesterday so now I'm back on original schedule... easy come, easy go!
Statements in my posts are opinion only, not to be construed as fact. Any projects I engage in are at my own risk! Their outcome cannot be assured and may result in success, small/no change or catastrophic failure. I encourage no one rely on anything I say or do as gospel and to realize your mileage may vary!
