19 May
2003
19 May
'03
11:29 a.m.
At 10:42 AM 5/19/03 -0500, you wrote:
On Sat, 17 May 2003, Joe wrote:
It shouldn't be difficult at all if you have a decent paint gun and a
GOOD compressor.
Specifically, I'd like to repair some transit damage on a SGI
At 10:01 PM 5/16/03 -0500, you wrote:
It sounds like the best thing I can do for now is leave it alone until I
can find out what kind of paint to use. I wouldn't mind repainting it, but
I don't want to mess it up. I have a number of these units, and would like
to preserve a consistent look.
Since the thread is already on the subject of paints...
How difficult would it be to touch up scratch damage on a painted metal
chassis? I guess you could say these have a pebble finish.
The texture is
pretty fine and you don't notice it right away. I have a bead blasting
cabinet, but the metal underneath the paint is smooth. I guess the
texture is only part of the paint.
Correct. They call it splatter paint or something like that. It has
lumps in it and you spray it on that way. I guess the size of the lumps
control the size of the bumps in the finish. I used to work in a paint
and body shop and we used the stuff to re-pain the insides of trunks of
60s and 70s cars that had that finish. The stuff they used left a
greyish finish with large spots and streaks of very dark color.
You can sandblast or bead plastic the base material (metal or plastic)
and then paint over it and get a rough finish but it will have holes and
dips in it instead of bumps (pebbles) so it's not the same. IRIS 1400, which has an off-white lightly textured
paint. The paint
differs from the drive chassis that has sharpie marks, in that the paint
on the SGI is very hard (and easier to chip/scratch) and the texture is
much more coarse. Also like the drive chassis, the texture appears to be
part of the paint and not the metal.
Again, I would suggest taking it to an automotive paint supplier and
letting them see if they can match the color an texture. I'm sure they can
match the color and I expect that they can match the texture as well. If
you're not handy with a paint gun then you could even take it to a paint
shop and have them do it. I had one piece repaired that way. They kind of
chuckled when I first brought it in but eventually painted it for me for
$12. (that was a long time ago!)
I also have a rack-mount device that was originally painted with a rubber
like paint that got "sticky" and made a mess.
I've seen stuff like that. I'm not sure what it was but I expect that it
might be an epoxy paint that didn't get mixed properly. Some of that stuff
can be a real B*****D to get off! If you can't strip it with paint
stripper, MEK or something like that you might try taking it to someone
that has a tank where they dip and strip furniture. If that doesn't get it
off then you're probably stuck with it.
I've been trying to strip it
off of all the metal surfaces so I can repaint it with
some regular
spray-on paint, but some of the metal is textured. What would be the best
way to get that nasty rubberized paint off the metal? The paint came right
off the non-textured metal with some paint stripper and a plastic scraper.
I've never seen any of that stuff close up. What's the liguid mitrogen
for?
These units were all cart-like and had wheels. They were of course older
units, and were not very small. I think they averaged about 1-1/2 to 2ft
square and about 3ft high. The liquid helium or liquid nitrogen was needed
by one of the units to cool part of the laser. The laser levels could be
adjusted for different things, and the guy who bought them told me he had
no trouble cutting 1/2" steel plate with one of them. Other than that, I
don't know too much more about them, but I wish I would have had room so I
could have bought them myself ;)
Yeah. Sounds like a NEAT toy!
Joe
I see on TV that they now have lasers that can burn
off dark spots
like freckles and tatoos without burning the lighter color skin
around them. I wonder if something like that could be used to burn
off dark marker stains without damaging the lighter surrounding
area. Yeah I know that kind of equipment is expensive but I wonder
if it would work. If so there are some of us that could build their
own lasers or modify existing ones. Just an idea.
Thats an idea. That type of equipment turns up at local auctions every
year or two too. The last time that kind of gear turned up, one guy
picked up all 3 laser units for a total of $5.00 simply because no one
else wanted to haul them off. They do tend to be kind of bulky. He
later told me they worked fine, though one needs a supply of liquid
helium or liquid nitrogen to operate. Oh, and they use *lots* of
electricity...
-Toth