We have a pair of 3ft x 4ft wrought iron gates that really are quite rusty in places. The thought of chipping off the worst bits and then rubbing it down does not appeal - has anyone any experience of having these things sand blasted? I imagine that this would get rid of the rust without costing an arm and a leg.
Sandblast works very well if you can find someone to do it. The more rust you scrape off by hand--the cheaper the job will be. Sandblasters and the sand used are not very cheap products and it is very likely that most of the sand used will not be reusable. Items that large are usually blasted in an open pit and most of the grit is lost. Your alternative is an angle grinder with a cone brush. Good luck !!
ISTR about five years ago, having four garden chairs and a table grit blasted and then powder coated cost me about £90, but I did know someone who could include it with a production run he did regulalrly.
Colin Bignell
Robert wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@clara.net:
I'm a big fan of blasting. I used to do the whole wire brush/drill/angle grinder fandango, but when I got a company to blast some car parts for me, I realised that my results could never compare, and in terms of my time, it was way more cost effective.
You could use a zipwheel (wire wheel) on an angle grinder, but they work best on a flat surface. On something like a gate, it will be forever trying to kick out of your hands and is pretty scary. I don't think a wire brush on a normal drill will be up to it.
The other thing I found which works quite well is a normal electric sander!
To find a place to do the blasting, I just looked around the local industrial estate. When I saw the company called "Metalblast" I knew I'd found the place :)
They can usually also do things like a hot zinc spray which will give you a good base rust protection.
Preferable to Yellow Pages? Or can't you read?
How much would a new pair of gates cost?
Get a wire brush and get the worst off that you can in half an hour each then hang them upside down and do the same again, then coat them in Hammerite.
Paint them in a similar manner to the cleaning. Coat what you can while they are upside down and then turn them rightway up to complete the job.
"Michael Mcneil" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mygate.mailgate.org:
That's right, I have uk.d-i-y dictated to me. Actually I asked around and was recommended that place. On the other hand, I do sometimes drive round industrial estates to see what's there - just for future reference. The Yellow Pages is another method.
Could be a £1000 plus, depending. If they are antique, then the question is moot anyway. The OP did not say.
I've found with Hammerite, the rust eventually (within a couple of years) comes through unless you remove almost all the rust. The parts I got blasted were car parts. Blasting gets clean bright metal which I could never do by hand, and it was relatively cheap to do parts that would take hours by hand!
Some people hate paying anyone to do anything though, and that's fair enough too.
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