[shadow29483]

I'm thinking about repainting my last build. The finish that I choose is the high gloss heat resistant black from duplicolor. It looks great! But even after baking the receiver and barrel and letting it sit for days, The paint seems to be very brittle. Here's a pic of the receiver.

While changing hand guards I slid the bottom catch down the barrel into place and the paint scuffed and stands out big time.
I consider my self to be above avarage when it comes to the common sense factor in hands on experiance, but I really goofed on this one.
The prep work, I had down to a tee. By removing all oil, Baking, Acetone, Laquer thinner, Sanding and more sanding you name it seems that it does'nt adhere like the flat.
Like I said, the finish is beautifull but I'm thinking of going back with the "flat" Matte black finish.
Anyway here's my question.
To strip the paint of all the small areas overall barrel and receiver itself. Would'nt it be a lot quicker to use a sand blaster with a fine play sand?
Instead of sanding by hand and using a high quantity of chemicals to strip the paint?
Is there any thing that I need to be aware of while "Blasting"? I'm no auto body expert and this would be my first time with a sand blaster.
I normally do every thing by hand.
I could use a little help here.
Thanks guys,
-Shadow-

 

[yosuthnmasa]

Shadow, I've had a little experience with sandblasting old Ford Mustangs. I'm sure there is someone lurking here that has extensive knowledge in this area, though.

Do you have a blaster? If not I would bet you would be out $45-$65 for a cheap automotive one. I don't have a lot of capability of adjusting the flow of sand. I'm sure they are out there, though. If I was in your similar situation, I would probably go with a chemical strip. Definitely wouldn't sand it down by hand. I would use one of the strong automotive strippers, like citristrip or something similar. When I stripped my 65 Fastback, I used a combo of sand blasting and citristrip. The good thing with the stripping agent, especially citristrip, is that it doesn't really evaporate. You would apply a very generous coat, and let it sit for quite a while. We would use this methods where there was a lot of bondo or many layers of paint. Basically, it would eat through layer and layer until we scraped it off. It was great because it would keep eating until you scraped it off. The longer you left it, the better the results, with no harm to the metal. The nice thing about your receiver, is that it doesn't appear to have the trunnions in it and would have all flat surfaces. This would make fast work with the stripping agent. For the corners, I would recommend an SOS pad. On the other hand, the sand blaster was good for surface stripping, but not a lot of layers at once, as the longer you held it in the same place the faster it heated and could cause warping. I know where talking about apples and oranges here, but I would be careful with a sandblaster on the receiver. Overall, IMHO, the chemical stripper is cheaper, doesn't require a compressor, or getting sand all over the place and in every crevice of your body. Just my .02. If you do decide to use a chemical agent, make sure and use rubber gloves, because those chemicals will burn your skin!

 

[ak'sr4me]

It's a shame you have to strip it. That receiver looks like a work of art. As far as blasting goes, as long as you move around a lot and don't concentrate in any one area too long, you shouldn't have any warpage problems. I have a pressure feed blaster that will blow a hole in metal if you leave it in the same spot for too long but I have had no problems with warpage on auto bodies and they are thinner than the receivers. ak'sr4me

 

[shadow29483]

ak'sr4me,
Thanks alot for the reply. I had to repaint and bake twice before I was finnaly satisfied with the appeal. But the paint is not as durable as I thought it would be.
You kind of have to pamper it to not get a scratch on the surface coat.
that's why I'm going back to the original "flat" black.
You know as well as I do, That being a rifle on the range the finish has got to withstand some punishment. Unless I plan on hanging it on the rack for display purposes.
Thanks,
Neill