Sandblasting media for 6906 (?soft alloy frame?)

[Erniekim]

Hi,
I need to get some ugly gold paint off of this gun. I've given up on chemicals and bought a little sandblaster. I plan to post some restoration pictures here.
Does anyone have a suggestion on what type of media will not hurt the soft alloy frame?; baking soda, walnut shells, etc?
Thanks
Ernie

 

[BMCM]

Gold paint??? Yecchh!

Chemical wise, you'd want something containing DCM aka. methylene chloride. That rules out hardware store paint stripper. You'd be after an industrial gasket remover. Loctite makes a product called "Chisel" in a spray can that would do it. Nasty stuff though, don't get it on you, don't breath it and be sure to test it in a hidden spot like inside the dust cover to make sure it wont hurt the anodizing before you hose down the hole piece.

Blasting... Trouble is you can't use anything with tooth. Any media toothy enough to handily remove paint will also strip the anodizing and beat up the underlying metal. I'd lean towards baking soda. I don't know what kind of blast equipment you have but unless you have a cabinet to continuously re-cycle the media you're liable to need a bunch of it.

Cheers
Bill

 

[TTSH]

Hi,
I need to get some ugly gold paint off of this gun. I've given up on chemicals and bought a little sandblaster. I plan to post some restoration pictures here.
Does anyone have a suggestion on what type of media will not hurt the soft alloy frame?; baking soda, walnut shells, etc?
Thanks
Ernie

I'll simply second what BMCM said: Anything coarse & rough enough to remove that nasty gold paint is practically guaranteed to ruin the anodized finish on the frame as well.

 

[skjos]

I did some chemical duracoat removal with Jasco Stripper on a 2206 with good results. See this thread:

http://smith-wessonforum.com/smith-wesson-semi-auto-pistols/368834-2206-rescued.html

 

[tayninh69]

I've got a small soda blaster I use to use on motorcycle parts. You can buy soda in different grades of coarseness and it will take off some paints. It's much, much slower at doing so than glass beads or sand. Some paints won't come off completely or at all. Guess it depends on how it was originally prepped and type of paint. Not sure your sandblaster will work with soda media, size of tips and such related to the size of media. If you haven't already, check the owners manual for the blaster for types of media it can spray. If it will, maybe try a little area thats normally hidden to see how it effects the original finish? Perhaps this is of some help.....

 

[Erniekim]

THANKS for your help.

I tried the chemicals y'all suggested; didn't touch the paint.
I tried blasting with baking soda and walnut shells; didn't touch it. I ended up using 80 grit glass beads and it came off.

The SS slide looks great. I'm guessing that I took the plating off the frame. Not sure how to proceed with the frame. Anyone have any ideas/suggestions? I kind of like the mat finish. I'll work on posting some pictures.
Kim

 

[TTSH]

THANKS for your help.

I tried the chemicals y'all suggested; didn't touch the paint.
I tried blasting with baking soda and walnut shells; didn't touch it. I ended up using 80 grit glass beads and it came off.

The SS slide looks great. I'm guessing that I took the plating off the frame. Not sure how to proceed with the frame. Anyone have any ideas/suggestions? I kind of like the mat finish. I'll work on posting some pictures.
Kim

If you've gone that far with the frame already, and assuming it needs no further prep, you can have it re-anodized.

 

[85V65Sabre]

The SS slide looks great. I'm guessing that I took the plating off the frame. Not sure how to proceed with the frame. Anyone have any ideas/suggestions? I kind of like the mat finish. I'll work on posting some pictures.

Kim

I have a 6906 I will be refinishing too, and I also like the "mat finish".
But my concern is the porosity of the frame after media blasting if not anodized or coated in some way.

 

[Erniekim]

Does anyone know of a company to re-apply the nickle plating? I called a local company but the asked what alloy the frame is made from. I'd need someone with some experience with this gun.

 

[BMCM]

Your frame, I'm fairly certain, is 7000 series aluminum alloy.

For refinishing, I'd recommend either industrial hard chome or Robar's NP3 finish.

Here's a couple links...
FINISHES - Metal Finishes | APWCOGAN

https://robarguns.com/custom-firearm-finishes/np3/

Cheers
Bill

 

[Erniekim]

I called S&W and they said: it's aluminum, do nothing or just clear coat it. That surprised me, seems like it needs something. I don't want to paint it. I'm thinking about a wax or something?

 

[TTSH]

Does anyone know of a company to re-apply the nickle plating? I called a local company but the asked what alloy the frame is made from. I'd need someone with some experience with this gun.

I called S&W and they said: it's aluminum, do nothing or just clear coat it. That surprised me, seems like it needs something. I don't want to paint it. I'm thinking about a wax or something?

Was there really nickel plating under that gold paint? If so, I don't know what to tell you.

If it was just the standard Model 6906's anodized aluminum frame under all that gold paint... and assuming you've removed all the gold paint and all of the original anodized finish... I would look into having the (now bare) aluminum frame re-anodized. There is a company not far from me that does that kind of work. As I recall, the cost for re-anodizing an aluminum frame... not including any additional required prep or shipping... was something under $100.00.

The other finishes recommended by BMCM would work as well. It just boils down to the look & quality you want and how much you are willing to pay for it.

 

[GeoJelly]

I called S&W and they said: it's aluminum, do nothing or just clear coat it. That surprised me, seems like it needs something. I don't want to paint it. I'm thinking about a wax or something?

Interesting comment from S&W! I have a 4013TSW that I intend to have re-finished later this year. So, I hope and assume they still do "standard" refinishing of aluminum 3rd Gen frames. They still list this as an option on their webpage anyway. From their webpage: Anodize - Aluminum Frames (3rd Gen. or newer) $150.

Someone said, in a different post last year, that they just replace the frames for 3rd Gen's rather than actually refinish them. Either way, $150 isn't too bad to get back basically a new frame...

 

[85V65Sabre]

Someone said, in a different post last year, that they just replace the frames for 3rd Gen's rather than actually refinish them. Either way, $150 isn't too bad to get back basically a new frame...

Thanks for the tip, I will have to check into that.

 

[TTSH]

Someone said, in a different post last year, that they just replace the frames for 3rd Gen's rather than actually refinish them. Either way, $150 isn't too bad to get back basically a new frame...

Thanks for the tip, I will have to check into that.

Man, that sure does sound fishy. If they are still up to their eyeballs in leftover 3rd Gen aluminum frames, why do they normally offer folks a deal on new plastic rather than replacing cracked 3rd Gen frames?

Or is this supposedly brand new production out of Houlton?

 

[85V65Sabre]

Man, that sure does sound fishy. If they are still up to their eyeballs in leftover 3rd Gen aluminum frames, why do they normally offer folks a deal on new plastic rather than replacing cracked 3rd Gen frames?



Or is this supposedly brand new production out of Houlton?

It's worth making a call[emoji4]
You just never know.

Maybe because on warrantees they make $0 on frame refinishing they make $150?
It's all about the bottom line don't ya know.

 

[Erniekim]

I'd like to find some refinishing videos, tutorials or descriptions of refinishing projects. I've sandblasted and am not sure how to finish the aluminum. It's still a bit too rough from the sandblasting.

 

[Erniekim]

Here is the stubborn paint.

 

[sceva]

On Refinishing Aluminum

Something to remember; Aluminum Anodizing is NOT plating or coating. It is a conversion of the surface that changes the Aluminum on the surface to a different material (such as Aluminum Oxide or some such) which is dyed as part of the final seal and cure. There are various types of Anodizing from Chem film that is very thin and has a negligible change in size to Hard Anodize which can have a thickness if 0.003 - 0.004. The thickness is tricky because it actually goes into the existing surface as well as building outward so if you have a resulting thickness of say .004 the parts actually gets bigger by about 0.002 per surface. Pre-anodize sizes must be controlled so that the finished part ends up the size you want. This is probably one reason that S&W does not refinish Anodized parts
The problem with stripping anodizing off to pure bare metal is that it will be smaller; smaller even than it was prior to anodize. This is normally not an issue where size requirements are liberal but can cause issues in critical or closely fitted areas.
I am unsure which type of anodize is used on firearms but where wear resistance is required I would suspect it is a hard anodize of some type.

 

[Erniekim]

Can someone please give me the name of someone to anodize this frame for me? I can't seem to find anyone local so I guess that I'll have to mail it off.
I'm thinking that I won't color it; little scratches won't be so obvious then.