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Best Vintage: Sandblast Your Way Into New Skills

Johnny V saying hi. I am a vintage car fanatic who turns old, discarded bombs into works of art. I sell many of them but I also keep some to drive around town. I love the stares and looks of envy. All the hard work is worth it. The biggest enemy in repairing vintage cars is rust, so I am a big believer in sandblasting. Sandblasting is truly a skill that must be learnt through trial and error. You need to follow safety procedures and perfect your technique so you don't have metal warpage. However, once you learn to sandblast, there is no cheaper, more effective way of creating a rust-free, clean surface for a paint job. In this blog I share my techniques because I know many people are hesitant about learning new skills. I hope you learn something new and gain confidence. Best of luck.

 

Best Vintage: Sandblast Your Way Into New Skills

How a Desired Colour Can Be Added on Stainless Steel Handrails

2 December 2016
 Categories: Industrial & Manufacturing, Blog

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Many ways are available to give stainless steel handrails the colour that you desire. Read on and discover some of the methods that a fabricator can use to produce railings with the colour that you would like your railings to have. Use this information to select the most appropriate method for your needs.

Electrochemical Colouring

Electrochemical colouring refers to the process by which stainless steel is dipped into a hot acid solution. The fabricator then passes a predetermined electrical current through that acid solution in order to make the chromium oxide layer on the surface of the railings to thicken. The oxide layer thickens to alter the reflective ability of the surface of those railings. In this way, the railings can be made to reflect your desired colour or combination of colours. The thicker oxide layer also has the added advantage of increasing the ability of those railings to resist corrosion. The colour(s) produced using this method never fades throughout the service life of the railings. However, the colours will deteriorate when the railings are scratched.

Sputtered Colouring

Sputtered colouring entails spraying the stainless steel handrails with a mist of ceramic paint. This gives the railings a uniformly thin layer of the desired colour. The colours produced in this way are more resistant to abrasion than the colours achieved through electrochemical colouring. This makes this method suitable for railings that will be used in high-traffic areas where significant impacts with the handrails are anticipated, such as railings placed close to service elevators in hotels.

Painting

Stainless steel handrails can also be painted in the same way that other surfaces, such as walls, are painted. This method is the most affordable way to get the colour that you want on the railings that you have ordered. This method allows you to alter the appearance of your railings at any time that you wish. All that you have to do is to sand off the old paint before you apply a new colour of paint on the handrails. However, the paint applied in this way is not as durable as the colour achieved using the other methods discussed earlier. Consequently, you may be compelled to paint the railings frequently, such as annually, in order to keep them looking attractive.

As you can see, your needs play a great role in determining which colouring method will be used during the fabrication of your custom handrails. It may therefore be advisable for you to talk to a stainless steel handrail fabricator so that you receive expert advice about the best way to colour your handrails so that they retain their attractiveness for a long time.