How to remove black coating

[Cato]

have you ever wished if black bridge/tail piece/tuners on your guitar were nickel?

NO!?

um, ok. but you should see how I remove the black coating.

this is the replacement bridge of Schaller, designed for Gibson's wraptail.



It looks cool and is very useful. but it wouldn't fit any vintage guitars(and vintage reissues) because it's black.

so here's the way to change it to nickel.

prepare the following.



(1)Kidney basin

(2)Stainless Brush

(3)Chopsticks

(4)Chopstick stand

(5)Pipe cleaning gel

take away small rings and long screws off of the unit before getting to work. those are made of iron and this gel rusts them.



steep the other parts in gel and leave them alone.

[Cato]

7 hours after

[Cato]

24 hours passed.

wash them with water and steep in gel again

[Matt White]

Wow....that's some dedication Cato..........

the fumes must be deadly.........

that does clean up well.....................................

[jhale667]

Way to ruin perfectly good black hardware, Cato!~


j/k pretty cool.

[ashstralia]

i'm gonna hit up the local sushi joint... 'hey, why are there no little cute chopstick holders, like my mate Cato has???

[Cato]

48 hours after.

80% of the coating removed.

wash them and steep in gel again. repeat this process till the coating gets removed completely.



>ash
I have a lot of chopstick stands(holders, rests, whatever..) in the shape of cats.

[Hardrock69]

Coolness, Cato!

I have one guitar with black hardware, but it is a completely red JB Player neck-thru-body strat, and I think the black hardware looks better on it than chrome would. It is the stock hardware color anyway.

[ashstralia]

'hey, why are there no little cute chopstick holders, like my mate Cato has???

if you could teach me how to say this in japanese, while i pointed to the photo, would be hilarious.

edit; i hope you're wearing quality rubber gloves and protective eyewear while doing this!

[Nitro Express]

Looking at the bottle of drain cleaner it says Johnson Wax which means the American equivalent is Draino. Draino gel is a lye based drain cleaner and not hydrochloric or sulfuric acid which can kill septic tank bacteria and damage metal pipes. Lye is less damaging to metal. If the black is paint you can use Aircraft Remover (aircraft and automotive paint removing gel) which is safe for metals. I don't know if it will take powder coating off or not.

You want to be careful using chemicals because they can give off poisonous fumes when they react and you can damage your metal parts. Certain chemicals are really harsh on brass, aluminum, and some pot metals.

[ELVIS]

Is that your emesis basin for the radiation sickness ??

[ELVIS]

I think some of Cato's teeth fell in there...

[twonabomber]

I don't know if it will take powder coating off or not.

I used to work on a powder coat line back in the early 90's. We'd acid dip parts that had to be re-worked, then the parts would go into a clean water rinse and back on the line.

[Cato]

I think some of Cato's teeth fell in there...

read the description of this thread on forum index.

[ELVIS]

It says: honerable ELVRIS best poster ever...

[ELVIS]

So, was the black shit you removed black chrome, powder coat or what ??

You're not really teaching us anything here unless we know what it is you've removed...

[Cato]

it's anodized aluminum.

[Cato]

It says: honerable ELVRIS best poster ever...

you are a バカ。

[Nitro Express]

I used to work on a powder coat line back in the early 90's. We'd acid dip parts that had to be re-worked, then the parts would go into a clean water rinse and back on the line.

What kind of acid did you use? I'm not kidding when you have to be careful with things like drain cleaner. Drano heats up when it gets with water (it's not acid but lye). Why you don't want to use it in toilets is it can generate enough heat to melt the wax seal and even crack the porcelain. Then you don't know what kind of chemical fumes you are going to get when it reacts with the paint.

You just don't want to start mixing things until you have checked it out from a reliable source to see if it's safe. There are commercial paint removers you can get at auto parts stores that are formulated to remove such stuff. I've always had great luck with Aircraft Remover. I even use it to get laytex paint off of door hinges and things. If your are restoring an old house that the previous owners have covered the original hardware with paint and you want to keep the old hardware, you can use Aircraft Remover and it doesn't damage the plating and it cleans up with water.

[Nitro Express]

7 hours after

It looks like CP3O puked.

[ELVIS]

Or Robby The Robot's dental visit...

[ashstralia]

cool work cato...

just an aside, was lunching at the sushi bar today; some wanker was giving the poor sushi chef grief about whaling... very poor form, i wouldn't have minded sticking a chopstick in his eye.

[Cato]

72 hours passed.

coating removed completely. cleaned those parts with brush

[Cato]

ash, what's your fave sushi menu?

[Seshmeister]

Cream of Sum Yung Mahn

[Angel]

Cream of Sum Yung Mahn

[Cato]

what? cream of "some young men"?:confused:

[ELVIS]

BTW, Greased Lightning degreaser will remove the anodized coating from any aluminum in about 20-30 minutes...

[Cato]

BTW, Greased Lightning degreaser will remove the anodized coating from any aluminum in about 20-30 minutes...

how much is it?

[twonabomber]

What kind of acid did you use?

I knew someone was gonna ask. I don't remember. That was four jobs ago.

There were a couple tanks, a small one with baskets, and a larger one that big parts could be hung in. I seem to remember a circulating pump or bubbler, the solution did not sit still in the tank. We wore a faceshield, heavy rubber gloves, and an apron while loading and unloading the tank.

[ELVIS]

how much is it?

Cheap, it's like $5 per bottle...

[Nitro Express]

72 hours passed.

coating removed completely. cleaned those parts with brush

Now what? Those parts look pretty shiny. Did they just put the black coating over plated parts? Man if that's the case you lucked out. You won't have to have them plated.

[ashstralia]

ash, what's your fave sushi menu?

The simple tuna rolls, avocado, and shredded veg. they do a karaage with semi dried tomato and black sesame seeds which is great. I also love edemame. It's cheap nutritious delicious food, I could happily live on it.

[Cato]

Cheap, it's like $5 per bottle...

mine is less than $3.

[Matt White]

mine is less than $3.

Proving once again...."Less is More"

[ELVIS]

mine is less than $3.

It's also corrosive and very dangerous to be playing around with for hours indoors...

[Nitro Express]

The simple tuna rolls, avocado, and shredded veg. they do a karaage with semi dried tomato and black sesame seeds which is great. I also love edemame. It's cheap nutritious delicious food, I could happily live on it.

Sounds good. I like chinese black sesame seed jello. I've never seen it in the states though.

[Cato]

finished! shiny eh? forgot to put the tailpiece on there, though.





it took me about a week to install long screws and small rings to the unit.

[ELVIS]

It does look nice...

Nice job...

[jhale667]

Who knew it'd clean up that well? Pretty cool, Cato...