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I've bagged a tatty old bench for nothing, the kind that has the cast ends and hardwood slats.
Replacing the slats should be simple, but the ends need a clean up before I repaint them. Doesn't need to totally be taken back to bare metal, but enough to get any crumbly or loose bits of the old paint off.
I've got a couple of wire brushed that'll fit in a drill chuck, a standard circular one and a cup-shaped one, but is there anything else/better to use that'll get into all the nooks and crannies?
Look up your local shot blasting place. I recently did similar and got mine shot blasted and powder coated for around £60.
Nope - wire brushes are still the cost effective DIY method of rust/paint removal.
Don's Health and safety hat - the paint may contain lead wear suitable RPE/PPE
Have a look at Bahco tungsten scrapers if they are not intricate surfaces - I have a few different shapes and they are really good/last for ages
Wire brush + primer + paint + mess + time < £60?!
+1 for getting it done by someone else for £60, it's a PITA DIYing it.
If they're cast iron (not modern cheap aluminum recreations) and you want to DIY it, put them in some builders rubble bags with a very concentrated caustic soda solution, give it a while and it'll lift most paint off, rinse thoroughly with cold water (because you don't want caustic soda splashing everywhere) then a jet wash should rake the remaining flakes off.
If there are any big flat surfaces then paint removal pads are your best bet, they're like a solid nylon sponge with silicone carbine granules for an angle grinder.
But all that costs, and takes time, and is a PITA, and a powder coater will do it and re-coat them for £60..........
angle grinder + coarse flappy sanding disc to strip and a less coarse one for polishing if you are fussy.
will have it sparkling in no time.
you can either oil it or hammerite (or similar STW approved metal paint of choice)
Edit- brush/dremmel for the hard to reach places as required.
Don’s Health and safety hat – the paint may contain lead wear suitable RPE/PPE
Plus goggles if you're using your wire brushes in the drill. The wires have a tendency to fly out and you really don't want one in your eye.
But yeah, for 60 notes I'd get them prepped and powder coated.
Plus goggles if you’re using your wire brushes in the drill. The wires have a tendency to fly out and you really don’t want one in your eye.
the wires get into everything - socks, hair, ears - often worth wearing clothes you're happy to then throw away afterwards as the wires can be a bit of a hazard long after you've finished working with the cup brush if they get tangled up in the fibres of you clothes, gloves etc- I've had some lovely, sore cuts from wiping my sweaty brow with a sleeve or glove peppered with satan's pubes.
Worth looking at some of the synthetic rust and paint removal wheels from the likes of 3M - nicer to use than wire brushes - and kinder to the metal underneath
If they’re cast iron (not modern cheap aluminum recreations)
I've a sneaky feeling that they might be aluminium, cos they don't seem to have the heft of cast iron.
And I get that a strip and powder coat seems reasonable/sensible, but by the time I've paid for new slats and paid to get it stripped and coated, I'll have a refreshed cheap bench for the price of a new cheap bench...
Angle grinder if you have one plus one of the "twisted rope" style brushes. They kick and snag less and they last much better, love these things. Grinder is much more controllable than a drill ime
I'm a fan of these ones. Bit less aggressive than wire and you don't tend to the up with a million metal splinters in your face and arms.
Toolstation have them
Ooh seen those but never used one, how well do they last?
(I'm derusting an MX5, which is a bit like saying "dewooding a plank", so always on the lookout for shortcuts)
+1 for getting it done by someone else for £60, it’s a PITA DIYing it.
But surely the whole point of being someone who takes on other people's knackered old workbenches is that you like doing DIY tasks...
Otherwise why would the OP even want a workbench?
80 grit zirconium flap wheel plus an hour of your time. Plus a tin of black hammerite. Job jobbed, go ride bike.
Ooh seen those but never used one, how well do they last?
I don't really know on metal unfortunately as I've not needed to use them for extended periods. You can get different grits.
I've mainly used them when scorching wood, where once burnt, you 'brush ' the grain out with one of them.
But surely the whole point of being someone who takes on other people’s knackered old workbenches is that you like doing DIY tasks…
Otherwise why would the OP even want a workbench?
I think you need to reread the op.
I take issue with the first line of the OP's second paragraph.
Where can you get good hardwood slats without spending a fortune?
I know; buy a bench from a garden centre and use those. Then try to sell the new bench-ends.
Yours faithfully, a carpenter (with a lovely pair of bench-ends tucked behind the garage waiting for new slat).
But surely the whole point of being someone who takes on other people’s knackered old workbenches is that you like doing DIY tasks…
Otherwise why would the OP even want a workbench?
I think you are confuzzled, it's a sitty-on bench wot I've got, not a workbench
Where can you get good hardwood slats without spending a fortune?
I searched 'bench slats' on eBay. They're about £7-8 each (I don't know if this is a fortune or not to be fair)
"Where can you get good hardwood slats without spending a fortune?"
A reclamation yard.