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Mills "Wizard" alloy corrosion removal

Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2019 11:36 am
by gameswat
I know you all loathe a good before and after, but whatever..... worst alloy corrosion I've had to restore. Picked this up in the US weeks ago for a very bargain price because it looked so bad. About 5 hrs going slowly with a rust convertor (basically oxalic acid) and fine wire brushes. I prefer to go slow so as to document, or hopefully save the original paint. In this case the corrosion was under nearly all the paint so everything had to come off. And there were very small differences in the paint to the other one of these I did. Then to remove the final deep pitting I soaked in a bath of an alloy corrosion remover mixed with hot water for several hours, as sold here in auto stores for cleaning alloy bumper bars and rims etc. I also lightly sanded down some of the bad high points to remove much surface pitting. Obviously once painted the background will be mostly hidden. Very happy with the outcome. Once re-painted will come up close to this other one I did.

Re: Mills "Wizard" alloy corrosion removal

Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2019 4:06 pm
by treefrog
Very good !!THUMBSX2!! , although a small amount of the detailed artwork has been lost or damaged, because it is such a busy casting you're unlikely to notice.... On anything plain it is much more difficult to hide, especially when corrosion goes deep from my experience......

What are those strange figures on the right, looks like two babies facing each other, strange?

Re: Mills "Wizard" alloy corrosion removal

Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2019 4:48 pm
by gameswat
treefrog wrote: Sun Feb 24, 2019 4:06 pm What are those strange figures on the right, looks like two babies facing each other, strange?
Oops, thought you meant the two birds in the middle, in fact those are the astrological signs running down the rhd side, the twins being Gemini, it is a fortune machine after all.

Re: Mills "Wizard" alloy corrosion removal

Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2019 6:12 pm
by john t peterson
Gameswat,
I have some corrosion on my 1972 Ford Pinto I'd like you to address. When you have time, of course.

J Peterson
American Pony Man !COWBOY!

Re: Mills "Wizard" alloy corrosion removal

Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2019 6:18 pm
by radiochrissie
The time , effort and expertise really pays off. Another wonderful restoration.
I see you live in Perth, my daughter is in Cockburn, it’s a fine place to live.
!THUMBS!

Re: Mills "Wizard" alloy corrosion removal

Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2019 6:24 pm
by widget2k4
Fantastic job mate we’ll done !THUMBS!

Re: Mills "Wizard" alloy corrosion removal

Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2019 6:42 pm
by watlingman
Nice work and another one saved for another 80+ years !

Re: Mills "Wizard" alloy corrosion removal

Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2019 10:18 pm
by gameswat
The seller told me the story about it, he found in the basement of a circa 1900 pub in the US, laying face down on the floor which explains that terrible water damage. The back door was long gone and I can see why, someone broke it open as wood is missing at the lock latching point in the top wood. The base is also gone so I imagine it was sitting upright for many years until that rotted and it fell face forward due to the weight. The mech doesn't seem to show much wear and as it dates 1926 this probably happened late 1920's. As for the mech before trying to remove anything I soaked every nut and bolt with penetrating oil for several hours |/XX\| . They nearly all came out easily with just a couple stubborn ones - but nothing broke thank goodness! :D I can't tell you how many hours I've spent hand making replacement collared bolts that need very close tolerances to allow parts to be locked in place but moveable. And there are quite a few used in this mech. On really well worn mechs of course those collars are often worn away allowing too much slop eventually, and the machine finally stops working.

Re: Mills "Wizard" alloy corrosion removal

Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2019 9:53 am
by bryans fan
!!GOODJOB!! !WORSHIPFULL!

Re: Mills "Wizard" alloy corrosion removal

Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2019 12:46 pm
by coppinpr
very well done indeed !THUMBS!

Re: Mills "Wizard" alloy corrosion removal

Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2019 2:38 pm
by arrgee
Incredible job gameswat, there is something beautiful about that lightly hand polished faceplate, an ethereal quality that the final paint job cloaks. **xXx**

Re: Mills "Wizard" alloy corrosion removal

Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2019 8:09 am
by malcymal
That's superb, well done! You had a lot of patience. :cool:

Re: Mills "Wizard" alloy corrosion removal

Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2019 9:54 am
by badpenny
An excellent job and proof that patience and skill are essential to achieve a result like this. Things that very few of us have in abundance, unlike you.
The lengths you got to are astounding ….. :o
gameswat wrote: Sun Feb 24, 2019 11:36 am ...… I soaked in a bath of an alloy corrosion remover mixed with hot water for several hours..........
….. did you cover your plums? !OMFG!

BP :woops:

Re: Mills "Wizard" alloy corrosion removal

Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2019 11:41 am
by gameswat
malcymal wrote: Wed Jul 17, 2019 8:09 am You had a lot of patience.
badpenny wrote: Wed Jul 17, 2019 9:54 am proof that patience
Funnily enough I don't think I have a lot of patience.....which is partly why I've learnt to restore as many things as possible myself because I hate waiting for others. I'm no team player that's for sure. I also use a lot processes that set and dry really quickly for the same reason!