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Restoring Black Widow tank
Page 1 of 1
Restoring Black Widow tank
Jason_WI Wed Nov 28, 2012 10:29 pm
I have a few black widow tanks that have some pretty bad scratches. I was looking for a way to restore them without painting them or investing in an anodizing setup.
I was in the sporting goods store and in the gun refinishing section there is a product from Birchwood Casey called Aluminum Black. It was $10 for a small 3 oz bottle and I figured what the heck I will give this a try.
The part needs to be cleaned with denatured alcohol and then rinsed with water. It states to brighten with fine steel wool to remove oxides but I skipped this step.
It is applied with a swap and then let sit for one minute. Then rinse in water and wipe dry. I believe this is some sort of etching acid and there was a sulfur smell when it was applied to the aluminum.
The results were not what I had hoped for but it did help hide the ugly tank scratches from a distance.
Here is a before pic.
Here is the after pic.
The black is more of a dark grey. It states that certain alloys will have different results. Not sure if any of you have tried to restore scratched tanks. I have seen the sharpie fix on a couple that I have bought in the past and that will wipe off with fresh fuel.
I was in the sporting goods store and in the gun refinishing section there is a product from Birchwood Casey called Aluminum Black. It was $10 for a small 3 oz bottle and I figured what the heck I will give this a try.
The part needs to be cleaned with denatured alcohol and then rinsed with water. It states to brighten with fine steel wool to remove oxides but I skipped this step.
It is applied with a swap and then let sit for one minute. Then rinse in water and wipe dry. I believe this is some sort of etching acid and there was a sulfur smell when it was applied to the aluminum.
The results were not what I had hoped for but it did help hide the ugly tank scratches from a distance.
Here is a before pic.
Here is the after pic.
The black is more of a dark grey. It states that certain alloys will have different results. Not sure if any of you have tried to restore scratched tanks. I have seen the sharpie fix on a couple that I have bought in the past and that will wipe off with fresh fuel.
Jason_WI- Top Poster
Posts : 3123
Join date : 2011-10-09
Age : 48
Location : Neenah, WI
Re: Restoring Black Widow tank
pkrankow Wed Nov 28, 2012 11:36 pm
Try hitting it with the steel wool and reapplying. Aluminum will develop an oxide film in minutes...pretty annoying when you need to paint or glue it.
Phil
Phil
pkrankow- Top Poster
- Posts : 3025
Join date : 2012-10-02
Location : Ohio
Re: Restoring Black Widow tank
Cribbs74 Thu Nov 29, 2012 8:24 am
What about lightly sanding the whole thing? It may not look the same, but the color will be uniform.
Ron
Ron
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Re: Restoring Black Widow tank
andrew Thu Nov 29, 2012 8:54 am
Jason -
I have not had good luck with applying cold bluing (steel) or cold black (aluminum) over a large surface. The coloration is not uniform and consequently makes the surface appear streaked. Admittedly, it could likely be my technique and not the fault of the product. Secondly, it is not nearly as durable as hot bluing or anodizing and will rub off over time.
For touchups, it is OK, at least to remove the white metal color --- the trick is to have the surface absolutely clean. I tend to rely more on acetone since it is not hydroscopic like the alcohols.
Maybe Kim will chime in since he has a lot of firearms experience and may have a better approach for cold touchups.
I have not had good luck with applying cold bluing (steel) or cold black (aluminum) over a large surface. The coloration is not uniform and consequently makes the surface appear streaked. Admittedly, it could likely be my technique and not the fault of the product. Secondly, it is not nearly as durable as hot bluing or anodizing and will rub off over time.
For touchups, it is OK, at least to remove the white metal color --- the trick is to have the surface absolutely clean. I tend to rely more on acetone since it is not hydroscopic like the alcohols.
Maybe Kim will chime in since he has a lot of firearms experience and may have a better approach for cold touchups.
andrew- Diamond Member
- Posts : 1813
Join date : 2011-08-11
Age : 76
Location : Western Kentucky -
Re: Restoring Black Widow tank
SuperDave Thu Nov 29, 2012 9:53 am
A "quick and dirty" solution is to use a black "Sharpie" pen for a cosmetic (only) touch-up. It'll LOOK good but it WILL NOT be fuel-proof.
Several of my veteran BW's have received this "treatment". Looks can be deceiving but if that's your only purpose this works well.
Several of my veteran BW's have received this "treatment". Looks can be deceiving but if that's your only purpose this works well.
SuperDave- Rest In Peace
- Posts : 3552
Join date : 2011-08-13
Location : Washington (state)
Re: Restoring Black Widow tank
pkrankow Thu Nov 29, 2012 3:37 pm
Is Sharpie fuel proof?
(We all know Sharpie is *not* FOOL proof! There are enough pictures from drunken parties verifying that.)
Phil
(We all know Sharpie is *not* FOOL proof! There are enough pictures from drunken parties verifying that.)
Phil
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Location : Ohio
SuperDave- Rest In Peace
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Join date : 2011-08-13
Location : Washington (state)
re: black widow tanks
happydad Thu Nov 29, 2012 10:20 pm
Jason_WI wrote:I have a few black widow tanks that have some pretty bad scratches. I was looking for a way to restore them without painting them or investing in an anodizing setup.
I was in the sporting goods store and in the gun refinishing section there is a product from Birchwood Casey called Aluminum Black. It was $10 for a small 3 oz bottle and I figured what the heck I will give this a try.
The part needs to be cleaned with denatured alcohol and then rinsed with water. It states to brighten with fine steel wool to remove oxides but I skipped this step.
It is applied with a swap and then let sit for one minute. Then rinse in water and wipe dry. I believe this is some sort of etching acid and there was a sulfur smell when it was applied to the aluminum.
The results were not what I had hoped for but it did help hide the ugly tank scratches from a distance.
Here is a before pic.
Here is the after pic.
The black is more of a dark grey. It states that certain alloys will have different results. Not sure if any of you have tried to restore scratched tanks. I have seen the sharpie fix on a couple that I have bought in the past and that will wipe off with fresh fuel.
does anyone have any experience replacing or extending the tubes in the tank part? one of the tubes is broken flush on the inside and i had a couple of ideas about replacing the tube, but it's going to be harder than i thought, let alone copper colored.
happydad
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Location : Escondido, CA
Re: Restoring Black Widow tank
pkrankow Fri Nov 30, 2012 8:05 am
SuperDave wrote:Phil:
What's your point?
Sorry, I was sent a bunch of pictures of people who were drawn on. Quite ridiculous.
As for fuel proof, I would rather not have the ink wash off every time I flew.
Phil
pkrankow- Top Poster
- Posts : 3025
Join date : 2012-10-02
Location : Ohio
Re: Restoring Black Widow tank
SuperDave Fri Nov 30, 2012 10:52 am
Phil:
Did I not say in the previous post that "Sharpie" touch-ups weren't fuel proof and should be done only for cosmetic purposes?
Don't be so quick to jump on a post you either didn't read or understand.
Did I not say in the previous post that "Sharpie" touch-ups weren't fuel proof and should be done only for cosmetic purposes?
Don't be so quick to jump on a post you either didn't read or understand.
SuperDave- Rest In Peace
- Posts : 3552
Join date : 2011-08-13
Location : Washington (state)
Re: Restoring Black Widow tank
pkrankow Fri Nov 30, 2012 7:19 pm
Yolks on me I guess...several ways...Yea, brain dead, glow fuel is mostly alcohol...methyl.
Apparently *I* was the fool needing proofing this morning...my 4 year old daughter and a sharpie was my fun today. Rubbing alcohol takes it off almost everything at least (I should have remembered this yesterday) At least she drew on appropriate things (paper, dry erase board, coloring books)...and herself.
Phil
Apparently *I* was the fool needing proofing this morning...my 4 year old daughter and a sharpie was my fun today. Rubbing alcohol takes it off almost everything at least (I should have remembered this yesterday) At least she drew on appropriate things (paper, dry erase board, coloring books)...and herself.
Phil
pkrankow- Top Poster
- Posts : 3025
Join date : 2012-10-02
Location : Ohio
Re: Restoring Black Widow tank
Kim Fri Nov 30, 2012 9:25 pm
andrew wrote:Jason -
I have not had good luck with applying cold bluing (steel) or cold black (aluminum) over a large surface. The coloration is not uniform and consequently makes the surface appear streaked. Admittedly, it could likely be my technique and not the fault of the product. Secondly, it is not nearly as durable as hot bluing or anodizing and will rub off over time.
For touchups, it is OK, at least to remove the white metal color --- the trick is to have the surface absolutely clean. I tend to rely more on acetone since it is not hydroscopic like the alcohols.
Maybe Kim will chime in since he has a lot of firearms experience and may have a better approach for cold touchups.
Hey Andrew,
I've played with the Birchwood Casey stuff, trying to use it to blacken the engraving I've done with some of my engines...but never could get it to stand up the the oil and nitro. I haven't managed to scratch any of my AR's enough to retouch them...like my engines, they're working rifles !
Wish I had some useful info...sorry.
Kim- Top Poster
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Posts : 8533
Join date : 2011-09-06
Location : South East Missouri
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