Smallfoot's AA

[Country Misfit]

My days are real short,cause I dont get up till about 9:30 am,I take a hour lunch and knock off work around 4.

 

[1952B3b23]

I have the same bead roller from woodward fab and it works decently for the price. You're 100% correct trying to guide the work piece and turn the handle is really hard. I usually find a helper to do the turning while i do the guiding. Looks good though.

-Chris

 

[smallfoot]

Hahah! Help is short around here. If my mutt had thumbs, he'd just steal my truck. He swears he can drive if I'd just give him the key.
Lots of things would go easier around here with help but I manage OK. I thought the bed frame was going to be a problem by myself but realized it was notched in so tightly with my setup that I was working against myself when moving it off. Actually it tipped up in the front and walked it side to side a few inches back then it slid off the rear to the floor pretty easy. From that point I could walk it around where ever I needed it.
I've got the old steering wheel off the AA that I wasn't planning on using on the build. It might make a wheel for the bead roller. Think I've got enough plywood to make a table that would help support the work piece too, just got to do it. We have a front moving in hard right now. It will be rainy and cold today and tomorrow and then back in the 80s this weekend.

 

[1952B3b23]

I hear ya, i have a hard time finding help too. I usually have to recruit my mother or my girlfriend to help holding stuff haha. Unfortunatley none of my friends really care all that much about hot rod building... i think i need new friends 80 degrees i am thoroughly jealous, up here in the northeast its been pretty damn cold, single digits at night and teens during the day. Thankfully i have a wood stove in my shop.

-Chris

 

[smallfoot]

A little more work on the bed. Ya'll laugh, that chunk of I-beam in the floor is my brake.

Wire brushed:

Sprayed with SCRUB FREE:

After first rinse with water:

After 2nd spray and rinse:

After 3rd spray and rinse:

 

[Dirtyrat]

Patina in a bottle! That bed looks great!

 

[smallfoot]

Thanks DR! I learned that trick doing restores on antique knives. That color in about 15 minutes. I'll let it sit that way for a day or so with no other action on the patina. Then I'll hit it with OSPHO and it'll turn almost black.
Still have to cut and beadroll the other side panel but I'll use some mistakes from today for education for tomorrow..heheh!

 

[Torchie]

As stated by others the bed is looking great. Nice job on the bead rolling
I am interested in your metal treatment process.What is the "Scrub free" stuff that you are using? It sounds like what I clean my bathroom with.
Torchie.

 

[smallfoot]

Thanks Torchie! yessir, it's bathroom cleaner found in grocery stores and similar. It's one of those oxidizing cleaners. It's made by ARM & HAMMER. The label isn't specific. It's ingredients include nonorganic acid and surfactant. The steps are labeled ahead of the pix. I scratch the surface up in this case with a wire wheel, spray this stuff on, let it go thru the bubbling process, rinse it off with water and check the color. Steps are repeated until you get what you want. My water probably adds some to the mix. My water is well water and has iron in it. It helps after rinse to add heat from a heat gun, hair dryer or torch...torch is overkill tho so go lightly with one. You just want to warm the surface enough to evaporate the rinse water. The oxidation process is so rapid it'll scare you. It grows orange fur for me...

 

[smallfoot]

My bead rolling looks much better camouflaged with rust...heheh! 1st time tho, so it's ok. I can see some improvement as I get used to what it can do.

 

[1952B3b23]

Looks good smallfoot, thats a neat trick with the scrub free. You say you're gunna hit it with "OSPHO", whats that?

-Chris

 

[smallfoot]

OSPHO is a light solution of phosphoric acid. It's called other names too I'm sure. ACE hardware has it under the OSPHO name.
In contact with iron oxide, phosphoric acid reacts with it to form iron phosphate which is a black, much harder substance than the rust (iron oxide)

 

[smallfoot]

Workin the patina

 

[93blazer4dr]

looks like it will match the cab now!!! nice work.

 

[smallfoot]

I'm anxious to see it together on the frame next to the cab and see how close it is, but still have to make a tailgate and get some wood for the bed. I'm thinking it's still lighter than the cab right now. One thing about it, with the amount of body patches I'm gonna have to do, alot of the cab metal will be done with this same process and I think I can get it to blend in well. If my plan works out for the final finish, it won't look like active rust any more.

 

[OddRodsGarage]

OSPHO is a light solution of phosphoric acid. It's called other names too I'm sure. ACE hardware has it under the OSPHO name.
In contact with iron oxide, phosphoric acid reacts with it to form iron phosphate which is a black, much harder substance than the rust (iron oxide)

Man ..I should have not slept thru chemistry class..... after it turns black do you scuff more ?

 

[smallfoot]

ORG, usually it will form a light powder on top of the black. This stuff is commonly used to treat stuff like equipment trailers in rusty condition. The instructions say to knock the loose rust off, apply ospho by brush or spray, I don't remember off hand because the bottle is down at the barn how long a wait is recomended but I usually let it sit over night after applying. It will form some powder and everything that had a rusty orange appearance will be black at this stage. They say you can clean the powder off or just spray your paint on over it. I'm not painting but finishing a different way which I'll try to show in steps as I get it done. If things work right, most of my work will be by hand rubbing, but not necessarily abrasive....

 

[smallfoot]

This stuff is thin about the consistency of water. I use a spray bottle to apply. A kitchen type spray cleaner or that scrub free bottle works for a while before deteriorating because of the ospho. When the bottle quits spraying, I just change spray nozzles( I keep spares around). OSPHO can also be applied by brush.

 

[1952B3b23]

Very cool, thanks for explaining the OSPHO.

-Chris

 

[smallfoot]

Hopefully in the next few days I'll show how it looks on these parts atleast. It's raining on it right now..heheh....more rust!