Sanding Powder Coating

[Lord Maul]

i'm having my MHS powdercoated, as many of you know...

on the ribbed foregrip, the guy at the shop said he would have to do the entire thing black so he could wipe it or something. it is in right now, and i was wondering if it would be possible to sand off the paint that is not in the grooves. i can use a lathe, so that part is easy.

My question to you guys is, is it possible to safely and without chipping sand off the powdercoat? also, if i did it, would it leave a slightly different color on the edges where it was sanded?


any help greatly appreciated

[vortextwist]

with the sanding I would make sure I use a block of somekind do you don't get it to push into the grooves. I would also think you could cut it off with a lathe but not haved used a lathe much I'm not sure.

[Lord Maul]

it's a mini wood lathe, so i'm not gonna be doing any grinding. i can rig it up for sanding/polishing (have done it once before), but the tools aren't there for anything else

[vortextwist]

then I would just make sure to put the sandpaper on a block os somekind, as you want a flat edge and not rounded.

[Hajime]

They should have been able to podwer coat just the grooves if they do it for a living.If the powder is glossy,sanding will dull the edges.I would mask off the grooves before you start.A lathe would work the best,and just machine the coat off.If preped and cured right it should not chip.Hope that helps

[Lord Maul]

hajime, how long would it take with just sandpaper?

as i said earlier, i'm using a wood lathe, so no actual machining can be done

[Hajime]

It all depends on how thick the coat is and what grit sandpaper you use.If it's a thin coat,like around 2 MIL (like a heavy duty trash bag)220 grit should take it off with fairly easy.If it's around 6 MIL (like a heavy duty construction trash bag)well thats not going to be fun.I would start with 150 grit and work my way up from there.The problem your going to have is trying to figure out how thick it is before you start.I'm guessing it's black?So unless he had to coat it more than once,it should be around 2 or 3 MIL.Like vortex said put the sandpaper on something as this will help with keeping square and less mistakes.Paint stirring sticks work very well.Just use a glue stick or wood glue or just any type of cheap glue you have around the house.Hope this was helpful.

[Lord Maul]

would the guy at the shop know how thick the coat is hajime?
if so, i'll ask him about that.

so would sanding in this grit order work?

220
400
1000
2000

[Hajime]

He should know and yes those grit will work.You may want to go with 600 or 800 grit in between 400 and 1000 if your going to polish the uncoated parts.It makes a better finish.

[Lord Maul]

okay. thanks a ton hajime!