Eagle Posted May 1, 2008 Share Posted May 1, 2008 Well , how many of you have been stymied with a bad bot that is corroded ? The secret is Tinning which has a lower melting point then lead . Also the use of solder and tinned metal. This component is a very rare piece provided to me by a member for restoration. The battery door was 70 % destroyed by corrosion. It was bead blasted , be careful as you have to provide a good backdrop for the piece so as not to destroy it with the force of the blasted medium. I use a heavy piece of rubber to backdrop it. That means hold it in a gloved hand with a strong background. After blasted the pieces have to be formed and soldered into place. Investigate the damaged area, clean it with steel wool then determine the size of the plug to cut. Hint, most tin cans are perfect thickness for robot repairs. Cut the plug and solder one end at a time into the damaged area. Be sure not to hold it there too long, transferring the heat to the other end and dislodging the whole piece. After the parts are in place use tin to even it out or solder... Have to be good with a gun to do this.. Then any small imperfections can be dealt with using a filler . Bondo. It requires a steady hand [ mine isn't as good as it was] and patience. It's not hard. This repair just transformed a damaged $1200 piece to a $$$$$$$ . Oops , Phil still has to do the paint work. Then it will be $$$$$$$$. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amoebaboy Posted May 1, 2008 Share Posted May 1, 2008 fantastic job ! like a vintage car repair in miniature, i have to do some serious work on mine pretty soon, it is a citroen 2cv, little more than a tin toy itself, small light incredibly thin panels, prone to the dreaded tin worm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinman Posted May 1, 2008 Share Posted May 1, 2008 Well done Mark!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyman Posted May 1, 2008 Share Posted May 1, 2008 Excellent work, Mark! How many repair jobs do you pick up in a given year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plan3b Posted May 1, 2008 Share Posted May 1, 2008 Nice. I've been draggin' my feet on a robot repair myself that is going to need some work like this. This is pretty much the direction I was heading with it - so it's reassuring to see that I was on the right track. I usually use a tin coffee can for the patch tin. Still good to see it works so well (and can be done so well). Also, I'm picking up some terrific tips from you to save me time. For example: not holding the solder gun in one place too long and as a result transferring the heat and undoing another area already done. Of course! Now I know to be careful with that. I don't use bondo - I always use that ...aw nuts, I'm having a brain cramp...'green filler' or 'green paste' or something like that. You get it from the Hobby store and use it as a filler - I can't think of the name right now.Anyway, well done -looks great. A standard to strive for in repairs of this nature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted May 1, 2008 Author Share Posted May 1, 2008 I only do about half a dozen a month Andy. Word of mouth stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honestjoe Posted May 2, 2008 Share Posted May 2, 2008 First class job eagle..i do love this kind of restoration work...very satisfying indeed...cheers hj. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilroy Posted May 3, 2008 Share Posted May 3, 2008 so you cut just a couple of tiny pieces to replace the holes? Did you shape an irregular patch to match the hole or expand the hole to match a more manageable shape- like a square or rectangle? Sounds like a royal pain to try to fit a patch into an area at the center of various degrees of corrosion - would be a lot of thin spots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted May 3, 2008 Author Share Posted May 3, 2008 so you cut just a couple of tiny pieces to replace the holes? Did you shape an irregular patch to match the hole or expand the hole to match a more manageable shape- like a square or rectangle? Sounds like a royal pain to try to fit a patch into an area at the center of various degrees of corrosion - would be a lot of thin spots. Nah,,,,,,,,,no thin spots at all. The strength comes from backing it up from the inside with a piece of .010 tin. This gives you a good strong foundation to work from. It has to be a perfect fit. Hand filed to perfection. You can solder it in or cold bond it in place. I like to cold bond this piece. I use Epibond 1559. After it cures, then you start to build up the missing pieces. Trim out the corroded areas to a shape that is east to work with and adds strength. Keep the dimension .010 smaller around the diameter than the actual damaged area. That way you can bridge the gap with solder and file it down. It's kind of like welding and body work.................You have to practice [A lot] !!!!!!!! Then you thin coat it with any filller and wet sand down to correct dimensions . When it is done , it is stronger than original. B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Toyman Posted May 3, 2008 Share Posted May 3, 2008 Well , how many of you have been stymied with a bad bot that is corroded ? The secret is Tinning which has a lower melting point then lead . Also the use of solder and tinned metal. This component is a very rare piece provided to me by a member for restoration. The battery door was 70 % destroyed by corrosion. It was bead blasted , be careful as you have to provide a good backdrop for the piece so as not to destroy it with the force of the blasted medium. I use a heavy piece of rubber to backdrop it. That means hold it in a gloved hand with a strong background. After blasted the pieces have to be formed and soldered into place. Investigate the damaged area, clean it with steel wool then determine the size of the plug to cut. Hint, most tin cans are perfect thickness for robot repairs. Cut the plug and solder one end at a time into the damaged area. Be sure not to hold it there too long, transferring the heat to the other end and dislodging the whole piece. After the parts are in place use tin to even it out or solder... Have to be good with a gun to do this.. Then any small imperfections can be dealt with using a filler . Bondo. It requires a steady hand [ mine isn't as good as it was] and patience. It's not hard. This repair just transformed a damaged $1200 piece to a $$$$$$$ . Oops , Phil still has to do the paint work. Then it will be $$$$$$$$.Hi Eagle, nice restoration, and when the paint's on what a transformation! I admire your skill and patience! I love this resto stuff but it's having the time to do it. As I have a Dental lab I have all the tools at my disposal, the trouble is I might have a patient's 6 unit bridge to finish but I can see the latest tin toy that is dying to be untabbed, cleaned, oiled, polished and re-assembled!... here's a split-screen Bandai VW I did last week (no re-paint, just polished), and a Buick that's gone back to the USA! by the way when I'm thinking of too many things (usually work related) my wife throws in a comment about meeting someone and having an affair during the day when she was out because she thinks I'm not listening, but luckily I usually pick up on that :lol: have a good weekend!Noel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilroy Posted May 3, 2008 Share Posted May 3, 2008 Eagle: The tin you used to line it, is it the same thickness as the patch? Like Christmas cookie tin? I assume you only lined the inner part and not the lip - surprised that it would stay bonded when you start to apply heat.Toyman: Very nice job on the VW. Can I ask exactly what technique you used? Power polished with felt pads ... and abrasive compound? The chrome pieces - just polished or rechromed? They came out very nice for something that looked pitted. I have a little space tank that I have wanted to polish up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Toyman Posted May 3, 2008 Share Posted May 3, 2008 Eagle: The tin you used to line it, is it the same thickness as the patch? Like Christmas cookie tin? I assume you only lined the inner part and not the lip - surprised that it would stay bonded when you start to apply heat.Toyman: Very nice job on the VW. Can I ask exactly what technique you used? Power polished with felt pads ... and abrasive compound? The chrome pieces - just polished or rechromed? They came out very nice for something that looked pitted. I have a little space tank that I have wanted to polish up.HI Kilroy, thanks for the nice comments on the VW. The restorations go something like this1 use a flat bladed watchmakers tool to untab everything2 lay every piece out on some kitchen roll3 use a car polish colour restorer (carefully) such as "auto-glym" and gently polish with a soft white cloth and check straight away that you're not taking too much paint off the toy! use cotton buds to polish into grooves etc4 I use a dental drill ( a bit like a Dremill?) on a slow speed with a soft rubber disc and polish through any corrosion on the brightwork, at this stage don't panic just polish right through till you get an even shiny surface, then a harder rubber wheel for the final polish.5 blow the motor or friction drive through with an air line then lightly spray with WD40 and blast it off again.6 for the windows I'll use the polish or cut new pieces from a bubble packed toy (perfect)7 re-assemble using a wooden peg to close the tabs over (no scratches) and then use Mr Sheen to polish again as it puts a super glossy coat over the first polish.All sounds very simple but it gives a good result!If you email me your address I'll pop a couple of polishing wheels in the post!Good luck,Noel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkrobot Posted May 3, 2008 Share Posted May 3, 2008 I dont really know why I'm getting involved in this post,as to be honest I'm just no good at this type of restoration work :( [ give me a brick wall to build and I'm yer man ;) ] But it doesn't stop me appreciating the immense talent we have with Alphadrome members,,all I can say is I'm proud to be associated with you all.. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fineas J. Whoopie Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 Amazing work guys!! Very interesting stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted May 4, 2008 Author Share Posted May 4, 2008 Nice work Noel !!! Let me see a photo of this rubber wheel for polishing. Non of these were repainted????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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