rusty axle

[twgranger]

What do you guys do with a rusty axle to make it look good again? Mine is starting to rust pretty good from sitting in the shed. Do people sand and paint them?:wondering I need to get that nasty **** off it for good.

[staceyl200]

Hi , I put mine up in a lathe and used emery cloth to polish it up then had it zinc plated for about $30 ish looks oem now

[edog]

You would be amazed what a good stiff wire wheel will do,followed by a fine one.

[Huffa]

This is the lathe method too but with out taking it off the machine.

I put mine on jack stands at footpegs, start it up and put it in 3rd gear or so, give it a bit of throttle or turn idle up and start out with a course sand paper ending up with a finer grit.

Then just blast 3 or 4 coats of clear and it last for quite a while.

The splines and threads you must wire brush by hand. I always put antisieze on them before wheel installation then.

Just use caution when you have jacj stands that it is nice and firm and can't rock off a stand while wheels are turning or it will turn into a guided missle :lol:

[twgranger]

I might try your way huffa, that looks nice!

[Huffa]

You would be amazed what a good stiff wire wheel will do,followed by a fine one.

Yep, if it's really bad, do the edog method 1st. It might satisfy some just to do the wire wheel, just depends how picky you are.

[Huffa]

You also have a choice of using clear or that gold anodized spray but it (the brand I got) always seemed too deep of a gold verses how it came from factory so I just use the clear.

If I could only find a stainless steel rotor I'd be set. Ashame that the stock one rusts like that from just setting. :(

[edog]

I have mine spay painted.

[staceyl200]

This is the lathe method too but with out taking it off the machine.

I put mine on jack stands at footpegs, start it up and put it in 3rd gear or so, give it a bit of throttle or turn idle up and start out with a course sand paper ending up with a finer grit.

Then just blast 3 or 4 coats of clear and it last for quite a while.

The splines and threads you must wire brush by hand. I always put antisieze on them before wheel installation then.


Good thinking Batman !! I like that and a you dont have to strip the axle down either .

Stacey

[thedeatons]

In my opinion it doesn't make sense to spend your time painting something when the best protectant for steel is zinc plating. Here in San Diego it was a $50 flat fee for as much as can fit in the basket at the platers. I had the axle, hubs and many small parts done for $50. Consider this: What is your hourly rate where you work... $10.... $20 per hour... Now consider how long it will take to mask and do a "proper" paint job on the axle and whatever else. Chances are your time spent multiplied by your hourly rate will have paid for your zinc plating.
Zinc plating is the absolute best way to do this. In fact, I just took a picture of my finished product to prove that to you. I had mine sandblaster first, which is the best way to get all the crap off, and even smooth out the finish a little bit.
The actual zinc plating will be a dull gray finish, then they apply the chromate over that. Chromate choices will be clear, or yellow, and maybe a few others. Yellow chromate is by far the most commonly used coloring on steel. All your little steel bolts looked like this from the factory (and can also be thrown into the vat with the axle for the same $50!). I had my axle's hardness checked to verify whether or not I needed to stress relieve it after zinc plating. The reason for this is that the zinc plating process causes hydrogen embrittlement, which is where hydrogen molecules gather inside the pores of the metal, causing the axle to become brittle and possibly break, rather than twisting during failure. Stress relieving must be done after the zinc plating but before the chromate, because the heating process will change the coloring. For more inforamtion please read this post I made a while ago:

http://www.3wheelerworldforums.com/showthread.php?t=40592&highlight=rockwell

Pictures are below. James

[Kintore]

This is the lathe method too but with out taking it off the machine.

I put mine on jack stands at footpegs, start it up and put it in 3rd gear or so, give it a bit of throttle or turn idle up and start out with a course sand paper ending up with a finer grit.

Then just blast 3 or 4 coats of clear and it last for quite a while.

The splines and threads you must wire brush by hand. I always put antisieze on them before wheel installation then.

Im planning on doing this, this week. Huffa- what grits did you use? From start to finish. The wire brush too, how long did that take?
Also just any kind of clear coat for steel will work?
Thanks for the help:TrikesOwn