Unfortunately, my powder coater inadvertently blasted the bearing surfaces on my banjo axle tubes. Can I polish them back out using wet and dry and the shoe lace trick? Or, am I screwed? Will I now need to have new bearing races installed? I had wrapped the surfaces with blue tape when dropping off, but it seems stuff still happens.
Yikes that ****s. I know those are hardened surfaces I don't know if it will polish out but maybe someone with more expertise knows. I know that they sell replacement sleeves but you have to have the end of machined down
even if you do polish it won't it be too small in diameter then?? what a mess. I think you had better get them machined and have the sleeves pressed on...
I would drop it back off and have him get them replaced. He can call you when it's time to pick it up.
There are some that would say : those tiny pits will help hold more oil . I agree with Mark . Machine them down and press on replacement sleeves
You'll be seriously undersized by the time you're "polished." I'm with Roothawg - tell the guy he F'd up and have him get the sleeves put on. Had that done to my Columbia tubes and they came out great.
Does a press on race go on shaft ? Off top of head press around 0.0005 - 0.0020 thoe Start with razor blade , then polish If you under cut , dimple or knurl
Sorry but that's on the owner to state "mask those surfaces". Now if that was stated, then yes it's on the powder coater.
Bratton's is out of business, but you might be able to find something they had in their catalog somewhere else to repair your situation. It is a Model A, rear axle repair race, part number 1820. The race is pressed on the worn or in your case sandblasted hub and a slightly over sized bearing part number 1821 fits over the new hub. You might give Walt at Brattons at 800-255-1929 (if the number is still in service) and see if he has any left in stock. If you can't find the repair kit, the sleeve is only about $25.00 but finding a machine shop to cut the old race might be a problem.
I should have checked Bert's Model A Center, 800-321-1931 first as they have the repair kit in stock, part number A-1224. It comes complete with race, loc***e bearing mount, special bearing and instructions. You can probably look at it in their catalog to see what it's all about.
I've used this and have thousands of miles on them....if the races were taped, in my mind they at the very least owe you this....but either way, this works and keep the bearings well greased
I learned very early when dealing with sandblasting or powdercoating, cleaning and 'hard masking' any critical areas before I drop the part off to stop issues where either process can do damage or cause complications. Keep in mind many commercial shops don't use blast cabinets, it's some guy wearing protective gear inside a dust-filled box, trying to see what he's doing and most times not even knowing what it is he's blasting. It also saves you money if you deliver a 'blast-ready' part, they don't need to screw with it. In this case, a couple of layers of cut-up pop cans held on by hose clamps would have prevented this. I rarely mask threaded bolt holes either (there are exceptions), you get a better-looking job in most cases if you don't and a quick in-and-out with a tap will clean them right out.
Never played with powder coat. Have seen it fail from invasive rust. I wonder how would some map gas affect it.
That's the easiest way to remove it, heat it until just starts to blister, then s****e/wire brush it off. Won't get quite all of it, but enough to make dealing what's left much easier. If you're seeing rust get behind the powdercoat, the initial prep wasn't done right. Pretty common on m***-produced parts and they don't blast new parts, just clean them. That's why you sandblast, to leave enough surface 'tooth' for the coating to 'grip'.
Youngspeed, I need to apologize, I misread the catalog and the part numbers I gave you are for the rear hub repair kit, not the axle housing race. I don't have correct part number from Bert's Model A Center for the axle housing repair so I would give them a call for the correct part number. Sorry for the confusion.
That's a mess but sounds like it can be salvaged. Here is a powder coating tip; Powder coating can be removed with paint stripper. Or at least it used to be when paint stripper used to work. I had an intake manifold coated and the guy coated the gasket surfaces. A bit of stripper and soaking over night and the coating cleaned totally off.
Bearing nerd here. The ability to run rollers directly on a blasted race all depends on the type of blasting used. In your case, the sand blasting roughened the surface vs flattening the peaks like you would get with shot blasting. You might be OK using that surface as is, but you would need to pull the bearing, clean everything off and relube after running it for a while. Honestly the safer bet would be to sleeve it.
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