Stripped and off to the powder coaters tomorrow

#1 03-05-2006, 10:48 PM

Well, my rusting 6 month old GSO 12" Dob is sitting besides me stripped of all parts that make it a telescope, now it is little more than a large downpipe, looks kind of sad but not in a weeks time. I have chosen candy apple red as the powder coat of choice (unless I see a more stunning colour when I get there) and once re-assembled I will post a pic or two of it. It will undergo a media blasting to return it to it's bare metal state, then a zinc/gal oven baked powder coat followed by the top colour coat back in the oven, the company assures me that the rust will be eliminated by this process. My only fear is the temporary storage of the mirror and cell while the tube is away, it is so fragile around my 7 year old, fingers crossed.

Miaplacidus (Brian) · #2 03-05-2006, 11:09 PM

Interesting...

How much is this going to set you back?

Good luck with it.

Cheers,

Brian.

Gargoyle_Steve (Steve) · #3 03-05-2006, 11:34 PM

Glad to hear you're going ahead with that Dennis, the red sounds great. Look forward to seeing the results next time at Ron's place - especially with the powder coater being in my area, I may need their services down the track too!

I hope it looks all you imagined and then some when you get it back.

#4 03-05-2006, 11:58 PM

Brian, he has quoted me $80, but the colour being a metallic may be a little more, I'll let you know the final bill. In any case, when I complained to Andrews about this they offered to paint it as long as I returned it to them, that cost $60 each way and I had no control or guarantee of paint quality. This way it costs less, will be quicker and powder coated not painted which will be far more durable. It would have been nice of Lee Andrews to offer me some kind of compenasation seeing as I am out of pocket for GSO's poor quality control and inability to claim warranty but alas, the days of old fashioned service are long gone, my trouble is, I work in a service industry and set goals that I expect others to meet, silly me.

Roger Davis · #5 04-05-2006, 07:57 AM

Small fleas have lesser fleas upon their backs to bite 'em and smaller fleas have lesser fleas and so ad infinitum.

h0ughy (David) · #6 04-05-2006, 08:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roger Davis

Small fleas have lesser fleas upon their backs to bite 'em and smaller fleas have lesser fleas and so ad infinitum.

You have taken your flea collar off again haven't you Roger!

Nightshift, at least you will be happy

astroron (Ron) · #7 04-05-2006, 12:24 PM

Roger, I bet if you had a new car and it started to rust in less than six months, you would be out there screaming your lungs out.
Dennis has only probably had the scope out about a dozen times in that time, so I don't blame him for being upset

#8 04-05-2006, 12:47 PM

Good onya Ron, yes I have an axe to grind and I am not ashamed of it. It started rusting the first night out, that sucks and I woudlnt take it from any product I bought and you guys shouldnt either.

jjjnettie (Jeanette) · #9 04-05-2006, 01:01 PM

$60 is a good price to pay. Will they be giving it an acid bath before powdercoating? I'd get mine done at that price, just so my scope's not like a hundred other GSO's you see in the field.
I like the new colour that Saxon is using on their refractors and spotting scope. Metalic maroon with black trim.

barees63 · #10 05-05-2006, 04:33 PM

As a fellow rusty dob owner I'm keen to hear how it goes.. what will you do for the inside? Are you going to flock it or paint it?

drmorbius (Randall) · #11 05-05-2006, 06:51 PM

Hey Dennis! Don't forget the racing stripes... it'll give you a faster scope!

Good luck!

jjjnettie (Jeanette) · #12 05-05-2006, 09:41 PM

How are you coping without a big scope to look through?

#13 05-05-2006, 11:41 PM

Well part two of the story goes......
In order to completely stop the rust the guy (whom I have great faith in) is going to acid bath it after the media blasting and prior to first zinc coat, then, because I chose a translucent colour, it will need a white undercoat, then the colour and to top it off he is going to clear coat it, that makes four coats, four visits to the oven, if it aint weatherproof after that then I give up. Total price has jumped to $135 but the minute I saw the colour sample I knew it would be worth it.

I intend to matt black the interior again although he said he should be able to avoid most overspray, flock sounds like hard work and I have reservations about dust from it on the mirror.
Racing stripes? Hmmmmm, nah, that would make it a F3.5 and that's too fast.
Barees, whatch this space for the results, I pick it up next Saturday.

Roger Davis · #14 06-05-2006, 08:16 AM

I wasn't making any comment about the rust, but if you have a problem tell your dealer who will tell his supplier who will tell the manufacturer. A problem doesn't just fix itself, you have to tell the guy who holds the first spray gun!

Quote:

Originally Posted by astroron

Roger, I bet if you had a new car and it started to rust in less than six months, you would be out there screaming your lungs out.
Dennis has only probably had the scope out about a dozen times in that time, so I don't blame him for being upset

jjjnettie (Jeanette) · #15 06-05-2006, 11:54 AM

When you pick up your scope, ask if they'll throw in a little bottle of touch up paint to suit. They shouldn't charge you for it.

#16 06-05-2006, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roger Davis

I wasn't making any comment about the rust, but if you have a problem tell your dealer who will tell his supplier who will tell the manufacturer. A problem doesn't just fix itself, you have to tell the guy who holds the first spray gun!

Give me some credit please.
Yes I told Lee Andrews, first complaint, his reply, "oops, to bad, I will let the factory know they need to improve things.", second complaint, his reply, "(reluctantly) Ok, if you ship it back to me I will spray paint it for you.", no thanks, I dont want it sprayed over, I wanted it replaced. Not only that, freight was going to cost me $60 each way, for not much more I will have a scope that looks unique and rust will never be an issue again.

I must admit I didnt understand the fleas thing either, it must have been a bit too cryptic.

Jenette, touch up paint is out of the question as this is powder coated, its a dry coloured "dust" that is applied electrostatically and then oven baked to melt it to the surface. No paint used. Nice idea though.

vespine · #17 08-05-2006, 07:19 AM

I think Janette just meant to get a can of touch up paint anyway just in case you eventually get a scratch or chip in the original paintwork, save you recoating the entire thing. Same idea as getting a touch up pen for your car.

drmorbius (Randall) · #18 08-05-2006, 08:18 AM

A candy apple red scope... that will be soooo cool!

ving (David) · #19 08-05-2006, 01:05 PM

red scopes are faster?

works for cars!

jjjnettie (Jeanette) · #20 09-05-2006, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vespine

I think Janette just meant to get a can of touch up paint anyway just in case you eventually get a scratch or chip in the original paintwork, save you recoating the entire thing. Same idea as getting a touch up pen for your car.

When we would get security door and showerscreen frames powercoated, they would fill up a nail polish bottle with the same colour so we could touch up the rivets and stuff. I think it was made using the pigment and neutral base.