Re: Lets redo another safe!
I gained some ground this week with the bodywork. This National safe is a lumpy old bastard and it was a challenge to get it straight. Some high spots reared their ugly head so I was forced to take the grinder to the hard manganese steel. I mentioned each safe has a personality of it's own so as I fought with the body work I had a tune going through my head from Oldfast's Michigan brother, Kid Rock. "You never met a motherfucker like me". He could have been singing about this safe.
It took multiple layers of filler, sanding, filler, sanding, grinding, more filler and sanding, a shit load of hours. One picture of a fresh layer and one of some sanding roughed out.
The base had a few challenges also, mostly on the raised lip where the safe body fits to the base. I am getting a little tired of doing body work, the filler portion anyway, but with persistence it all comes together... eventually. Finally it goes into the paint room for primer.
When I grabbed the can of urethane primer I was disappointed to feel how light it was. It was a little shy of what I really needed. The top got two medium coats but the base only got one, not really a problem at this stage. I"ll be headed for the auto parts store tomorrow for another gallon plus activator at $150. Once primed I follow up with some polyester spot filler for pinholes or deep sand scratches in the filler or an occasional missed flaw. It looks much worse than it actually is. Most of it gets sanded off.
I like to let the primer sit a couple days before sanding even though it technically cures chemically in a few hours. Flat areas get blocked out with long sanders and the rounded corners are done with flexible sanding pads. All done by hand to get the surface just right. This is where body work becomes fun. When smooth level surfaces develop it is very rewarding. This first block out will eat up an excess of 8 hours. The forklift really comes in handy to raise the project up to a comfortable working height. The National is starting to shape up nicely.
After picking up primer, paint, and a few other supplies, the next coat of primer should be on tomorrow. As it looks now, once that coat is blocked out it should be ready for paint later in the week. Lets hope it all goes well.
You ain't ever met and you ain't never gonna meet
You never met a, never met a, never never never never met a mother...