# Removing paint from HDD



## banjags (Jan 15, 2008)

what would a person use to dissolve the paint off of the aluminum HDD chassis. You get more money for the scrap with out the paint.


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## Lou (Jan 15, 2008)

toluene?


Perhaps try melting?


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## OMG (Jan 15, 2008)

Xylene should work. Let them soak. It's powerful stuff.


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## Harold_V (Jan 16, 2008)

It's unlikely you can remove the paint at less expense than the value increase. Even if you did, you'd be stuck with hazardous waste that could prove costly to have properly disposed. 

Sell such things as is, for what you can get, and run like hell. 

Harold


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## Never_Evil (Jan 16, 2008)

Just repaint it with aluminum color spray can.


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## banjags (Jan 16, 2008)

Never_Evil said:


> Just repaint it with aluminum color spray can.



LOL... thats a good idea. never thought of that.


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## Noxx (Jan 16, 2008)

Ahaha good one... :lol:


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## Anonymous (Feb 12, 2008)

banjags said:


> what would a person use to dissolve the paint off of the aluminum HDD chassis. You get more money for the scrap with out the paint.



Never melt your aluminum into ingot, unless your willing to pay assay fees.

Generally specking " Clean " means the product is 95% free of iron, tar, glue, silicon, heavy grease or pigmented paints.

I have never run into a scrap buyer to dock me on anodized aluminum, but then again I have quit dealing with Manitoba scrap yards. I have found they are not just in grading copper and fair better sending my copper out of province.

For the past two years I have been sending my copper via Canada Post to West Coast Metals Recycling in Langley B.C. in 30kg lots.

For example copper pipe with the soldered fittings and joints removed is #1 copper in B.C.

I process my automotive cast aluminum in my home foundry into a salable product such as fishing weight molds - then sell these on eBay.

Attached file for scrap specifications non ferrous metals

Best Regards
Gill


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## Gotrek (Feb 12, 2008)

Most coloured aluminium drive cases I've seen are anodized and not painted.


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## flankdrive04 (Jul 20, 2008)

do any of you guys get your yards to take complete HDD units? if so what are you getting per lb?

Thanks!


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## patnor1011 (Jul 28, 2008)

gustavus said:


> banjags said:
> 
> 
> > what would a person use to dissolve the paint off of the aluminum HDD chassis. You get more money for the scrap with out the paint.
> ...



Good idea but how to make mold for making fishing weight molds from aluminium?
:?


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## Anonymous (Jul 28, 2008)

I work with RTV rubbers of various hardness, Bondo auto body putty, modelers wax , modelers clay, plaster and wood or combinations there of.

For example the J.I Case mascot, ( book ends ) is one part of a fence finial.

I had the original finial, which to make a copy made a box, half filled with modelers clay - pushed the finial into the clay to the parting line then spraying some mold release onto the finial. Before pouring in your RTV make some dibits into your clay which will become registration marks when you pour the second half.

Now that I have the two halves poured and cured in RTV, I now make wax copies of the finial which get set into plaster. This is the lost wax method of casting.

The fish down rigger mold was purchased from eBay, which I spent some time filling in the imperfections and polishing, then making sure the edge's would release from the sand when removed with out pulling the sand away from the cope and drag box. When using an item such as described you lose approximately 1% of the originals size.

Making a lead fishing weight does not have to be that precise.

The McCulloch logo is from an old power saw fuel tank, cut away, filled with bondo on the backside before using it as a pattern directly into the casting sand - I use Petrobond which is an oil based sand. Notice the fine detail.

Those nicks in my pattern should have been filled with auto body filler and sanded out before casting this is aluminum.

FYI aluminum has many alloys, my favorite's for casting are diesel and automotive pistons, hydraulic pumps- this is Deltallloy, next in line automotive cylinder heads - blocks and rims - high in silicon. Marine aluminum from outboard engines is another good one - high in copper content.

I also use a commercial degassing agent which comes in tablets, proportioned to 100 lb pours. Since I my largest crucible holds 20 lbs, I break the tablets to suite the pour at hand.

The finished RTV mold of the fence finial with a wax copy ready for the plaster. The tapered wood attachment once set in plaster is easy to remove - this becomes my pour hole or sprue

The big J.I. Case eagle was taken directly from the firebox door of a Case Steam Tractor. With this RTV mold I'll either use plaster or concrete to make my positive mold - for my sand pattern.

Once I have a good copy of the large eagle in aluminum this will get cleaned, polished for my permanent mold.

Hope this give you some direction, there are plenty of home foundry sites on the internet.


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## patnor1011 (Jul 29, 2008)

thank you very much for your reply and for pics too... The thing is that I thought having thousands of beverage cans around Ill melt them down and do sonething useful - like fishing weight molds... 
Thanks again for help


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## Anonymous (Jul 29, 2008)

Pop cans - wrong type of aluminum for casting, only use aluminum types that have a ring to it when struck with a hammer. The piece being tested must be held gently by one corner.

Pops cans, window , screen door frames, roofing, siding go thud, no ring. Also very mailable, bends easily many times before breaking plus all will indent if struck with a ball peen hammer. 

You need cast aluminum. Learn to identify it, because magnesium looks similar but has different characteristic's when heated.

Magnesium needs an oxygen barrier to prevent ignition during foundry work.

If you have a magnesium fire never use water to put it out, they used magnesium in the WWII bombs.

When the bombs exploded the magnesium shrapnel caught fire, when the firemen tried to extinguish the burning magnesium it would react with the water violently erupting into showers of burning cinders onto more buildings and people to close for comfort.

A lot of old lawn boy mower decks, older power saw are made from magnesium.

Magnesium powder sells on eBay for a good price, I was using my big belt sander with a sock over the dust collector when I hit a metal screw not previously noticed by me. The room I was working in lit up like a giant flash bulb, the dryer vent hose on the dust collector and the sock burnt up instantly. It was a good thing I was wearing a full face respirator or my lungs would have suffered in that incident.

It was a funny sight, my wife was in a panic when she saw all the smoke coming out of my shop Burning magnesium gives of a lot of white smoke.


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## Oz (Jul 29, 2008)

Forget about the fact that you were dealing with magnesium for a moment, any finely divided dust can become an explosive mixture with just a spark. In industry they go out of their way to use non-sparking implements in high dust operations for this reason.


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## Anonymous (Jul 31, 2008)

More on patterns.

Cerberbes a fun casting, the model for this casting was a plastic toy filled with sand to absorb the impact of being pounded into the casting sand. 

One is done in scrap aluminum the other copper.

Since moving to Manitoba I have scoured the farm dumps and collected a lot of cobalt blue, milk glass and broken red taillight lens. When I have some free time I'm going to try my hand at glass casting.

Five pound SCUBA mold, ten pound down rigger mold and a rosette for the wife, yet to be detached.


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## jimdoc (Jul 31, 2008)

Bet you can't wait till you can make stuff like that out of 24K.


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