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Surface texture on steel
I'm having a table base welded up from 1x2 steel tubing and pre-made tapered steel legs.
The legs have a surface texture, and of course the tubing is smooth.
I need them to have the same surface texture. Do anyone know how to do that? - sandblasting?
Ideally I would like the whole piece to have a texture (sorry if this is not the correct term), the more pronounced the better.
thank you, Mark
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Mark, it’s hard to visualize matching textures without a reference picture to go by. Unless you are a blacksmith texturing metal can be challenging. You might look into some kind of textured paint to spray the base with.
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Sandblasting everything would produce the same texture.
You could try taking a wire wheel on a hand held grinder to the legs, or a flap wheel to smooth and polish them to match the top.
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You can also see if there is a local machine shop that can shot peen them for you. It is similar to sand blasting except that it uses hardened steel shot, and leaves a more consistent and nicer texture on the surface than sandblasting.
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Another option would be to "rust finish" them. Spray everything with muriatic acid and allow to sit overnight. Repeat until you get a uniform rust over everything. This will take several applications. Then take a wire wheel on a grinder and blend it all together. When you get a look you like, spray with a clear finish.
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Thanks everyone, good ideas. Think I'll first look into that shot peen idea.
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If you are using light weight tubing, shot peening can be too aggressive. It generates heat in the object being blasted and the machines don't necessarily blast a complex object evenly. If you go down this road, get them to blast for short times and turn the object frequently and keep it cool. I have seen guys turn perfectly good jobs into mangled wrecks through over peening. Cheers