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Thread: Surface texture on steel

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
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    Los Angeles
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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

  2. #2
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    Feb 2003
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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.
    Please help support the Creek.


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  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
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    Putney, Vermont
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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.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
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    New Hill, NC
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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.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
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    Wichita Kansas
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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.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
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    Thanks everyone, good ideas. Think I'll first look into that shot peen idea.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
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    Tasmania
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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

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