How to I strip the paint off an old, heavy duty steel PC case? and any tips for repainting itI have a belt sander, a detail sander and an angle grinder but I legit don't know where to start
Uh, paint stripperYou don't need to strip it to paint it though. Just rough up the current coat, make sure it's clean afterwards and paint. In fact that would probably be best to avoid any incidental rust spots
Paint removal is tedious and nasty so before I got a sand blaster I took my parts to my local monument shop. They all have beastly blasters to cut fresh names in the marble orchard and blast on the side. Painting frosty clean bare metal is a joy.
>>2773626I live rurally so I might be able to find someone with a sandblaster, but I kinda want to do this on the cheapI just need the side panels and roof panel stripped of paint, could I try a belt sander?
>>2773764angle grinder with wire brush?
>>2773766I will buy one and try it out, that's probably the best choice, do all angle grinders use the same attachements or does it vary by manufacturer?
>>2774062Thread size is generally standard. Get the wire cup. Wear safety glasses and long sleeves and don't be the retard who runs it without the guard and no handle because "those are for weak sissy libtards"
>>2773594I wouldn't use a sander or an angle grinder.I know I'd scratch it up, and wish I just painted over the old paint.
>>2774075This. Sanding is going to fuck it up. Angle grinder will fuck it up. Even assuming you're not using a stupidly coarse brush, wire wheels get wire everywhere which I don't know if you know, is REALLY BAD for electronics (and yourself lol, that shit hurts). Just use a green brillo pad on the paint to scuff it up, blow dust off, clean it with a rag and isopropyl alcohol, dry it, tape it off with 3M painters tape if needed, paint it with can of Rustoleum in thin coats.t. done dumb custom shit before.
>>2775318What about acetone? Would that be better than isopropyl?
>>2775324You probably don't need something that aggressive. as acetone.
>>2775324Depending on the paint (any type that is dissolved in solvent when sprayed), it may start melting it and get all over your rag and hands. Just use isopropyl. Shit's like $2-3 a bottle for 91% at Dollar General. Or like $1.25 for a small bottle of 91% at Dollar Tree (IIRC they now have it). Or whatever way cheaper price Walmart probably has it for.
>>2775324And trust me, before you ask: acetone is likely not the way to remove it. It's going to be messy and cost you a lot of rags and acetone ($$$) lol. Just use it like you would a primer; brillo pad it and paint over. The cheapie green brillo pad from Dollar General is good shit surprisingly, pretty aggressive. Don't use a lot of pressure, trust me. It scuffs stainless steel with barely any pressure IIRC.
>>2775326I just noticed walmart sells bottles 100% acetone for nail polishThe isopropyl alchohol comes and goes, sometimes not for sale, sometimes behind the counter, sometimes freely available.Depends on how much the indians are drinking thaat month.
>>2775340Every hardware store sells cans of acetone. And it's a lot cheaper than acetone sold as nail polish remover even though it's the same thing.
>>2773594I would avoid stripping the paint unless there's fine details etched into the metal you want to retain like for example the labels for which standoffs go where for what size board, some cases have those. Depends on the case. Depends what you're painting. Depends if you care.If you MUST retain those details, CitriStrip has been a godsend for me, though I'm using it to strip the paint from die cast cars to repaint so YMMV but it has worked well IME. May take several applications. My jobs are small so I'm able to leave the cars submerged for hours or even a day to let it really work in. You won't easily be able to do this with a PC case. Maybe put it inside a garbage bag after applying CitriStrip. Anyway if you can get away with not stripping it then don't. Do like the other anons said and take a medium to medium-fine sandpaper (I'm thinking like, 600 grit maybe) and lightly scuff up the original paint. De-dust. Wipe with isopropyl. You don't need anything more acetone is definitely overkill and might strip paint in some places giving you inconsistent adhesion of the new paint. DONT use an angle grinder or anything massively abrasive. You'll get giant grooves that may or may not fill in with the paint. A good filler will cover them but you may not be going that route and it's just excessive imo. Mask if desired.Then from there your finish depends on how hard you wanna go. I'd be going at it with my airbrush with an automotive filler (primer) that matches the general tone of my desired final color, then building my color layers on top of that, then clearing over the top. But you could also just rattle can it. Best to use a warm and dry, well ventilated area and you'll get the best possible finish from a rattle can. If the case was powder coated you may have a lot more trouble getting a clean strip so again the scuff method should be most universally best.
>>2775704Reading your reply, it seems like an awesome way to learn, experience, then be able to paint 'real' cars.
>>2773594paint stripper is the easiest option.I have an old bottle of the methylene chloride formula Jasco before it got banned in my state, but pic related worked just as well to my surprise. the first coat didn't really do anything, because I didn't realize you can't let it dry out. so bag it up and leave it overnight. I'm convinced the morons on here who bemoan environmentally safe paint strippers are just 80 IQ retards who can't read instructions.
>>2775704There's no details to be maintained, it's just a big old metal box of the beige sort. For the moment I've ordered these for my angle grinder but as most here have advised I'll probably try paint stripper first>>2775992aight will give that a try first
>>2776777>There's no details to be maintained, it's just a big old metal box of the beige sort.So why are you trying to strip it?Is there something wrong with the current paint (is it peeling or flaking off)?Or is the case itself rusting, so needs repair?If the answer to both is "no" then listen to the advice you've been given by at least three other posters: paint the case without stripping the old paint.
>>2776832The paintwork on it is fine, it's just 22+ years old, I want to remove the pain and repaint it black. How do I paint over the beige paint without stripping it first? that doesn't seem reasonable, or are you talking about the people who said I should gently sand it down first then put primer over it?
>>2776912Trade it for a black case or just sell it and buy one. Beige cases are retro cool these days.
>>2776912stripping is only needed when the old paint is fucked and flakes off, the old paint will likely be some 2k or burn in stuff that has way better adhesion to the steel than any primer spray can can archive. so scuff it up using a scotch brite and paint over it. if you have oils or grease on the case wipe it down with alcohol before and after scuffing it. trust me i paint cars for a living if the oem paint is good and intact it just gets sanded with P800 and painted over it. only if rust is under the paint you need to take it down. or some bullshit hardware store paint is on it. if you want to do a really good job spend the 25$ and get a 2k spray can you activate in the bottom
>>2773594Aircraft paint remover from the autoparts store.
>>2779899The old paint is perfect and 22 years old, I just want to change it to black since all my 5.25 inch bays are black these days. So just sandpaper that bitch by hand and spray black paint over it?>>2777467low IQ response
>>2780301Why not paint your drives instead?
>>2780515Because I want to paint the case, I have it emptied out and cleaned up now but I haven't started it yet, I'm gonna start with the plastic front panelling
>>2773594soap and waterdryprimerpaintif you don't know this I'm leery of your result but I guess everyone needs to start somewhere.
Put the case in the oven at 450 for one hr.The paint will just dust off
>>2782786I'm leery of it myself, so after I clean and dry it no need to strip the paint, just throw primer on top of the coat that's on it?
>>2783051You keep asking the same question over and over and over.Do you expect the answer to change? Or is there a specific answer you're waiting to hear?
>>2783332I keep forgetting the earlier parts of the conversation because they take days between replies and I'm an alcoholic
>>2783389shame the conversation isn't archived somewhere so you can read back.
>>2783395I'm not the best planner, as you can probably tell from this thread
>>2783389Archive each page as you interact with it and drink more.
>>2773594>pc case>painted are you sure it's not powder coat you fucking retard
>>2786742There is no need to be so rude about it
>>2786744cry more faggot
>>2773594if you want it to last give it to a chemical stripper, then have it zinc phosphated and have it EPD dipped then paint it with 2k paint of choice and a secound coat of 2k poly urethane clear coat.
>>2787714bruh I can't afford new underpants or a full tank of diesel for my car
>>2787811Get back to work slave. In the president of hell. You need to be forging more spoons to feed my brave warriors of hell.
I have the PC painted, and now I have a 15 year old i7 in it with 12 gigs of RAM along with a bunch of hotswap bays, took me like 10 days to do it all but it looks nice
>>2789110>I have the PC paintedYou dragged this out for over a month, finally finish, and the photo you decide to use to accompany this post is some actor in A FUCKING TOGA?Jesus Christ.Post a fucking pic of the FUCKING FINISHED CASE, YOU FUCKING ... serenity now ... serenity now ... serenity now
>>2789191Okay I gotta repaint one panel tomorrow because I fucked up, but I'll post a set of pics in the next day or so. I've got a 15 year old i7-950 running in it at the moment with 12 gigs of RAM, which seemed suitable for a 22 year old chassis
Okay this is an old pic of when it was in use back in the day, it was made in 2002 and was in use up until about 2018
Here it is now painted all black and with a first gen i7-950, with 12 gigs of RAM and a Asus GTX 1060 Turbo 6gig in itI recorded the whole process from start to finish so I'm gonna make a youtube video about it in the next few weeks, once I get through the editing of it all
Another random pic from the other side, I suck at painting and the coat isn't perfectly even but imma just live with it now at this point
Not bad bruh
>>2774062do not use a wire brush you will royaly scratch the shit out of it. you can buy and electric hand sander. don't hold it in one spot too long, the circular ones are the best. you want to keep you strokes even, also fine grade sand paper
