in my experience you can brush out most scratches, unless very deep and in that case I'ver only used an air powered rotary sort of belt grinder with sand 'paper'around an inflatable tyre sort of attachment, I guess you can start at any grit required to get the scratches out efficiently and work your way up some grit sizes to finish with scotch brite as long as you ensure to not cause any deeper surface areas of grind zones.
Using sandpaper (or textile sand paper more likely on steel) you;d want to wrap around some tool to keep trhe surface flat and even. In my experience the process is pretty fast and doable at home. I would imagine you'd have to sacrifice the stickers, as sanding around them wil be a major pain...

Hello:

IamOiman wrote: ... brushed look is more original ...
... hide scratches from use more easily ...

Yes, could be.
But when the refurbish time comes for my ca. 2000 Cimbali D/1 I'll be doing the snadblast/powder/glass bead teatment.

IamOiman wrote: ... would the stickers be able to be protected during this process or will they be lost?

With respect to the stickers, I really cannot say, you would have to talk to the guys doing the job as they will know exactly what resists the glass beads.
I think that if they are printed on metal foil (?), they should be able to be taken off and replaced.

If anyone knows how to remove and replace those stickers (or get new ones) that would be Paul Pratt.
I'm sure he has come across that problem at some time or another.

Maybe he'll chip in with a suggestion/solution.

These guys seem to have some Faema labels, you could drop one of them an email:

https://www.ersatzteil-handel24.com/fae ... 01_EN.html
https://dvg.coffee/e-commerce/cerca.asp ... aema+label


Image courtesy of ersatzteil-handel24.com

Cheers,

CIV

civ wrote: With respect to the stickers, I really cannot say, you would have to talk to the guys doing the job as they will know exactly what resists the glass beads.
I think that if they are printed on metal foil (?), they should be able to be taken off and replaced.

Yes the stickers appear to be on metal and adhered to the panel.

Marcelnl wrote:I would imagine you'd have to sacrifice the stickers, as sanding around them wil be a major pain...

It is likely that if I leave the stickers on they would be sacrificed.

I have access to replacement stickers but there are two that I cannot replace without special order, the sticker with the manufacture number + voltage rating and the attenzione sticker. One method I may try if I need them to come off is heat the sticker up then use dental floss to get under and peel off the sticker.

And yes it is probably better I have the frame professionally powder coated + sandblasted. I will wait a little bit until I have freed up funds to do it. Perhaps I can get a bundle deal/discount for multiple items then. Looking around my area the one place I used is the only reliable group found within an hour's drive.

nice and shiny after an hour's work!

The one unpolished piece is the hot water rod, and since that will be in the boiler it really did not need a polish. The bigger pieces will get done after being descaled.

I got the element end off, but it required effort. About 6 hours of sawing to be precise, though I estimate I could do it in 2 now that I know what to do/expect. Initially I used the cheap $2.99 2-pack carbon steel blades for my hacksaw, but switching over to the more expensive $6.99 dual-metal blades (whatever that means) pair is worth the price. I could cut faster for longer. Whatever the blades were I was left pretty sore but satisfied at the work. I got the rings off intact but I am not sure if I can take the fused bolts out. I am going to order a new set of rings for that side just in case.

I did all cutting outside while wearing a mask and dousing the boiler with water occasionally since the gasket was likely asbestos.





I did scratch the flange in the process but I hope I can simply sand out the scratches.



Now I can start descaling the boiler parts and big pipes then consider what to do next. I will need to treat the frame and I also want to media blast the boiler to take off the nickel coating. For the groups I am waiting on a tool that will come in my order to disassemble and clean them.

I'm happy to see that everything is in such great condition. I'm also considering bead-blasting a boiler to get the surface finish more homogenous (even though nobody will ever see that after assembling...). Be sure to post pictures of the boiler afterwards!

Great work on the boiler end plates and as you said those minor scuffs are easy to sand away. If I do have a surface that looks a bit pitted I may add some Loxeal 18/10 to the gasket just to be safe, just the tiniest amount will do.

I do bead blast boilers but am not fond of the finish, it is very matt and you will get weird stains in places that will annoy the heck of you. The stains will come from fingers or sealants. You can try and "polish" the surface with a wire brush on an angle grinder or a drill, that seems to seal the surface a bit better and it has a better look to it.

The original plating on these boilers may be tin, it does not look like nickel.

Paul_Pratt wrote: You can try and "polish" the surface with a wire brush on an angle grinder or a drill, that seems to seal the surface a bit better and it has a better look to it.

Thanks for the tip, Paul. Would you recommend brass wire brush or other material? I hadn't done this already out of fear to leave many scratches.

I used 12" 24 TPI blades for reference on the hacksaw. I will need to soak the aluminum rings in derust like Evaporust as I tried to take out the bolts and two of the bolts created cracks out of six in one of the half rings. They were so incredibly stuck I cannot believe how the metals are basically fused.



The stuck bolts with a smaller intact one from the other flange. Nasty stuff right there.


The rings from the other side appear intact but pitted/worn. I can still reuse them right and do not need to replace them after cleaning? How would I approach it for aluminum?

Concerning the rings. I also had cracks in the rings after removing them. Replaced them as the were and they have lasted over ten years.