macdan
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Is a sandblaster useful for stripping paint from TiBooks or refinishing polycarb plastics? Lets find out! This adventure got started because like an idiot (and with prior warning I should add!) I used a Goof-off type solvent on a clamshell iBook's display bezel. Sigh . . . I know, polycarb and Goof-off don't play nice together, but then, I wan't thinking when I started to wipe the iBook with the dang stuff. It left some tragic streaks in the display casing. I've been wondering how well a sandblaster would work to get back Apple's original fine stippled finish, so I hauled out some scrap Mac bits with which to 'speriment. It was also a good opportunity to try blasting some 'Book metals, just to see the effects. |
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This B and W side apple was pretty scratched up, a good candidate. I popped it out of the case side, then sanded the scratches out with 800 grit wet-n-dry paper under running water. Then I polished it with an auto polish. It wasn't very shiny with the little effort I put into it, but that wasn't what I was going for anyway. I thoroughly blasted it with my (semi-)trusty sandblaster which laid down a nice overall grain. The apple's leaf is still shiny but scratched up, just as was the apple before its renovation. The apple's grain doesn't exactly match the case side but it still looks loads better than before. |
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Notice the shadow apple above, sandblasted into the case side using the apple-shaped hole in a TiBook's LCD bezel back. Below is a pic of my sandblasting TiStencil! |
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The TiBook's metal is soooo thin it distorts when stripped with the sandblaster. Not good. I like the surface effect of sandblasted titanium, but getting an even finish is difficult. I'll have to come up with a different way to finish a bare Ti surface (or just give up more likely!)
Below is the aluminum center from a 14" Wallstreet display. I blasted away most of the rubbery covering, leaving just the corner where I had carved out another Apple logo using the TiStencil. It's hard to see in this photo but the Al distorted too, just not as badly as did the Ti. The whole piece here is bowed outward. Yikes! |
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OK, so I get a bit silly after awhile. Here I tried the TiStencil on an old bit of window glass. I did one on the front surface and then I did a backwards logo on the back surface (so it would be right side around viewed from the other side.) The backside one looks better I think. |
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OK, so I get even sillier! My old VW Golf could use some more Apple logos all around, the old multi-colored Apple stickers are getting rather shabby. This worked out pretty nifty I think. The windshield is getting replaced ASAP, so I didn't worry too much about placing an apple right in the middle. Sandblasting with a TiStencil is fun! Notice the (homemade) iPod holder on the dash? My oldy Blaupunkt has an auxilary input, so I can plug the iPod right in with a miniplug and a 12V FW power plug. |
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A self-portrait. :-) |
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So did it work, the iBook shell renovation? Well, sort of . . . it doesn't look like the original, but it does look alot better. no pic though :-( |
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2004.07.21 - new page