Bridgeport Restoration, Part 3. Getting ready for painting.

Here we get the surfaces all prepped, treated with bondo, and sanded smooth. Ready for paint!

[@anissawood4882]

Good job with all the prep! That's a lot of work. Awesome to see the paw paw trees. I hear the fruit is even good this year!

[@KevinToppenberg]

Yeah, we were pretty excited to get 4 good size fruits off them. They are still pretty young. But someone I know is pretty proud of them!

[@SophiaAtkinson]

I have no clue why I watched this entire video, but I enjoyed it.

[@KevinToppenberg]

Well, preparing a mill for painting really is a dull subject. I am hoping that the ups and downs of my journey will add some entertainment value. So your comment really warms my heart. Thanks!

[@christinepryor5893]

You sure have perseverance restoring/repairing these things, fella! I do get nervous thinking about you having to put all the pieces back together in the right order, though. 🙃

[@KevinToppenberg]

Like a big jigsaw puzzle! Thanks for watching

[@Rusty-Metal]

Lol. My redo started exactly like yours! Stiff table full of grease. One thing led to another and she's all apart including full head redo. Phew. Lotta work. You get so far into it and you say, well, might as well now!

[@KevinToppenberg]

Yeah, I just watched your videos. Once you get started, it's hard to stop!

[@MyLilMule]

Coming along nicely.

[@KevinToppenberg]

Thanks!

[@Rusty-Metal]

Btw, I used a needle scaler to take every inch of paint/filler off. Worked very well but man was I beat. I'm not using bondo on my redo as the castings looks great or at least good enough for a machine. I've been cleaning with a case of brake cleaner, but every time I do my rags are still black. Might have to power wash. Ugh. And I just saw you said the black on the towel is just carbon? Should I stop cleansing and call it good?

[@KevinToppenberg]

Yeah, I think that as long as one rubs metal, it's going to look somewhat black. That's my opinion anyway. I like the idea of a needle scaler, but I currently only have a tiny air compressor, and I suspect I would get about 15 seconds of scaling, and then 2 minutes of the air compressor motor running to catch up. UPDATE: I just watched your video. That scaler is very cool!

[@BlueStraza]

Why not use paint stipper then acetone to strip of any oils or impurities?

[@KevinToppenberg]

I haven't had a lot of success with paint stripper. Having said that, however, I have just recently tried again and it did better. So you are probably right that it would be better. Esp better than making all that dust of paint possibly containing lead! Thanks for watching!

[@KW-ei3pi]

@@KevinToppenberg I had good results with Citrus Strip.