model m back plate evolution after sanding (to paint or not

idollar · 08 Jan 2015, 22:26

Hello,

This is a very simple question.
I have wet-sanded the back plate of a model m. It was a little bit rusty.
It worked very well. It is soft and bright. I like it a lot.

It seems to me that by doing it I have removed a cover that it had. I wonder if the reason was to avoid future rust.
I could paint it with a nice mat-black anti-rust paint that I have. No problem. But my preference is to keep it as it is.

What is your experience / recommendation ?

Thanks in advance

i$

fohat · 09 Jan 2015, 02:54

I have painted M back plates. I doubt that it makes any difference since they are never seen anyway. Be sure to let the paint cure completely or the rubber blanket may stick to it pretty tight down the road.

I always paint Model F front plates, because they are visible and almost always rusted, but that is a different topic.

matt3o · 09 Jan 2015, 09:33

idollar wrote: ↑It seems to me that by doing it I have removed a cover that it had.

nah, I think that was just a thin layer of oxidation. Wait a couple of months and that patina will be back again.

I find painting the steel plate on a Model M quite useless.

idollar · 09 Jan 2015, 09:39

Thank you Fohat, thank you Matt3o.

It could be interesting to follow the evolution of this plate.
I will make pictures every week and post them in this thread. It may help me and others to check the evolution.

I will change the subject in the thread to "attract" interested people.

i$

idollar · 12 Jan 2015, 08:21

Date - 11.Jan.2015

idollar · 01 Feb 2015, 13:46

Date: 01.Feb.2015

: DSCF1905.jpg (211.24 KiB) Viewed 1937 times

Touch_It · 01 Feb 2015, 23:48

On my model F I clear coated it with rustoleum to prevent rust in the future.

phosphorglow · 15 Mar 2015, 16:52

The dull grey covering is galvanizing for protection, but it bonds on a molecular level, so although removing or polishing it removes a level of protection, it's usually just fine. I still have plates from my earlier days that look just fine after being polished up, but using a chemical treatment or aggressively removing too much has shown surface rust to appear just from being exposed to air. So in those cases it's definitely recommended to paint for protection.

I'm not positive as I'm not an expert on metallurgy, but I think they were hot dip galvanized.

The earlier beautiful gold-ish plates I think were electroplated. I'd love to know for certain if someone has more info.