On Aug 6, 8:45 pm, Oren wrote:
On Tue, 07 Aug 2007 01:18:16 GMT, "aemeijers"
wrote:







"Oren" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 06 Aug 2007 22:51:09 GMT, "dadiOH"
wrote:

Mel wrote:
I have an old fashioned sink that I'd like have recovered.
I know that bathtubs that are not plastic can have a new
coat of enamel(?)put on. What is that procedure called and
who does it? The sink is made of the same stuff that the
old bathtubs were made of, so I imagine it could be redone,
too. Any advice?

That would be cast iron and the enamel is *true* enamel; that is, it
is glass that has been fused to the iron. Basically, the iron is
heated enough to melt glass and the glass particles are applied to it.

If you know someone that does ceramics they might be able to do it.
Most likely, best you could do is paint it and that could vary from
gawdawful to pretty good depending on the skill of the painter.

The tub I mentioned (1910 claw foot cast iron - recycle) was bead
blasted(iirc) and enameled. A beautiful site when done correctly.

You might get away with painting the outside, but don't paint the
inside.

Talk to the local guy. I made trades of sinks for a re-surface.

This Old House visited one of the places that does true re-enameling,
several years ago. IIRC, only a few places in the country do it, because it
is hideously expensive unless you do it on a production basis, and do dozens
of tubs and such at once. More like re-manufacturing than refinishing- they
media-blast the old surface off until hitting undisturbed material, heat it
glowing red, and apply another layer of enamel. With modern energy prices,
it has to cost close to what a new fixture does, so unless the item is
historical, probably not worth it, especially if you have to truck-freight
it to them. I presume the one they visited was in Boston, which has enough
old buildings and rich yuppies to keep them going. I presume the TOH web
page has a link somewhere.

Before doing that, I'd check the architectual salvage places and Habitat
ReStores within a 50-mile radius, and see what they have in stock. Decent
odds you find a similar fixture with intact enamel that just needs a
heavy-duty cleaning and new faucet to look like new. It'd definitely be a
lot cheaper.

aem sends....

Saranac Lake, NY converted a train station into a salvage location.
Many renovations were recycled there. These places are fun to visit
and find a part you need :-) this was 89/90.

I bought a few fixtures, later refinished and then sold.
--
Oren

"I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you."- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


Not sure what limitations and purpose the OP is seeking. Bath tub
refinishing was mentioned. There are companies that will do this
onsite, putting some type of new finish on the bathtub while it is in
place. This is a modest cost process, designed to avoide the high
cost of not only paying for a new bathtub, but also the surround,
tile, etc that goes with it. Not sure how much it costs.

Then there are shops that will take a cast iron bath tub and
completely refinish it off site, with new enamel type surface. I
believe it includes firing it in an oven. That process ain't cheap
and will cost as much as a new tub would. The purpose here is salvage
an antique type fixture.

For a kitchen sink, I would think the second type process might work.
I'd surely carefully check if the in-place refinishing could stand up
to the physical demands of a kitchen sink. I see occasional
advertising for bath tub refinishing using this process, but have
never seen it advertised for kitchen sinks and there may very well be
a reason.

Bottom line, if this is a antique sink worth salvaging, then I'd look
into it. If it's one that can be replaced by one that is similar
looking and available new, I would get a new sink.