Restoring a joystick shaft

Peale

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I've got a Tunnel Hunt I'm working on, and the shaft is horribly rusted. Originally it was chromed.

The idea is to start off with sandpaper and slowly work my way to a finer and finer grit until it's smooth. Then I'll plate it with zinc and polish that to a mirror finish.

I was thinking about securing the shaft down, then using a strip of sandpaper and going back and forth. Ideally I'd like to put it in a lathe or something to spin it on, but it's bent at a slight angle.

Ideas?
 
I usually spin my joystick shafts in the chuck of my drill, hit them with rough sand paper, then work to finer grit, then steel wool, then a rag with Brasso. Usually makes them look new-ish. Here's one I did recently:

4018272296_08dab08667.jpg
 
That will probably do more damage than I'm comfortable with. I don't want to accidentally keep the friction in one area for too long, it might make low spots.
 
That will probably do more damage than I'm comfortable with. I don't want to accidentally keep the friction in one area for too long, it might make low spots.

Just keep moving and you'll be fine. Use a wire wheel at work to polish all my rusty carriage bolts before spraying them w/ clear and they look great!
 
I usually spin my joystick shafts in the chuck of my drill, hit them with rough sand paper, then work to finer grit, then steel wool, then a rag with Brasso. Usually makes them look new-ish. Here's one I did recently:

4018272296_08dab08667.jpg

that looks great, what grit papers do you use?
 
Just keep moving and you'll be fine. Use a wire wheel at work to polish all my rusty carriage bolts before spraying them w/ clear and they look great!

When I worked in automotive parts this is what I did as well. Never once messed up the threads on the tie rod ends or center links I would clean. And this was not your mommas bench top wire wheel, this sucker was huge!
 
Try submerging it in 50% CLR and 50% water for 30 minutes or so.
That's what I've been doing before chucking them up in a lathe.
It pretty much pulls all the rust off so you can go over it with a wire brush then get to polishing.
It saves a lot of time.
 
I think the first thing I'm going to do is use electrolysis to remove the rust that's on there before hitting it with the wire wheel. That way I can convert at least some of the rust back to useable metal. I'll update as things progress.

The thing I'm really eager to try is plating it with zinc. I plated a piece of copper bar and it looks just like a mirror now.
 
Chromed stuff needs to be done by professionals as it's a very toxic process. Zinc is easy: I use a vinegar solution with a sheet of zinc as the anode. It plates nearly instantly.

And a bit of good news (to me) - the shaft IS straight. I don't know why I thought it was bent at an angle. This will make it a bit easier.
 
I just found a major issue (not related to the shaft). The rubber centering grommet is completely torn. Does anyone know where one might be available? Can't use a standard Wico grommet - it's too big.
 
Chromed stuff needs to be done by professionals as it's a very toxic process. Zinc is easy: I use a vinegar solution with a sheet of zinc as the anode. It plates nearly instantly.

And a bit of good news (to me) - the shaft IS straight. I don't know why I thought it was bent at an angle. This will make it a bit easier.

Neat. Where's a good place to get a hunk or sheet of zinc? Could something galvanized work as well?
 
There isn't nearly enough zinc to get off a galvanized piece. I went to a roofer - in the old days, slate roofs had sheets of zinc used to hold...something. And you can find it online in "kits" - but if you can find the zinc locally, you can put together a kit yourself and save big.
 
Nope - it's on indefinite hiatus. It's got a board issue - but that's not the problem. I lost my workshop space and don't have anywhere to work on it at the moment. :(
 
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