Sand or Grind // Hose or Cord

[Johnny Generic]

Addicted to buying metal tool boxes, chests, cabinets, to restore / refurbish. New hobby for me. Need tool to remove rust and paint, Not necessary down to bare metal but would be nice. Educate me on sanders vs grinders, air vs electric. I have a 1.5 hp 26 gal compress with ratchet and impact gun. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. Johnny Generic.

 

[nadogail]

Soda Blasting will prep your boxes for paint.

 

[sberry]

Sand what you can. If this was regular would want air for sanding and wire wheel. I like 4 1/2 electric grinder for some work, cheap to operate.
That comp is way too small for much of this type of work.

 

[fourjeepin]

I use a 4-1/2” grinder for rust removal. A sanding disc if it is scaly rust or a braided wire wheel if it is just surface rust.

 

[Stuart in MN]

A grinder is more likely to make gouges in the toolbox. Personally I'd go with an electric sander, along with a wire brush in a drill motor to do initial prep.

 

[OccupantRJ]

I refurb items daily as a hobby. My process for small items is abrasive cabinet blasting. Barring that, on a flat surface, I use carbide insert paint scrapers. Triangular for flat surfaces, and 5/8” round for concave areas. Along with that I use power wire brushes of all shapes and sizes for the nooks and crannies.

Next step for me is sanding with a 5” orbital electric sander, variable speed, using 40 grit. Next step, a coat or two of primer followed with a scuffing with burgandy scotchbrite pad. Apply paint of choice. I normally use urethane modified acrylic on cabinets, but also use alkyd industrial enamel. I started out with finer grit pads but found them to be more work with no improvement in results.