Quote from: haeffb on June 04, 2016, 05:03:00 PMQuote from: Cellar2ful on June 04, 2016, 12:39:38 PMI probably have over 8 hours into the cleaning and polishing of the ash pan alone. Had to do it in 1 or 2 hour blocks as it is real hard on the fingers. What methods/materials/techniques were used on the ash pan?I followed the WKC "Ash pan clean up and polish procedure" instructions. It is the third tab under the Grill Restorations Heading on the WKC Home Page:Step 1- Deep soak in CLRStep 2- Removal of surface contaminates with #0000 extra fine steel wool and fine emery clothStep 3- Shaping the ash panStep 4- PolishingI agree wholeheartedly with the writer of this article when he states, "In my opinion, one of the most challenging pieces to restore on a Weber kettle is the ash pan". After soaking in the diluted CLR, I began a process of alternating back and forth between the steel wool and fine and extra fine emery cloth. I tried to always sand with a circular motion, even with the emery cloth. It makes it easier for the final step of polishing. I probably spent 4 hours alone on Step 2. I shaped the ash pan by using a small hammer and gently pounding out any small imperfections. I used a very smooth brick retaining wall in my yard to slowly pound the pan on. Whatever you use as a pounding surface, make sure it is extremely smooth as aluminum is easily marred if you use a rough surface to pound on. Work very slowly and pound gently as aluminum is a soft metal. I used Mother's Mag & Aluminum Polish for the final step. I tried Brasso but did not get as much result as with Mothers. This is where you start seeing the fruits of all the hard work coming together. Having now completed a restore on an ash pan I would recommend either covering it with foil when cooking or keep an extra un-restored pan for use when cooking. I would not want to do this again on the same pan.This was the ash pan before I began the cleanup. This photo was taken after I had hosed off all the loose material. This is a large detail photo of what I was dealing with. The crude that was left on the pan was like concrete.
Quote from: Cellar2ful on June 04, 2016, 12:39:38 PMI probably have over 8 hours into the cleaning and polishing of the ash pan alone. Had to do it in 1 or 2 hour blocks as it is real hard on the fingers. What methods/materials/techniques were used on the ash pan?
I probably have over 8 hours into the cleaning and polishing of the ash pan alone. Had to do it in 1 or 2 hour blocks as it is real hard on the fingers.