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I'm having a table base welded up from 1x2 steel tubing and pre-made tapered steel legs.
The legs have a surface texture, and of course the tubing is smooth.
I need them to have the same surface texture. Do anyone know how to do that? - sandblasting?
Ideally I would like the whole piece to have a texture (sorry if this is not the correct term), the more pronounced the better.
thank you, Mark
Mark, it’s hard to visualize matching textures without a reference picture to go by. Unless you are a blacksmith texturing metal can be challenging. You might look into some kind of textured paint to spray the base with.
Sandblasting everything would produce the same texture.
You could try taking a wire wheel on a hand held grinder to the legs, or a flap wheel to smooth and polish them to match the top.
You can also see if there is a local machine shop that can shot peen them for you. It is similar to sand blasting except that it uses hardened steel shot, and leaves a more consistent and nicer texture on the surface than sandblasting.
Another option would be to "rust finish" them. Spray everything with muriatic acid and allow to sit overnight. Repeat until you get a uniform rust over everything. This will take several applications. Then take a wire wheel on a grinder and blend it all together. When you get a look you like, spray with a clear finish.
Thanks everyone, good ideas. Think I'll first look into that shot peen idea.
If you are using light weight tubing, shot peening can be too aggressive. It generates heat in the object being blasted and the machines don't necessarily blast a complex object evenly. If you go down this road, get them to blast for short times and turn the object frequently and keep it cool. I have seen guys turn perfectly good jobs into mangled wrecks through over peening. Cheers