Our good friend Tom recently relocated from Fremont, California to Wilmington, North Carolina. For some obscure reason he decided to take Hazel and Mel, his Rhodesian Ridgebacks as travelling companions on his cross country road trip rather than his wheelbarrow. The wheelbarrow would have been far less work, although maybe not such good company.
Paul to the rescue! No sooner had Tom had crossed the Fremont city boundary, than I descended and saved said wheelbarrow from being turned into scrap metal.
Being retired and constantly in search of challenges, this quickly became a project, not just a wheelbarrow. “Blue”, as she would become known for obvious reasons, was of sound body, but outwardly rather rusty. After close inspection, there was some evidence that she may have been originally painted black.
Black would not be my color of choice. Rather I was guided by the left over spray paint I had from previous projects: metallic copper and metallic cobalt blue. I can’t actually remember using either of those paints in any project and there is nothing at home panted those colors. Perhaps they were a gift from the wheelbarrow fairy.
It took me longer to disassemble her than it took Tom to reach Wilmington: those last few pesky carriage bolts needed a good soaking in WD40. YouTube videos tried to lead me astray and suggested painstakingly grinding blue down to the metal with various abrasive tools (those videos were probably sponsored by sandpaper suppliers). Instead, I took the low effort approach and used a paint-on rust treatment that neutralizes the rust and prevents it reappearing. After a few hours with a wire brush and well neutralized she was ready to be painted.
Restoration Process
Now the technical content of this blog. Below are pictures showing the metamorphosis of a wheel: 1) after the initial wire brush attack, 2) after treatment, the rust turned into an inert black coating, taped and ready to paint, 3) its final stunning condition after cobalt blue spray paint. The same process was used for the other metal parts.
Glorious Blue
All metal components were painted in either copper or cobalt blue metallic paint, the wooden handles were sanded and oiled, the rusty carriage bolts were replaced.
Now the dilemma: do I really want to put dirt and gravel in “Blue”, or should I just reserve her for taking grandchildren on wild and crazy rides through the garden?
Project Cost Breakdown
- Rust Treatment $11
- Replacement carriage bolts $6
- Extra cobalt blue paint $11
- Labor $0 (a good reason to employ retirees)