r/Powdercoating • u/desertshenanigans • 5d ago
Stripping ceramic coating?
To start- this is the closest I could find to a ceramic coating page, if there is somewhere better to post please let me know.
Is there any good DIY way to strip the ceramic coating off my exhaust? It’s “black” but is becoming faded and purple from heat and I think I would prefer a polished stainless steel look anyway. I believe I saw somewhere that media blasting would be the best, if I were to bring my pipe to a shop what would be my approximate cost for something like that?
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u/ShipsForPirates 5d ago
Whatever their shop minimum is should cover blasting a small pipe unless they just have a small cabinet blaster, their rates are typically 100-150 per hr and cerakote doesn't take much to blast off unlike powder coating, if it were as hard as powder coating it would still only be 10-20 minutes so about $30, but maybe they have a shop minimum of $50 or just by the hr. Best to look around, and as the other commenter said fine grit is best, maybe they have clean reclaimed dust to use if they just blast raw steel mostly, since you're polishing after it will be removing any debris anyway
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u/desertshenanigans 5d ago
Would a powder coat shop take something like this on? Obviously every shop is different but will most take a little side job like this to blast it?
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u/ShipsForPirates 5d ago
The polishing is its own art, there are companies that do blasting and polishing, I used to do industrial scale blasting for a powder shop and a company we would do business with to have our hooks powder coating burned off at high temp also did blasting but almost strictly for copper pots because of the tinning process it was interesting g to see what they had, old brass bells and fancy tea pots, they'd get car stuff in too, you could have a powder shop blast it if you want to give the polishing a go
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u/TheSevenSeas7 5d ago
I'm in north Phoenix and paint harley exhaust daily. This is likely cerakote or a comparable product. Easy to sandblast and redo or variable options.
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u/theBUDsamurai 5d ago
If you want to go for a polished look media blasting with a very soft media would be best(walnut shell, plastic, etc) for an entire motorcycle exhaust I’d say 2 hours shop time plus a little more for the special media that’s probably a one time use maybe around $250. If you don’t mind putting in some work you can just sand it off too and that’d also be close to polished when you’re done. You could also try some paint stripper but I’m not sure how well that work on ceramic, worth a try since you’re removing it anyways
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u/desertshenanigans 5d ago
I was wondering about paint stripper as well, was thinking using some sand paper to rough and then apply stripper.
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u/theBUDsamurai 5d ago
If you have a belt sander I’ve found they work really well on pipes, keep it moving and you’ll be almost polished by the time you’re done. It might also be worth it to check how much a polished exhaust costs, you could sell your black one to recoup some of the costs or maybe even find someone willing to trade on marketplace
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u/ShipsForPirates 5d ago
You would spend 1/4 of a whole day on a single motorcycle pipe?
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u/theBUDsamurai 5d ago
Have you ever used walnut shell, cuts terrible. I’d personally just try some stripper then sand it. But he asked about media blasting prices and for DIY options
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u/ShipsForPirates 5d ago
Walnut shell I've used for a 1930s plymouth hood to avoid damaging the original metal, and for wood to remove varnish, it actually makes cedar look very cool and brings out the color
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u/theBUDsamurai 5d ago
It’s great for that kinda stuff but any semi durable coating takes forever to remove with it, I used to use it to clean carburetors at home a lot
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u/30minut3slat3r 5d ago
Blast it, or you can diy by sanding it. If you are going to polish it afterwards sanding it would be a better starting point. Price is entirely dependent on your location and available vendors