Anyone has any thoughts on how to patch/fix/cover surface scratches on an old cast iron tub?

No idea what the tenant did, may be he washed his motor gear in the tub.



Zoomed to the bottom:



Further zoomed to the scratches:



Basically an area about 7"x7" with a bunch of scratches. The rest of the tub is fine.

I have already cleaned it with a scour pad. I can feel the scratches when I ran my finger nail across. These are not scuff marks.

Since it is dark in color I assume it has penetrated the enamel layer and reached the cast iron?

I know there are bathtub refinishing kits and you coat the entire tub. I am hoping to avoid this since the scratches are localized to a small area at the bottom.

The tub being some sort of aqua-blue color so I need to somehow color match. I have seen a few enamel resurface kits but they are all white in color. Are there any color matching enamel patching products out there?

Quote

Each year refinishing shops across the country rescue thousands of tired old tubs and sinks by spraying on an acrylic urethane resin coating. Done correctly, either off-site in a shop or in place, refinishing is an effective and inexpensive solution for porcelain that is chipped, worn rough, or whose color has simply gone out of style. For an average cost of $350 to $500-a fraction of the $1,200 to $5,000 expense of a new cast-iron or steel tub installed — refinishers can make an antique fixture look brand new.

[www.bing.com]

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

I contact a plumbing fixture refinisher when I have that kind of problem. They match the color perfectly to the point you cannot tell it was redone.

the tub refinishers are good at making the tubs look good for about a year...then the finish goes down hill fast...I only recommend it if your selling the house....

some are supposed to be better than others...but in the end its just fancy paint...its not reglazed in a kiln

I can't seem to find a bath tub finisher who would just do patch work. They want to refinish the whole tub.

Problem is, I have seen those finished tubs before, looks "OK" but it's a lot of prep work. I can remove the overflow cover, but I can't remove the tub drain (I tried once and I end up epoxy glueing in a retrofit lift and turn).

The company I use does do a "heat treated" finish and it last a LONG time.

as I mentioned elsewhere, they use, or at least used to use, a heat process to fuse to the tub, which would make it "unwieldy" to try to do an entire tub. You might call Todd Fiberglass and Porcelain Repair in Tempe AZ and see if they know anyone in your area that uses their process to make repairs. They are not the only ones in the country who do it because we had a company in Chicago that did the same thing.

What we call a porcelain coating is actually a glass coating or glazing fused to the tub in many cases up to1/8 to1/4"thick The tub casting is heated red hot and then glass beds are spread over the casting by hand while the red hot tub is manipulated using a fork lift type of machine.. This firing is performed at least twice. This is why when breaking one up using a sledge, be extremely careful and use safety eye goggles to protect your eyes from fying glass shards.

I have tried buffing scratches out with high speed buffer like a windshield scratch by using jeweler's rouge, without success. The glass is just too hard. The repair methods offered are just a fancy paint job which works pretty well but it is far from being a melted glass like the original finish. When you look at the video how theyare made, it amazes me that we can purchase a new one for under 1000!

Manufacturing vid [m.youtube.com]

Refinishing vid [m.youtube.com]

I would be interested if anyone knows of any method of applying a local heat process to repair. I think it may be just too compicated to undertake.

My brother in law visited the Kohler plant and, at that time at least, they did NOT allow visitors into the glazing area for "trademark process security" reasons.