It’s hard work to sandpaper the finish off an tin.
Satisfying, but it requires a fair amount of elbow grease.
I took a trip to the hardware store yesterday to pick up some supplies.
I started using the sandpaper on the tin, starting on the bottom, which cleaned up fairly well.
The sides of the tin were much harder, with the curves and the lid hinges.
I gave up mid-way on the sides and started on the top.
Once I was finished with the entire outside, I scored the inside a bit with sandpaper.
If you haven’t gotten altoids in a while, you may not know that the top of the tin is actually raised, both with the banner, and the word Altoids. I want to have a Farnsworth, not a Farnsworth masquerading as an Altoids tin.
I tried lightly pounding the tin with a mallet to lower the raised part. Key word being tried. I think I flattened it a bit, but I decided to stop when it wasn’t working out very well.
Then I started the painting.
I looked at Claudia’s Farnsworth a little more in a few different episodes and realized that the casing is entirely black, inside and out, so I had bought some Rust-oleum paint and started working! I’ve got the first coat on the outside, and tomorrow will be working on the inside. Maybe two coats, and it’ll be good to go!
Then comes the inside work, which will be the fun part!
Edited: As of right now this project is finished. Follow it from its inception, to further planning, to (this) sanding and painting, to the wirework, to the gold detailing, to the gluing of all the components together.
