Wayne Stambaugh
Member
I’m familiar with the large number of products to prep aluminum previous to painting and I’m not excited about using any of them. I’m working on an RV14 and not planning to prime or paint everything but where parts are joined together (aileron brackets, flap brackets, rib to spar, etc) I’m thinking about lightly bead blasting those areas and priming them with SEM etch primer. The surface left from the bead blasting supposedly relieves stress in the metal and takes small scratches away. As far as adhesion is concerned a bead blasted surface certainly has more “tooth” to it than most other treatments. Anyone tried it?