Repairing holes in Galvanized steel

[blacksmithstris]

Hello all,

I recently had a bunch of sculptural work galv'd, which on some pieces required them drilling holes in rather prominent places. I was wondering if anyone had an alternative to filling it in with a weld- which obviously creates a blemish in the finish- they gave me some spray to cover it with after, but I thought maybe, what if there is some sort of putty etc I could just plug the hole with that is paintable. That would mean I wouldn't have to weld over the galv (nasty) and also mean I wouldn't have to grind the galv off of a section around the hole, which is almost pointless as I can't get in behind or underneath to grind the other side off! The whole business of plugging these little holes is horrid, but maybe something like car filler would do it?? I have no experience of anything like that so was looking for maybe someone who uses it to advise whether it would be appropriate!

Have attached some pics of what I'm on about, these are some of the snowdrops they had to drill into. I've already filled in some of them, but I think there has to be a better way!!!

Thanks in advance,

Colleen

 

[madkayaker]

Chemical metal would do the trick then galv spray it

 

[brightspark]

belzona molecular but its costly. much stronger than catty paste and most fillers

 

[blacksmithstris]

Thanks, will try the chemical metal.. think that should do the trick!!!

 

[Cobbler]

Milliput epoxy putty would do the trick, available in yellow, terracotta & black I think. It's available from hardware stores or on the web at about a fiver. I've used it for various repairing jobs & it's as tough as old boots & can be filed to shape, sanded & polished if required

Cobbler

 

[awemawson]

"Non lead" plumbing solder works quite well with clean galvanising and is a similar colour. If you can bridge the hole with perhaps a bit of wood while soldering, then file & polish to shape

 

[500e]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=alloy+filler

 

[bigegg]

I bought some metal filled milliput (not sure if it was milliput, or an alternative brand) which was a pretty good match for *old* galvanised (ie, gone grey rather than shiny, new galvanising).
It was from a "poundshop", so probably not a lot of help, other than it exists.

 

[Jim_gsxr1000]

Belzona 1111 is as good as it gets, not cheap tho

 

[Hitch]

Just use chemical metal, and a squirt of cold galv spray.

It looks obvious for a couple of weeks, but it soon weathers to give the same look.