Kitchenaid Stand Mixer Resurrection

Kitchenaid 6 Quart Stand Mixer

The resurrected Kitchenaid 6 Quart Stand Mixer, with green and gold metallic paint

Kitchenaid Professional 6 Mixer

One of my neighbors left this out at the curb one day. I've always wanted a 6 quart stand mixer, but I couldn't justify the cost. I figured I could get this cleaned and operational for not a whole lot of money, so I snagged it.

Dead Motor Diagnosis

To start, the mixer was totally dead. I plugged it in, and nothing would happen with the motor controller in any speed. So I opened it up, and began diagnosis. The board itself had 120VAC, but no output, so I replaced it.

Motor Controller Board

This is the original motor controller board. I found a replacement for $25, with an updated design. I installed it, and the mixer worked. Huzzah! But it made a deathly grinding noise. So I had to dig in further.

Gearbox

These are the main gears inside the stand mixer gear box. The motor, at right, turns a small helical-cut gear, which is obscured in this picture behind the larger helical-cut gear that it drives. The larger helical-cut gear is on a shaft with a worm gear, which turns the helical-cut gear on the planetary gear shaft. Sitting on top of the helical-cut gear on the planetary gear shaft is a bevel gear, which turns the bevel gear in the gearbox cover, which in turn accepts and drives Kitchenaid stand mixer accessories.

Gearbox, again

Another view of the gearbox gears.

Gearbox Cover

This is the gearbox cover next to the base of the mixer itself. You can see how dirty the mixer was when I found it. The gearbox cover also holds the bevel gear for the accessory drive on the front of the mixer.

Planetary Gear

This is the planetary gear, with all the grease removed. As you can see up and to the right of the central bushing, the housing has been damaged. In the very first image in this album, you can see a snap ring out of place on the attachment shaft. That snap ring prevents upward motion of the attachment shaft. Somehow, the shaft was driven up into the housing, displacing the snap ring, causing considerable damage to the housing.

Planetary Gear, Flip Side

This is the other side of the planetary gear, which is the gearbox, which has also been cleaned up. You can see a prominent bump in the groove where the worm gear driver rotates. This was the cause of the heinous noise it made when operating.

Housing Repair

I filled the dent in the planetary gear with JB Weld Steelstik. Once it set completely, I used a grinder to remove material from the gearbox side, so the worm gear driver could rotate smoothly.

Total Disassembly

These are all the parts after disassembly, clean-up, and repair. The body is now ready for paint.

Sanding and Taping

I fully sanded the body parts with 220 grit sandpaper, and I applied tape everywhere I didn't want the paint to go. I also made a quick 2X4 stand for the bowl holder and planetary gear cover. Before spraying anything, I cleaned all the parts with mineral spirits, to remove any residual dust and grease.

Primer

I applied 2 coats of Rustoleum Primer

First Base Coat

I applied a coat of Rustoleum Hunter Green Enamel. Coverage was pretty good, but it definitely needed another coat.

Second Base Coat

I added a second base coat, and the color was nice and uniform

Disaster

I wanted to spray a few coats of Rustoleum Kelly Green Glitter Paint on top of the base coat, but when I did, cracks quickly formed. 4 of my 6 parts were ruined.

More Disaster

The paint turned into a total mess. I read the instructions on each can I used, and followed the instructions exactly. Later on, I watched Rustoleums own video on youtube for applying their glitter paint, and they say that the base coat needs to be completely dry before applying the glitter paint. Would have been nice if that info was on the can. Instead, I'm out 2 cans of paint and several hours of my time.

Green Glitter

I waited 48 hours after disaster struck to apply green glitter to the 2 pieces that only received primer and base coat. I'm very pleased with how it looks.

Green Glitter Up Close

I really like the effect that the green glitter provides. This is after 2 coats of green glitter spray paint.

Gold Glitter

I added 1 quick coat of gold glitter, for a rich look.

Meanwhile, Back in Disaster-town

I had to sand back the 4 pieces with cracked paint. This took ages. The paint gummed up the sanding discs that I was using. Maybe I should have used a chemical paint stripper.

Primer, Again

I finally got all 4 pieces sanded down and cleaned with mineral spirits. Then I applied primer for the second time, 2 coats just like the first time.

Base Coat, Again

I applied a base coat of Hunter Green enamel, just like the first time

Second Base Coat, Again

Cool, so I'm back to where I was a week ago.

Glitter!

These are the 4 pieces after 2 coats of green glitter and 1 coat of gold glitter

Glitter Base, Up Close

Here you can see what the glitter coats look like after they dry. The effect isn't very sparkly.

Glitter Coats, Dry

More dry glitter coats. Again, there isn't much shimmer.

Glitter Coats, Up Close

Here you can see the distribution of green and gold glitter. I was very pleased with the distribution, it's very even and uniform.

Clear Coat

This is after the first application of clear coat.

Clear Coat, Up Close

The clear coat makes the glitter really sparkle

Second Clear Coat

The more clear coat that's laid down, the deeper the glitter sparkle effect.

Second Clear Coat, Up Close

The paint really sparkles now

Final Clear Coat

This is after 6 coats of clear coat

Final Clear Coat

The focus of this image is a bit off, but the paint still shimmers and sparkles

Green and Gold Sparkles

This is after the 6 coats of clear coat have dried. There's quite a bit of 'orange peel' in the finish, which is to be expected, but the sparkle effect is awesome. After this, I wet sanded with 1000, 1500, and 2000 grit sandpaper, and then applied a polish. A few days later, I finished it off with a coat of wax.

Finished Mixer

The last part that I was waiting on, the new Platinum Frost trim band, finally arrived. Once it was installed, the mixer was completely finished. I purchased a new 6 quart stainless steel mixing bowl along with flat beater, wire beater, and dough hook attachments. I spent approximately $30 repairing the mixer, about $70 for the bowl and attachments, and about $25 for the paint and painting supplies.