Painting spinner top?

[spkywlnt73]

I'm changing my color scheme on my old setup, and was wondering how I'd go about painting my old spinner top? Does anybody know the process on how to do this, so that it doesn't look like crap? It's currently blue, and I want it red, don't know if that matters! I know the short answer is to just bye a new spinner, but tryng to save money where I can. Thanks in advance!

[RandyT]

It depends somewhat on the type of material the current knob is made of.  But a quality spray paint will probably be your best option.  If it's plastic, Krylon makes a decent paint for that.  For metal, I'd try the Rustoleum.

[spkywlnt73]

It depends somewhat on the type of material the current knob is made of.  But a quality spray paint will probably be your best option.  If it's plastic, Krylon makes a decent paint for that.  For metal, I'd try the Rustoleum.

Yeah it's a metel alloy one from Happ. Thanks for the info Randy! Do you think I should ruff it up first? Or just paint right over it the way it is?

[RandyT]

Yeah it's a metel alloy one from Happ. Thanks for the info Randy! Do you think I should ruff it up first? Or just paint right over it the way it is?

I don't think you need to rough it up, but makes sure it is very clean.  Any oils on the surface can cause "fish-eyes" or an uneven finish.  If it's painted, you may want to strip it first to reduce the chances of a reaction with a different paint.  Otherwise, a bath in high-strength isopropyl or acetone will help, and make sure it's very dry before painting.   Light, even coats with a bit of time in-between.  Make sure that the last one is a wet, but not drippy, and be sure that the paint is very dry before you try to use the knob.  I'd give it a couple of days or more, and maybe a warm place to help the cure.

[mcseforsale]

For metal:  If it is currently painted, youd be better off using a strong paint stripper like Rusoleum Aircraft Stripper, then using a quality self-etching primer...usually used for automotive.  Then a quality spray paint.

For Plastic:  If it's currently painted you *can* strip it by putting it in a bowl with Purple Power over night and then using a brass brush or similar stiff brush under running water...or in some cases spraying it with oven cleaner and putting it in a ziploc over night, then the same wash.  A good paint for plastics such as Krylon Fusion can be used after roughing up the surface with 120grit.

If it's annodized aluminum, you can just rough it up and paint it.  The only real way to get off anno using chemicals at your house is with a strong alkali such as in oven cleaner. In my house, it would be polished to a mirror shine and then clear-coated so that it caught all the colors surrounding it.  (man, I just looked over at the happcontrols.com site and I could turn that thing into a mirror!!)




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Keep in mind that this item will have a lot of human contact and that there's nothing nastier than human touch to ruin a finish..so it may fade/wear and need to be freshened up after a while.

YMMV,
AJ

[Gray_Area]

For all the effort in this, why not buy (or trade for) a new one, and sell the old one?