Right way to paint aluminium

[Abomination]

I had a plate of aluminium diamond plate made as a kick panel for the bottom of my cabinet but I want it black.  I bought this black appliance enamel, according to the can its for smooth metal and supposedly the same stuff on your fridge ect..  But it chips easily.  anyone know the right way to paint this and make it stick, Its a kick plate so it will take some damage over time.

Or should I just bite the bullet and go get this sucker powder coated?

[AceTKK]

annodizing or powder coating is probably your best bet.  If you want to go the paint route try some automotive type paint.

-Ace-

[Ken Layton]

Aluminum needs Zinc Chromate (greenish colored) primer. This primer actually binds to the aluminum. Your best bet may be to go with powder coating.

[TOK]

Might be a good idea to rough up with real find sandpaper before shooting the primer too. I've seen a lot of diamond plate that has a clear coat over it to keep the aluminum from tarnishing.

[MajorHavoc]

Fwiw, you'd probably be better off grit blasting the diamond plate as opposed to sanding.  Clean, clean, clean, rinse with clean water, etch with alumiprep or equivalent, rinse again, apply zinc chromate then your topcoat preferably a 2 part polyurethane paint.  Hmmmmm, in retrospect, powdercoat is looking more and more appealing.

Seriously, unless you have access to the necessary chemistry and safety gear you would be better off with the powdercoat. 

Good luck
Mike

[rdagger]

Anodize at home:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=12166.0

[Abomination]

Yeah, hate to have to powder coat it but I think that's the best solution long term.  anyone have any idea what so ever what it would cost to powder coat a piece of that material at like 5 1/2" by 25" ??  even a ballpark would be nice.  As for home anodize Id rather just pay someone to do it, safer/less pain in the butt.  And, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't powder coating better, durability wise, than anodizing the plate?

[MajorHavoc]

You could check with your local vo-tech school(s).  They may do it for the cost of materials (and the students get some experience).  Alternatively,  a commercial powder coater may cut you a deal if you are willing to wait until he gets a larger order for the same color you desire.


To further agitate the fertilizer, Harbor freight has a powder coat rig on sale.  I think it was about $70.00. 

Mike

[crashwg]

To further agitate the fertilizer, Harbor freight has a powder coat rig on sale. I think it was about $70.00.

If you can fit the piece in your oven, this is quite feasable actually since powdercoating is baked somewhere between 300 and 400 someodd degrees... 

I say you go ahead and do it!  We need a guinea pig.

[MajorHavoc]

What the wife doesn't know can't hurt you.   

[MajorHavoc]

Seriously though,  unless you have a dedicated/ vented oven, you should probably leave it to the pro's.  Paint fumes and household ovens don't mix well.  It makes food smell bad, tastes worse and may be toxic.

[mahuti]

At the bike shop we used to send bikes out to get powder coated all the time. It ran from about $35 to $45 bucks a bike. I imagine at the small size you're talking about... you'd probably be running into a minimum, probably a cost similar to the above.

[Abomination]

Well for 35 bucks screw it, not worth making my pizza's taste like toxic waste.  Ill call around tomorrow and see what I can pull off.  Also those household powder coaters Ive used one of my friends before.  Eastwood made it and it used a heating lamp instead of an oven to cure, worked ok...

[stratjakt]

I've sprayed aluminum pieces (l-channel i used to hold the monitor glass in my neo geo) with regular etching primer from autozone and then regular old lacquer spray paint. 

It will scratch if you really try, but if it's not a piece that gets handled all that much it holds up fairly well.

I've never looked into powder coating or anodizing prices, I didn't figure it would be worth it for two little chunks of aluminum that cost me 3 bucks, and figured I'd just redo them with steel if they looked all that bad.

[whammoed]

Powder coaters run black all the time.  It may be better to drop by one and see if they will "throw it in" a current run.  From my experience if they aren't ripping you off, that size piece will cost $5 - $15.  A customer of mine followed this advice and ending up getting it done for free.  They will most likely get it done within a week if not sooner.

[Stingray]

Aluminum needs Zinc Chromate (greenish colored) primer.

You can paint aluminum with no problems provided you use the zinc chromate primer that Ken mentioned. It will hold up just as well as of the part were steel.

-S

[stratjakt]

There's zinc oxide primer too, supposedly somewhat less toxic than zinc chromate and works just as well.

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cspages/ptizincoxideprimer.php

I believe both types of paint need to be shipped HAZMAT, which would jack up the price ordering such stuff online.  I've never seen it at autozone or pep boys.

I used rustoleum clean metal primer and black laquer and it came out ok, like I said before.

[Stingray]

You can buy it locally anywhere, though you won't find it at a place like Autozone. Find a professional auto paint shop. If you can't find 'em in the phone book, call a body shop and ask them where they buy their paint.

-S

[danny_galaga]

Aluminum needs Zinc Chromate (greenish colored) primer.

You can paint aluminum with no problems provided you use the zinc chromate primer that Ken mentioned. It will hold up just as well as of the part were steel.

-S

its also sometimes called 'etch primer'. would be ok but i think powder coating would be the most durable, even over anodising.