Spray painting with aerosols

[ratzz]

Hey all,

I was wandering round my local car parts suppliers (Halfords), and wondered if anyone had used the aerosol type sprays used for cars...

May need a couple of cans, but my cab is quite small. However they do look pretty high quality.

Any thoughts from the pros?

Ratzz

[sstorkel]

I've used aerosol sprays (primarily Rustoleum, Krylon) to paint some of the stuff I've welded. It's certainly quick and you can get a very nice finish that way. Also expensive! And the stuff gets everywhere! It'll end up floating in the air and landing on anything near it if you're not careful. You'll probably need multiple coats. The paint tends to be pretty thin, so if you try to spray a lot on it will drip and run. Which means you'll have to spray on a couple of coats to get a decent thickness. Surface preparation is also critical. Again, because the paint is thin imperfections in the underlying surface will really stand out. Of course, that's for paint that's designed to stick to metal. I don't really have any experience with any of the aerosols designed for use on wood...

[ratzz]

Thanks for that sstorkel.

I think I should try a test piece with plenty of undercoat and see what results I get.

Cheers buddy. 

[BASS!]

Also, don't paint inside unless you have serious ventilation and really good breathing equipment. It'll give you a horrible cough and youll blow "insert color of spraypaint here" Snot.

[Jdurg]

Also, don't paint inside unless you have serious ventilation and really good breathing equipment. It'll give you a horrible cough and youll blow "insert color of spraypaint here" Snot.

Hehe.  I know that feeling.  That's why I'm so pissed that it's been brutally cold around here lately (mid 20's in Fahrenheit, -4 Celcius) and when we do finally get a somewhat warm day, it's raining and raining hard.  So I haven't been able to go and re-paint my coin door like I've been wanting to for a while now.  

[ChadTower]

You can easily repaint something small like a coin door inside.  A whole cabinet, no, but I spray paint small stuff like that in my basement without a problem.

[Jdurg]

But the black paint with the overspray and the lack of ventillation in my basement would be a bit touchy.  I wouldn't want the black paint particles that have dried in the air to float around and work it's way onto everything.

My plan is to get a nice dry and warm day and hang the parts from one of the dozens of trees in my backyard using some fishing line, then spray them all and let them hang and dry.  This is my best bet.  For the coin box, however, I could probably paint that inside the box that my shopvac came in.  That 'should' reduce the overspray, but i think I'll play it safe and just wait for a warm day and paint outside.  Spring should be here soon.........................

















I hope. 

[ChadTower]

Of course, if you hang them outside, the wind is going to blow particles into your wet paint.  If you are stingy with the overspray and spray inside a large box you probably won't have any issues.  I haven't had any on quite a few objects.  My basement is unfinished, though, so if I do it's not much of a concern.

[Jdurg]

Of course, if you hang them outside, the wind is going to blow particles into your wet paint.  If you are stingy with the overspray and spray inside a large box you probably won't have any issues.  I haven't had any on quite a few objects.  My basement is unfinished, though, so if I do it's not much of a concern.

Same here.  But I'm in a Cape style house so the furnace is in the middle of the basement and I don't want to have somewhat flammable vapors in there when the furnace kicks on.     Plus, there's a small vent right above the wood stove that goes into the upstairs living room and if I get a bunch of fine mist particles floating in the air they'll just rise up through that vent and settle in my living room.  Granted, I don't expect to be unleashing a full can of paint in there, but with the limited ventillation and the furnace being right down there I really don't want to take any risks.

The nice benefit of using this rustoleum hammered finish look is that I don't really want a super smooth finish.  A rough, bumpy finish is exactly what I'm looking for. 

[ChadTower]

The nice benefit of using this rustoleum hammered finish look is that I don't really want a super smooth finish.  A rough, bumpy finish is exactly what I'm looking for. 

BTW, the paint isn't hammered... that is the state the painter is supposed to be in.  The nozzle is designed so that it paints a straight line while you're weaving the can back and forth for no reason.

 

[Jdurg]

The nice benefit of using this rustoleum hammered finish look is that I don't really want a super smooth finish.  A rough, bumpy finish is exactly what I'm looking for. 

BTW, the paint isn't hammered... that is the state the painter is supposed to be in.  The nozzle is designed so that it paints a straight line while you're weaving the can back and forth for no reason.

 

   Oddly enough, when we get our first warm day up here in New England I'll probably celebrate by being hammered so the paint finish will look good. 

[ChadTower]

My weather is the same as yours.  You are not far from me.   

[shardian]

Al Gore will be paying you a visit after reading you are using multiple aerosol cans to paint your cab.

[ChadTower]

We can spray paint STOP WASTING FUEL on the side of his private jet.

[Jdurg]

My weather is the same as yours.  You are not far from me.   

It certainly does suck, doesn't it?  The cold and the snow and the wetness has really prevented me from doing anything with my cab build.     I guess I could work on the artwork and figure that out during this downtime.

[ChadTower]

It doesn't bother me.  You just have to plan your project timelines so you're not painting or cutting this time of year.  This is the time of year I do electric/electronic work.

[Jdurg]

I just didn't have a choice.  I didn't get my place until September, and didn't have money to really start on the projec until December.  So I had to start out kind of slowly.  Ah well.

[Jdurg]

Well, I had a large post with a lot of details written, but when I tried to post it with the pictures I have it was apparently too big and the server deleted everything I had written.     (Saint, is there anyway to prevent it from deleting what your wrote when there's a file size problem?)

Anyway, I thought that even though it was really cold out, I could still test out on a small piece.  So I went and painted the test switch panel of my coin door with the metallic silver paint that I had.  I was happy that the paint came out as a brushed aluminum look similar to what you'd see on a stereo receiver.

The paint can said that the temperature should be above 50 Degrees Fahrenheit, but I think that meant the surface being painted.  I sprayed the panel and it looks great!  I only wish I tried this out earlier as there isn't enough sunlight left to paint the rest of the parts and the snow and rain will ruin the rest of the weekend.  Maybe next weekend.

Anyway, below, hopefully, are some photos of the coin door parts and the painted panel.  I just wish I took pictures BEFORE I started the restoration.

[Jdurg]

More Photos

[ChadTower]

You get around the pictures problem by attaching them in the "projects not a thread" thread and then using the img tags to put them inline in your post here.

[Jdurg]

Wow.  That hammered spray paint REALLY makes  mess when you use it.  Boy am I glad tha I decided to spray outside and not inside like  was thinking.  The sun came out a LOT earlier today than expected and the weather warmed up a bit, so I decided to finish my spraying.  The coin box was sprayed silver like the switch panel was, and it too looks brilliant.  The amazing thing is that when you first spray it, the metal bits tend to collect in one area and it looks really crappy.  As time goes by, it all smooths out and when finished it looks like a bright new metal surface.  God I hope this paint sticks around and doesn't fall off.  The only part I didn't paint was the inside of the box since that is where the coin holder is sitting and it really won't be even seen and it also will take a LOT of abuse and I figure the paint will never stick aroun.

The frame and doors painted quite nicely, and I'll give them a week or two to cure before I throw on either another coat of the hammered spray paint, or just a satin black top coat of a normal paint.  Something to take care of the tiny metal "pits" that form as the paint solidifies.  It still looks damned good and this door will look great on my cabinet whenever I finish it.   

Pictures to come once the paint is dry.