Thread: Painting machines

I find car bog works fine as a filler. I use the Wattyl Kilrust range of paints as they are good with oil etc. If you have spray facilities you can do any of their colours, but if you chose one that comes in a spray can, it is handy because you can use that for minor touch up.

Michael

Hi .RC,

Just like spraying a car..

Strip back to bare metal if you can, soak overnight in weak caustic solution and then high pressure washer does a fair enough job.. rinse thoroughly, dry carefully, compressed air works well, mask out anything you don't want painted. Fill casting defects with automotive body filler and sand smooth, then 3 or 4 coats of 3D primer and light sanding with 320 grit

When you are happy with the surface do several light coats of colour, I just spray automotive acrylic, don't spray too heavy or too light, watch for runs and drips. No clear top coat or cut and polish, but I guess you could if you **really** wanted to

I've used two pack acrylic as well in the past Salcomix - 729/732 TPC-ACR I remember the guy recommended just to spray it straight over bare metal...

Never used automotive enamel, but don't see why not.

Regards
Ray

Depending on the level of finish you want, car bog is good, and then some spray putty to get a real nice smooth finish. You don't need to spray it on just paint it on. DONT put it on over paint though, its ok over primer but it will just dissolve the paint.

Normally i bog, sand, prime which will help to show up what needs to be bogged (shadow coat its called), bog again, sand, prime and then spray putty. Another sand and then prime again, spot or blade putty to fix any little problems and then light sand and paint

If you don't have spraying gear then using something like the kilrust or rust guard is good. You can brush on a few decent coats, sand it back and spray the last one. That way you don't spent a fortune on spray cans.

Although 2 pack is good it takes a lot more work, has to be sprayed and is really hard to fix properly. As Michael said, its easy to touch up with an aerosol can if its single pack.

Cheers,
Ew

PS, i had a look at your thread on PM the other day, she is looking good!

Gee Richard, a bit of a "how long is a piece of string?" question. Plenty of good info out there so instead of repeating I'll just mention a couple of tips.

The more layers you put on the more the finish will be inclined to chip. Will less layers an impact will be supported by the base metal, more will flex and chip out (obviously this is at a very small scale).

Cast iron doesn't require a primer for bonding. If you want one to smooth out the finish that's another thing, but you won't need an etch primer as you would, say, steel. Just spray it straight on, the pores of the cast iron will provide a key for the paint.

If you do decide to fill things (and you'll probably need to) go with a lightweight "easy sand" polyester filler. The old school heavy weight ones are a PIA to sand, though generally cheaper

Don't go cheap on the paint. Next machine I do I'll track down some specialty industrial machine paints. If spraying 2K paints do some research on isocyanates before you even touch the can. Don't screw with isos, the affects often aren't immediately seen but will get you later.

Disassemble as much as you can and paint them separately. Prep prep prep. The spraying itself doesn't take long at all, but the difference between a good and lousy finish is often all in the prep. Cast iron absorbes oil, so make sure you use a wax and grease remover and don't get miserable with it. You can't spray over wax, grease, or oil.

Otherwise, "enjoy"

Pete

Hi Rc

paintings is 90% prep 10% painting do the prep right and the painting is easy and looks great but take short cuts and you will get a crap job
what sort of finish do yo want eg do you just want to make it look neat and easy to clean or do you want to do a machine of this caliber justice
2 pack will chip easier as it dries very hard but wears better
i do all my machines now with industrial enamel it seems to be a bit more forgiving to knocks but still wears well takes longer to dry though
2 pack will float all over the place so make sure you cover everything you dont want a fine mist of colour on. i still have stuff in the shed that has a yellow speckle on it from a cbr 900 road bike i painted 10 years ago mongrel stuff

you will have oil leak out of the cast for a while so it will take a few goes with the grease remover over several days to get rid of most of it. getting it warm helps get the oil out
start with the tail stock for practice and see how you go strip then fill the big stuff with bog its easier to sand and file when its still green if you wait a day it goes hard and its more work to sand then clean again then use a primmer filler spray putty this is pretty easy to sand. then prime and sand it to a nice smooth finish clean again try to avoid touching the cleaned surface with your fingers if you can see sanding marks easily now they will probably show up after the paint dries so get this bit right
if you use 2 pack or enamel. spray a light coat on and let it go tacky this gives the next coat something to hang on and you will get less chance of runs the wetter you can put it on the smoother the finish if you get it too dry it will look flat too wet and it will run if you stuff it up just sand it back and try again

once you have the tail stock done and your happy move on to the lathe use the back panels to get you eye in when doing the final paint and do the bits you see the most last
there are some good vids on you tube for all of the above

and if your not going to strip all of the old paint off you will need to test if the new paint is going to make the old stuff fry up so do a test on a small piece of painted area that has been sanded

good luck and please dont paint it the same colour as the tool and cutter grinder

cheers
Harty

Ive generally used industrial enamel or kill rust. Find it sticks over most things. Kill rust can give a great finish of the brush too. Only trick I find with enamel is only use it fresh, once a year or more old it seems to take too long to dry. I know there is acelerators just never used them, and belive thy can influence the colour (whites etc)

As Pete said be careful of 2 packs, I won't use them again without a suit or breathing gear. Had a friend use some mainly on suspension components over a few years, he know suffers from a terrible skin allergy at times !

Thanks everyone, not decided on a colour yet..... Choice between Hot Pink, Mauve or Blaze Orange is appealing...

But google images gives me a big choice of colours to choose from already painted 10EE's..

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=m...HI2ViAeW5YHoAw

Originally Posted by .RC.

Thanks everyone, not decided on a colour yet..... Choice between Hot Pink, Mauve or Blaze Orange is appealing...

I'd suggest baby-#### brown as it's a good match with oil stains....

Personally I degrease my machines, clean off the crud, make sure all the bits work as they should and then use them to cut metal. Spend heaps of time on the perfect paint job and watch what happens to it when you drop something....

PDW

Not a colour I would normally have thought of when it comes to painting a machine tool but I love that Hornsby red 10EE in RC's link

Originally Posted by PDW

Spend heaps of time on the perfect paint job and watch what happens to it when you drop something....

PDW

I know but the 10EE may end up in the lounge room on display

Actually though I think the round dial 10EE to be one of the most well designed machine tools from an artistic perspective....

Better then that Euro trash like Weiler or Deckel....

Originally Posted by .RC.

I know but the 10EE may end up in the lounge room on display

Actually though I think the round dial 10EE to be one of the most well designed machine tools from an artistic perspective....

Better then that Euro trash like Weiler or Deckel....

Yeah I agree. Whatever they did when designing that machine, they got right. I think they're lovely. Even I might try for an 'as new' paint job.

Had an opportunity recently to buy a Deckel type mill but couldn't really bring myself to do it. Fair amount of money, limited travels and when it came down to it, didn't do anything for me either aesthetically or functionally.

PDW

The important thing to remember with a paint job is if you seek perfection be prepared to settle with disappointment.

Industrial enamel is what I use for my machines though I add hardener, helps with durability and resistance to chemicals. I'd steer clear of Quick Drying Enamel, doesn't give enough time to level off before it dries.

The topcoat is only the protective layer it generally has very limited filling abilities, that is the job of the surfacer or filler. If the foundation for the original paint is sound I'd suggest sanding off the topcoat, filling any major chips then a spray of surfacer, a sanding of the surfacer then top coat. Paint stripping with chemicals will remove the filler as well as the paint.

Wax and grease remover is essential, change the rag frequently when wiping down, and when the rag comes off clean you can be sure the surface is right to go. Tack cloths are another necessity, use them before painting always.

If you're going to spray, play with the settings a bit so it's spraying right and practice handling the gun. Don't spray in direct sunlight if possible, makes it hard to see what you're doing and speeds drying.

Protec Paints are mostly what I use.

304 Industrial Enamel with UAE enamel hardener
404 Autoenamel Undercoat
426 Etchpro etch primer
Evercoat Fine Filler
3M blade putty

In your climate you could probably still use mineral turps to reduce the enamel, turps slows the drying more than enamer reducer so allowing the paint to level off better.

You'll need wet and dry paper, tack rags(ebay has them reasonably cheap).

There are some good resources online to show how to set up your gun and common problems that occur, I can scan a few pages out of some american traing books if need be. And, the good thing about painting is if you do make a mistake you can just sand it off again.

Garry

I'm both surprised and disappointed that Dave has not replied to this thread. Some of his paint jobs I have seen are pretty good!

The body filler under the table of his mill comes to mind.......

Simon

Originally Posted by Garry 3

Industrial enamel is what I use for my machines though I add hardener, helps with durability and resistance to chemicals. I'd steer clear of Quick Drying Enamel, doesn't give enough time to level off before it dries.

Garry

I use the same thing Garry, just a different brand, though I have also used that one too. You're probably aware, but just a heads up for others, the hardener is almost pure isocyanate, so if using it the same precautions as would apply to a 2K paint will apply.

Pete