Thread: Well, that went well, not!

Hi Stu,

This is a tricky one. Using your idea of using a piece of card with a window cut out of it, may now not work. I think your card idea will prevent the roller from getting in and reaching the tops of the lettering. I reckon I'll have to slap on a lot more masking tape.

I nicked a roll of 3M Micropore white medical tape from the hospital. It is supposed to be less sticky than normal masking tape. What worries me is that it is almost transparent, and I'm not sure if paint will blead through. I guess a trial run on a piece of metal will soon let me know.

Ken

Ken, looking at the latest photos, I would think that a rubber roller isn't going to work anyway. The cast surface of the letters just isn't flat enough. I suggest you get a very small brush and good lighting and a good support for the edge of you hand and pain the letter faces by hand. I'm sure you will get a much better edge definiition doing that than using a roller anyway. It's not like to have to do a hundred lathe beds - just 6 letters....

Hi Joe,

I reckon you are right. I'm now thinking that a rectangular piece of hard rubber, backed up with a piece of wood, coated with paint, might be the go.

I could go the brush method, but with my shaky hand, who knows what the result would be?

I would love to know how Hercus did it in the factory.

Ken

I bet they did it by hand with a reasonably large very short-haired brush - taking about 2 seconds per lathe.....

Originally Posted by neksmerj

I would love to know how Hercus did it in the factory.

Ken

KJ,

You could ring F W Hercus on 08 8346 5522 and ask Steve Durden. He's a helpful bloke.

I reckon a hard rubber roller might slip and slide over the letters. I also think there's a chance that the cast letters won't be a uniform height making the roller's task more difficult. How about a conventional architrave size enamel paint roller ?

BT

Originally Posted by neksmerj

Hi Joe,

I reckon you are right. I'm now thinking that a rectangular piece of hard rubber, backed up with a piece of wood, coated with paint, might be the go.

I could go the brush method, but with my shaky hand, who knows what the result would be?

I would love to know how Hercus did it in the factory.

Ken

You could always try a potato.

Dean

I am definitely not a spray painter's boot lace.

For starters I bought a box of disposable Ansell gloves, and according to the diagram on the box, they fit large hands.

Like hell they do, I even doubt that they would fit on my d*ck.

Second problem was getting the top coat gun to spray paint. All I could get out was a fine uneven mist, tried all the controls. Either the paint was too thick, or that's all I can expect from a $40 Chinese gun. What's a good HVLP gun to buy?

Suffice to say, I eventually got about a hundred layers of fine mist paint on, including insects that seem to love green paint.

My compressor was set at 90psi in the tank, then down to 50 psi for the gun.

Here are some more rough pics of the guard and feet.

PS, I'm still thinking of how to apply red paint to the Hercus lettering on the bed. My current thinking is a piece of rubber, say 25mm square, 5mm thick, glued onto a wooden block with handle, like a stamp. Spray some red paint onto a flat surface, and push the stamp into it, then onto the lettering. Where it misses, just apply a bit more pressure second time around.

Ken

It sounds like you need to thin the paint down, the cheap guns work fine.
As for painting inside the bed, it's either a lot of masking or painting with a brush.

Dave

Hi Ken,
The way i was taught to check paint for the correct viscosity was thus: Once mixed (we normally used poly or acid catylist) the stirring paddle was immersed in the paint and then withdrawn. You are looking for around 8 to 10 rapid drops coming off the paddle before they slow considerably. Not the easiest thing to describe but hopefully you get the gist.
Are you use a siphon or gravity fed gun? You can get away with thicker paint in a gravity gun.
As for guns i avoid the cheapies.....but when you used to spray furniture on a weekly basis the shortfalls of these cheap gun become clear. I have an Iwata W400 that use for pretty well everything, i love it.
As for cheaper guns, i recommend looking at the Star brand guns, they seem to be slightly better than the rest if the chinese ones.

Today I had a shot at painting the raised lettering on the lathe bed, and well and truly buggered it up.

I tried using a rubber block, 25mm x 15mm, the idea being spray some red paint onto a clean flat surface, dab the block into paint, then "stamp" each letter.

As you can see, the paint went everywhere. Even the cream infill looks crook. I'll clean it up, and try something else.

Maybe a very fine paint brush.........???

A case of champagne to anyone who has the ultimate method, just kiddin.

Merry Christmas

Ken

I would use a small brush on it.

Merry Christmas to you and your family.

Dave

Merry Xmas Dave. I actually did buy a very fine brush, but with my shaky hand, it will turn out like a dog's breakfast.

I did have another idea, press some playdough or putty into the recessed areas leaving the lettering prowd. I don't know if playdough goes hard, but it shouldn't be too hard to dig it out once the paint is dry.

And a Happy New Year to all my forum friends.

Ken

Thats sounds like a good idea, maybe even blue tack.

Dave

Originally Posted by neksmerj

A case of champagne to anyone who has the ultimate method.

Merry Christmas

Ken

Get some nail polish. Comes in every posible colour, is nice and thick and has its own brush. Have your daughter/grand daughter/neighbours girl to paint it for you if you don't have steady hands.

Pete