Recently I've been looking at my collection deciding which ones to fettle and nearly all of them need a respray. I was taught how to spray properly on my Design Degree course in London during the early 80s and although I remember the techniques I've never really used them until now. It's interesting how things stay with you, like information from maybe 35 years ago, but the human brain can be amazing sometimes. 1. The first thing I remember being told was to shake the can till your arm hurts! The reasoning behind this is because any pockets of unmixed paint solids will come out with a splat and ruin your paint job, plus it will always happen at the worst time, so having chosen the colour (an art in itself) shake the can like crazy... up and down, round and round, twisting motion... any way you canto make sure there are no lumps left. 2. Test the spray on a piece of something first to make sure it's what you want, both in terms of colour and also texture. I made this simple mistake a while ago and had to strip a fount because I mistook a hammered finish for a smooth finish. I won't do that again! It also helps to have a section of sprayed material in a number of ways, to test the colour and texture as I say, but also to test out whether an overspray (lacquer for instance) will 'take' properly and not go crackle finish on you! I've also had this happen recently when I used a primer which didn't agree with the top coat. Doubly annoying! You can also test the effects of polish on it and a bunch of other stuff. 3. Always 'paint' with the jet, by which I mean only press your finger on the nozzle when you're over the target and don't keep it depressed the whole time. This will build up even layers without too much build up at the ends of each pass. 4. Layers! Layers! Layers! Yes, there will always be people who say they can do a fantastic job in one go, but realistically, it's a lot easier to build up slowly and there are a number of advantages. It's easier to ensure you achieve an even coat all over. You can increase the thickness on one particular spot if that's required. You can add a number of layers faster if they are thin because they will dry faster. But most importantly, you can do all this without risking runs in the paint! There's not a lot you can do once you've got a run and often its easier to strip the whole lot and start again. Yes, you can selectively use wet and dry abrasive to remove the run but if it's happened it's most likely because your paint was too thick. Q. How thick is too thick? A. When it runs! 5. Top Coat Tips. The final coat or top coat is special. The layers underneath don't need to be shiny or have that sheen because you're basically just building volume, but the last coat needs to be shiny when it goes on, even if you're dealing with matt paint. Ideally, the top coat needs to go on in one go and it needs to be wet over the entire surface... all in one go! OK, all newly sprayed paint is wet, but what I'm talking about is a top surface that has a fluid miniscus over the whole area. This is the most tricky part as you need to practice getting the paint thick enough to form a continuous 'wet' surface layer but without allowing it to become so thick that it runs. The only tip I can give you is... lots practice and close observation. You need to be looking at the surface very closely to see how it's behaving and understand when it's time to stop! The other thing to remember is when you've already got 2 or 3 prep layers, the top coat becomes much easier and requires less thickness and hence is much less likely to run. *NOTES* You may have heard that temperature and humidity are critical... well, spraying in -40 is never going to go well and painting in the rain won't work either. However, I've just finished adding a top coat in 14 deg C (roughly 57 deg Fahrenheit) and it's quite damp here in that peculiarly Scottish way! The top coat looks pretty good as far as I can see but there are those who would tell you that this won't work. They're wrong (usually!). Try to make sure the area is as dust free as possible. In a dry dusty environment, spraying the air and ground with water half an hour before you're going to start will help knock any particles out of the air. Keep people away - by force if necessary! You'd be surprised how many people just have to do something really important in the exact same place where you're about to start spray painting. They won't have set foot anywhere near the area in ten years, but the moment you start spraying, they'll just have to find something urgently and it usually involves shaking dusty cloths, moving object around close to the thing your spraying, turning on fans and compressors, hoovering, sweeping the floor and just about anything else that will potentially ruin your carefully planned paint job! Final thoughts. I've tried baking on paint in the over and while I think it makes a difference it also stinks the kitchen out and makes food taste decidedly horrible. There used to be a 'Flatley Space Heater and Clothes Dryer' at my mums place that was awesome for baking on paint but I don't think you can get them any more. Essentially it was a large metal box with slats at the top to drape clothes over, but hanging painted objects from bits of wire strung over the wooden slats was a great way of fast drying paints! If I ever see one, I'm getting it for my garage/workshop! Anyway, I hope this helps.
This is a Flatley and very useful they are too! I saw one on eBay but it's 500 miles away and for collection only!
I've decided I now need to make my own drying cabinet so I'm looking for small metal cabinets that I can adapt. Probably haunt the dump for a while and see what turns up.
From the looks of this thread and previous paint aplication exercises, it seems like you'll be having a professional paint-spraying booth soon too, Colin... Its kinda engrossing. I was earlier into making paints adhere chemically and permanently onto difficult surfaces like polyethylene and polypropylene. That was tough.
What temperature would be good for baking the following: Spray can enamel? Spray can auto acrylic? Cheers Pete
I seem to remember that 90 - 100deg for an hour or so.... remember this is the UK so it's Celsius. I've done it in our kitchen oven but it stank the place out so I bought an old one for the garage/workshop. The next paint baking session will be something of a test - watch this space!
I've tried baking. Well it works but you've to ensure that the paint has completely dried before chucking the piece into an oven. Otherwise, blistering would ruin a beautifully painted part.
@AussiePete 1. If I use UHT-brand paint, I bake at the temperature recommended on the paint can. These days I don’t buy VHT paint that requires baking at 200C because most lamps and stoves have solder and its too high a temperature, so I buy the paint to bake an around 94C (200F). 2. If I use VHT paint that has no temperature requirement on the tank, I bake at 65C for at least 1 hour. 3. If I use automobile paint I bake at 65C for at least 1 hour. 4. If I use other paints out of a can or pot, and they require hardening, I bake at 65C. As a side note: I have not yet found a paintbthatvwithstands the heat of a Tilley lantern hood. Cheers Tony
No, I agree.... I know of no paint that can withstand the temperatures that pressure lantern hoods reach, that's why that guy who posted his idiotic how to restore a Tilley lamp video was so wrong!
I've not tried this(only comes in dark grey and aluminium) paint. This might just take the temperatures that lantern hoods operate.
I’ve used paint rated to 2000F on hoods (including “ceramic” paint) and none has survived a Tilley X246 hood. Cheers Tony
The Jotatemp 1000 Ceramic is one of Jotun's industrial paint. It says with authority and traceability on its official Technical Datasheet that its continuously rated to 1000deg Celsius. That's enough to melt any brass items. A lantern hood won't get anywhere near that point unless its bright orangy red hot.
It might be worth experimenting with a rough brass hood that isnt wanted and see how the paint holds up.
Hey Tony Thanks for the info. I’m gunna try baking, however I guess I better not use the home kitchen oven. I’ll look for a cheaper electric oven for my shed at garage sales and the like .....
Almost the entire lantern could be painted and baked at moderate temperatures. I would not attempt to coat the insides of a fount, pump tube or any parts of the generator or mixing chamber. The hood would be a challenge for any paint that one could readily obtain, including 'engine enamel'. There are a number of speciallized industrial coatings and some 100% inorganic paints that might work on hoods but with a very limited colour scheme. Not too sure about these though.
To be honest, if you're thinking of going to these lengths, it might be easier to find an enamelling specialist to do a or job!
Could be the case, but it depends... Sometimes you could well get these industrial paints from a local hardware store which happens to be a distributor or dealer of a specific brand. In my area, for example, you could get industrial Jotun products quite easily. The factory is just located on the outskirts of the town. Non-stock items could take a week or so to deliver. On the hand, a enamalling speciallist might not take small orders. But again that depends on where you live.
Right then, I was gifted an industrial style fan oven which I have installed in my garage/workshop. I used it over the weekend to 'bake' the paint on a newly sprayed lantern. I'm not sure what's going on but the paint has turned out too soft as a result and I'm not sure why. The paint was a Rustolium paint, in a deep cherry colour to match a Vapalux 300X with straight sides and a pressure 'tit'. First thing that happened was when I stripped the paint it was a real pain to get rid of and became a horrible gooey mess that neither petrol, paraffin or cellulose thinners would shift! I spent a few hours trying to get rid of the stickiness that was very stubborn! Once that was done I sprayed the tank and collar and left them to dry. Everything seemed OK at this point until i baked the paint. It was a satin finish which looked good and not too 'new' but when it came out of the oven it was gloss. That's the first odd effect. Then having left it 2 days I assembled the lantern and although it looked really nice it felt quite soft still. That's the second problem. So after lighting the lamp which went reasonably well, I noticed some marks between the pump and the filler cap. When I tried to gently rub these the marks got worse so out came the TCut but that left a tide mark around the area... very annoying! So what's up? Was it the Rustolium paint, the oven baking process or a residue left by the original paint that has caused the problem? Anyone got any ideas?
A photo of the can of Rustolium(Rustoleoum?) product being used would help. A brief search on its SDS or TDS would reveal the type of paint it is. i.e.:- Alkyd, Polyurethane, Epoxy, Acrylic, Nitrocellulose lacquer, etc... Some paint types are not suited for oven baking. Others might specifically require high temperature curing. There's quite some literature around on these. Example,: those automotive-oriented products from PPG Coatings. Did you use any self-etching primers for brass? Surface preparation is of utmost importance to any paint work. Sometimes its even of greater importance than the actual painting itself. Very crucial would be absolutely no traces of grease, oils(including those from your fingerprints),silicone lubes, etc on the piece prior to paint. Colin, you mentioned a tide mark on the painted piece after you gently rubbed it? And you said it still felt quite soft after the bake? Perhaps the paint was rather thick, formed a skin while air-drying but hasn't really thoroughly dried out inside before you put it in the oven? Other members might also have a similar experience on this.
That may be what happened, Myn. I might take it apart again and give it another top coat and let that dry for a few days.
We are 're finishing these lamps to a much higher standard than when originally manufactured, I have had several Bialaddins where the paint flaked off easily and had large patches missing with little evidence of much surface preparation or primer coat. I also suspect the lamps got only one coat in the factory, some of my lamps have only a light paint coating on the top of the tank where the cage fits. I give my lamps a good prep, remove all old paint paying attention to seams and raised edges, dry flat the whole area with 120 grade, mask threads, de grease, wipe with tack rag (very impotant and must be done between every coat) apply 1 or sometimes 2 coats of a good etch primer, allow to dry thoroughly, if needed wet flat/ de Bibb with 600 wet and dry, apply 2 coats of top coat and sometimes a final coat of fuel resistant lacker with a light wet flat with 600 grade if necessary between coats if needed. If it's cold and I wish to speed up the drying process or to prevent blooming I light a couple of lamps well away from the spraying area and hang the lamp in the warm area whilst the paint dries. The above process works for me and the finish should last well.
