Would anyone think it was useful if I put together a tutorial about getting the best results with a rattle can? I'm in no way claiming to be an expert on the subject but I seem to have been able to get reasonable results.
Not yet but it's on my list of things to try. I'm beginning to think a non-motorised food/cake turntable might be better as I need to have control over rotating the object, usually founts or collars.
Sure its useful, Colin. I've had my fair share of bad paint jobs(self-inflicted) which had to be re-done.
@ColinG I would be interested to see your technique as the finish always looks spot on. Regards Jeremy
OK, I have a few old founts that are cracked that I can use. I'll start working on it... watch this space.
I still haven't managed to try the old record player technique. I advertised for one on the local Freegle website before the pandemic without success. There's no chance now of course. I do have an old one in the loft but it's a Pioneer PL12D - i.e. half decent - and I might prefer to use it one day playing my old vinyl rather than respraying a few old lamps. I'd have thought it would be better than a cake turntable (which I also considered at one point) i.e. not having to turn with one hand and spray with the other. As for control when using a record player, Colin, just stop spraying! Also, you could rotate the record deck by hand and I think with the extra weight and thus inertia, it would keep turning under it's own momentum for longer due to the better bearings. I imagine you'd have to disconnect the drive belt or whatever to get free rotation. Cake turntables have rudimentary i.e. basic/rubbish/no bearings...
Yes please @ColinG , I've one or two that could do with a respray and results haven't been that tidy yet!
What a top idea @ColinG I for one would be very appreciative and it would be very useful to most of us here. Cheers mate Pete
Record player?????????????? Try a handful of glass marbles and an old inverted dinner plate. @ColinG : Video tutorial, great idea!! Just as an FYI to anyone spraying: You will most likely always get orange peel (bumpy finish) with rattle cans, the secret is 1000 grad and higher as you go wet and dry with water, between coats and a couple of clear coats (kiss coat) to finish again with wet and dry between, finishing by polishing the hardened dry clearcoat (after about a week or so) with Tcut or similar and a buffing.
So, this is my method of using rattle cans for spraying lantern founts (and other bits) Preparation: Having stripped the remains of the original paint I use GSR to clean the surface and then key it in with fine wire wool. After this I wipe it down with acetone to remove any grease or fingerprints. I cover the holes with masking tape as I don't want paint inside the fount or get overspray in the threads. I use an old coffee tin to stand the fount on while I'm spraying as this helps in two ways: I can use it to turn the fount round, and secondly it keeps the fount off the work surface. *NOTE* I generally leave the base of the fount the original colour for future reference. I use the spraying technique I was taught at design college when I studied for my degree many many years ago! The old guy who taught us was extremely knowledgeable about a lot of stuff, like workshop safety, good practice and loads of other things. His main piece of advice was to use the can like a brush and only press the nozzle when you're over the work. I think of it like painting a door with a regular brush... imagine never taking the brush off the surface... you'd end up with a mess! The next two images show the surface before the paint has built up sufficiently and then afterwards. Often, the orange peel effect is simply lack of sufficient paint to form the liquid layer. Hopefully you can see the difference. The trick is so keep this smooth liquid pool building until it's covered the entire piece. When I was done it went into my oven for 20 mins at 90 deg. The masking tape doesn't burn in the oven. This is my oven but I was given it which is amazing as they cost a small fortune... and it's only a metal box with a heater in it! After a second coat following the same rules it ended up like this... Runs... If you do have a run and you see it happening act quickly and you may be able to save the paint job. If you can, swiftly upend the work so the run is pointing upwards and try to get it to go back the other way. If you're extremely lucky you may be able to rescue the situation. I managed to do it once and after two more coats the run had become invisible! Anyway, I hope this helps. The main points to remember are: 1. Always keep the spray can moving and only press the nozzle when you're over the work. 2. Look at the surface closely under a good light and watch the flow as you build up the pool of paint. 3. Keep this liquid surface 'skin' building as you work your way around the piece until the entire surface is the same and then STOP. An oven is useful but not essential. I dries the paint quicker and I think it cures or maybe cross-links the molecules better although I can't be sure. If you're spraying steel it might be a good plan to use a specialist undercoat, maybe even if you're spraying brass. I don't and I've had success so far but if you do, follow the same procedure when applying the paint and again, watch for the liquid, shiny skin and as soon as it's covered the piece, stop and allow it to dry. Hope this helps.
It was a miracle I was able to post anything as the Wi-Fi connection on my laptop stopped 3/4 of the way through and I lost a large section of the text plus the 2 videos and some photos and had to virtually start again! Oh well, these things happen I guess. I hope it still makes sense. I solved the connection issue - a tiny unremarkable, un-marked switch on the front that I'd accidentally knocked!
Thanks @ColinG , appreciated the time you have spent showing us this. Very good, will put it in to action shortly.
Many thanks for all your time and effort there, Colin... some really good tips ..I'll be watching and re-watching this for some time to come i think? The advice about the paint run sounds useful too! .. I need to look out for bargain paints to practice with... Your oven looks fab! A great piece of kit !
I'm glad you all found it useful. The oven was just one of those lucky things! I got it from the school I do a lot of Work for. I asked if they had an old metal cabinet they didn't want that I could put a heating element in as a make-do oven. They took me to their 'graveyard' of unwanted stuff and asked me if the Clarke oven would be useful!
The green paint I used was really cheap but it's actually a reasonable match for one of the Coleman greens.
Colin, thanks for donating your time to do the tutorial. The time doesn't cease when you put the spray can up. You still have to organise the video and get it uploaded etc. I have a suggestion that anyone that hasn't sprayed before or if they continually have problems such as orange peel or runs. Study the distance that Colin maintains from the nozzle to the surface of the fount. It is such a battle to stop oneself from spraying from too close to the surface, yet Colin manages that well.
