Best all around shop paint?

[JoeLee]

Haze Grey and Under way.

Usually starts with a needle gun to remove the old then some nice Red lead primer. Then the grey coat Thats all I know. JR

Weher do you find "Red Lead" primer today ???

The last I remember it was phased out in the early 80's.

This was considered red lead primer here.............. DuPont 80's

This stuff was replaced with I believe 70's ?? Had a grey can. The stuff basically sucked compared to the red oxide. The lead free version didn't adhere as well to steel, didn't dry as fast and sanding was a PIA as it powered so finely that it would pack the sand paper. Neither would adhere well to galvanized or aluminum very well. The new epoxy primers are far superior.



JL...............

[JRouche]

Haze Grey and Under way.

Usually starts with a needle gun to remove the old then some nice Red lead primer. Then the grey coat Thats all I know. JR

[Mr Fixit]

OKay Being the SAFETY Nut here. I'll take all the flaming you want to toss at me, but someone needs to say something.. If you use any of the two part paints be sure to use breathing protection as many if not all of these have isocyanide products in them and this stuff is BAD S**T. I know of 2 pro painters that have died early in life 51yrs & 56yrs old from exposure of this and all the solvents over the years of doing professional painting. Don't be the tuff guy and wear a proper filter mask or breathing air supply system.

OKay I'm done.

TX
Mr fixit for the family
Chris

[JoeLee]

Your tool restorations certainly show it too, you do nice work.

Lots of good info in this thread, thank you everyone. I hope to up my painting/finishing game in the future. Too cold right now to paint anything, but I'll have a few projects to drag outside come spring time.

Thank you......... I do almost all of my painting out side but just have to wait for that perfect day which we don't have many of. Early spring before things start to pollinate is usually best, sometime even late fall. but this year was the worst. Too much rain and that brought on too many insects. So I had to use a friends shop for the big stuff this past fall.

JL...............

[Dan Dubeau]

My best recommendation would be epoxy primer and single stage acrylic or urethane enamel.
I use BASF Diamont EP569 primer and usually Limco Supreme Plus 2K. I've also used PPG Essential urethane which is a bit more pricey and there is an activator and hardener for it.

But I'm a body and fender guy and when I restore stuff I used good paint products.

JL...............

Your tool restorations certainly show it too, you do nice work.

Lots of good info in this thread, thank you everyone. I hope to up my painting/finishing game in the future. Too cold right now to paint anything, but I'll have a few projects to drag outside come spring time.

[JoeLee]

My best recommendation would be epoxy primer and single stage acrylic or urethane enamel.
I use BASF Diamont EP569 primer and usually Limco Supreme Plus 2K. I've also used PPG Essential urethane which is a bit more pricey and there is an activator and hardener for it.

But I'm a body and fender guy and when I restore stuff I used good paint products.

JL...............

[Ian B]

Dan,

If you already have some powdercoating facilities, that's more than most people have; you obviously care about the finish.

I've used a twin pack epoxy primer followed by a twin pack polyurethane for many years, always happy with the results. The primer is a sort of ghastly green colour. Topcoats are available in all RAL colours. I do notice that some colours (greys, greens, blues, black) cover much better than the yellows and oranges. For those colours, i use a white twin pack epoxy.

I normally roller the paint on, brushes for awkward corners. The finish is very durable.

Ian

[garyhlucas]

We used to paint machine frames with a white oul based enamel and it took days to get hard and then we had to do a lot of touch up because it chipped easily. I decided to try the 2 part Rustoleum epoxy. Sprayed it on with an HVLP spray gun and noticed I got some sags. When it cured all the sags were gone! Stuff was incredibly hard and chip resistant by the next day. We started using it on everything after that.

[Mike Burch]

Do you have a manufacturer/model number of this spray gun?

Oxford, forgive me—I have only just noticed that you asked me this.

The spray-gun is an Ozito model SGP-300. Ozito is the house brand of an Australasian retail chain called Bunnings, and I would be surprised if you will find that brand in the US. I can't imagine that there will not be an equivalent, though.

The built-in compressor/fan motor is rated at 400 watts, though what relationship that bears to reality is anyone's guess.



Good luck!
Mike.

[BCRider]

My favorite metal working paint for many years was slightly thinned Flecto brand enamels. After they had fully dried and done any final curing, if any, they were surprisingly tough and scuff resistant.

Have not been able to get that particular product for a bunch of years now though. I had to go with Tremclad or Rustoleum like everyone else. But those two paints don't smooth out as nicely and are quite soft and scuff prone compared to the old Flecto brand product.

One other option that is quite durable is engine block spray paint. A buddy used some of the silver for coating some motorcycle parts during a restoration and after "baking" it over night in a cardboard box with an old regular incandescent heater it proved to be VERY durable. I tried some other color some years later but without the "EZ Baking Oven" cardboard box and lamp and after about a week it was a durable as the old Flecto enamel. But not as glossy. The engine enamels also don't come in as many color options. But if you can get it in a color you want it's a good option to try.

[PStechPaul]

I found the old Walmart cheap spray cans (less than $1) were pretty good, especially for the amazing price, but they only came in basic colors and seem to be no longer available. I agree that Rustoleum is usually good, and Krylon is also OK. Most of my paint jobs are not very critical and usually just to make old rusty stuff usable after wire brushing the rust and remains of old paint. Flat gray primer on bare metal and rusty surfaces is my choice.

[wierdscience]

For me it's either the Rustoleum hammered finish, or the original Hammerite. Either one covers up a lot of sin, no need to get too fussy with rust pits or grinder swirls, they still leave a nice finish.

One thing I will say about the Hammerite, I have a drillpress I painted with the stuff maybe 20 years ago and till this day whatever coolant and gunk there is on that paint will wash off with some degreaser and look as good as the day I sprayed it.

[oxford]

And if you don't have a compressor you can get a spray gun with its own built-in fan to supply the air, for not a lot of cash. I have both, and the self-powered job is in some ways easier to use (and to clean!). I spray everything now, as the finish is always better than I get with a brush.

Do you have a manufacturer/model number of this spray gun?

[Tungsten dipper]

I have settled on the Rustoleum Pro stuff. Only because it's easily available, goes on ok, and I'm likely to use it.
It's not particularly durable, but it's also not hard to touch up. I am very sad that the 'stainless steel' color is NLA.

Hammerite was fun when I was young and enthusiastic enough to put 4 coats on over the course of 3-4 hours.

And yeah, painting cars for a few years cured me of the need to do much more than stop the rust on bare metal.

I work part time at an Ace Hardware/Lumber Yard, had many customers say good things about the "pro" Rustoleum, want to try it; only comes in basic colors. I have found with Rustoleum the longer you can let it cure the tougher it gets. I like Paul's idea about the cure lights.

[Paul Alciatore]

I have found that the biggest improvement in my "fast and easy" paint jobs for small parts that I make was the addition of two heat lamps to my spray paint area. Just standard heat lamps like you would use in a bathroom heating fixture and a couple of those inexpensive, clamp on work lights and a power strip for the luxury of a single switch.

They bake the paint on well and that has greatly improved my paint jobs.

I mostly use the Rustoleum products.

I plan to get a powder coat set-up one of these days. That will be my next improvement.