Try my hand at spraying some enamel for a drill press rebuild

wow great stuff everyone.

I'm in a heated garage, that I can keep anywhere up to about 75, and warmer if there is snow insulating the garage door. I was planning on doing a piece or 2 at a time, with an airbrush and a small paint hood/exhaust fan setup, blowing out under the door, as that's what I have available.

I've got a good paint respirator also.

We got what I thought was a really good color match with the dark machine grey on my little cratsman 6" lathe, after 5 attempts.

I'm going to paint a delta 15" benchtop drill press to match it. I was going to try the mineral spirits, with some Japan drier, and see how it goes.
 
I've de-rusted the drill press parts, rinsed in water to deactivate the evapo-rust, and then lightly oiled everything to keep rust off until I'm ready to prep, tape and pant.

What's the best way to clean the oil and such? Will mineral spirits do that as well?
 
ELHEAD said:
Thinner will not change color unless used to excess. Too much thinner and colorants will sometime float causing a mottled coloration. My preference is naphtha , no more than 25%. Warm temps , 70-80 F. Multiple thin coats, keeps down runs and sags. Allow to tack, then remove tape to keep from pealing new paint. Maintain temp till dry. DON'T RUSH IT.
Dave
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So if I am understanding correctly
1) every painting session, 1 or 2 thin coats
2) let paint set for perhaps 10 minutes
3) pull tape
4) wait 3 or 4 days (if at 70-75°, using enamel, thinned, w/ Japan drier)
5) repeat as necessary
 
Also, regarding the primer - does that get similarly treated with a thinning agent/Japan drier? Or brushed on? I assume temperatures would be similar, and drying times same maybe less?

There are some smooth spots that need to be scuffed, but for the most part the casting's are pretty rough. It seems to me sanding the rough areas would have the opposite of the desired effect.
 
I use a water soluble degreaser before painting, then rinse with water. Super Clean is one product I find good. Thinners tend to dilute the oil and leave a residue. For a simple test, after the surface is clean and dry put a small drop of water on it, if it beads, there is still oil there, if it spreads out and wets the surface you should be good to go.

Greg
 
P
makeparts said:
So if I am understanding correctly
1) every painting session, 1 or 2 thin coats
2) let paint set for perhaps 10 minutes
3) pull tape
4) wait 3 or 4 days (if at 70-75°, using enamel, thinned, w/ Japan drier)
5) repeat as necessary

That is the basic program, but I rarely use jap drier. At one time was not recommended for use with urethane enamels, which are the most common now.
Dave
Click to expand...
 
ELHEAD said:
P
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Sher.-Will. has a urethane oIL enamel,.but the one we went with is straight oil based. The mgr. said Japan drier would work if the ir enamel oil paint was thinned for spraying. But I don't know how much actual painting he's ever done. At this point I think I'll give it a go, see how a test piece turns out.
 
makeparts said:
I've de-rusted the drill press parts, rinsed in water to deactivate the evapo-rust, and then lightly oiled everything to keep rust off until I'm ready to prep, tape and pant.

What's the best way to clean the oil and such? Will mineral spirits do that as well?
Click to expand...

Personally I would have never oiled anything. Best bet is to just dry really well using an air line nozzle and maybe a heat gun. Cast irons and steel can absorb oils which just make things more difficult to prep and paint. If it's dry and located inside in a heated area with minimal humidity rust shouldn't be an issue unless it's long term. If it was me I'd clean it now with a good de-greaser like mentioned already and then dry well and wipe it down again with acetone just prior to painting.
 
coherent said:
Personally I would have never oiled anything. Best bet is to just dry really well using an air line nozzle and maybe a heat gun. Cast irons and steel can absorb oils which just make things more difficult to prep and paint. If it's dry and located inside in a heated area with minimal humidity rust shouldn't be an issue unless it's long term. If it was me I'd clean it now with a good de-greaser like mentioned already and then dry well and wipe it down again with acetone just prior to painting.
Click to expand...
yeah I didn't want to oil anything, but I was getting rust, albeit light surface rust, on machined surfaces. This was happening in a warm house...moving it out to the garage would I thought make it worse. it's almost as warm, but not airtight. I knew I was making more work for myself, but I didn't know how long it would be before I started painting.

I focused on making sure machined surfaces/threaded holes etc. were oiled. Im sure there was overflow onto painting surfaces. But it is what it is. I need a new cartridge set for my respirator, and that arrives on Monday, so I think I'll do some test parts Monday or Tuesday night. I'll have my airbrush compressor, and maybe a pancake compressor, along with a heat gun ready to help get parts dry to ready for painting.
 
thanks all for the replies - it's great to get the guidance, before jumpinging. I appreciate it.

Anybody feel like weighing in on my questions about the primer?

1) spraying vs. brushing?
2) if spraying, using thinner? thinner and japan drier?

I'll post some pics, and observations on the process, see how it compares with expected, after the test parts are painted and dry.
 
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