[AMRadio] Painting experts - Vintage gear

[W5AMI]

Robert,

Thanks so much for your ideas and suggestions.  Very good points, and I
might consult with you when I try the paint gun on these.  One problem I
have is the painting environment, outside, and on a ridge with a lot of
wind at times.  That in itself is no good for painting for obvious
reasons.  I am working a a paint booth to solve that issue.

Brian / w5ami



On Fri, May 24, 2013 at 10:30 PM, Robert Sauvan <rsauvan at beyondbb.com>wrote:

> On 5/24/2013 2:55 PM, W5AMI wrote:
>
> Brian,
> I am by no means an expert, but let me give you a few tips I have used
> over the many years of spraying. Just a bit of background first might help.
> I have been spraying finishes for nearly 45 yrs sorry to have to say. I
> have sprayed automotive finishes and cabinet/furniture finishes for many
> years. The choice of finish many years ago was lacquer. Lacquer is
> difficult to get now a days but still can be found at some auto finish
> suppliers. Lacquer is very forgiving. Easy to work with. If you get a run
> in the finish it can be sanded out in very short time and resprayed almost
> immediately. One draw back is that it can become brittle in time and will
> get cracking to appear over time also.
> Acrylic enamel is probably the best choice for a finish on radio cabinets
> because it is a bit more flexible and will not tend to get cracking as
> lacquer does. Your comment about the rattle cans is right on. Very
> difficult to get a uniform finish on large surfaces. The trick here is to
> put on numerous coats. Spray in one direction and then spray in the
> opposite direction meaning 90 degrees to the last coat. You must sand quite
> well between coats until you have sanded all of the orange peal on the
> surface and eventually you will have a very nice finish. Another trick is
> to get to your final coat and when you are happy with the uniform surface,
> sand again until all of the orange peal is gone and then buff the finish
> with a rubbing compound until you get the sheen you want. Then wax it with
> an automotive wax. Not sure if you want to take it this far. Depends on how
> particular you want to be I guess.
> Thinning is a necessary thing depending on the paint you are using. The
> paint can will usually have the ratio on the label needed  to aquire the
> correct mix depending on the product you are using. Particularly if you are
> spraying it through a gun. I would stay away from water based finishes.
> They are inferior to any other finish and it has not been perfected yet. It
> might be OK if you have no other choice but I would stay away from it since
> the enamels available yet today are much better and you wont gain anything
> at all by using water base finishes other than being environmentally
> friendly.
> I cant help you with the crackle finishes and I have never heard of adding
> Tung oil mixed with paints. I can relate to the difficulty of getting a
> wrinkle finish uniform with the spray can set up. I do believe though that
> there is a technique used where you spray a finish and then put it in an
> oven to get it to wrinkle. In the cabinet industry, which is the industry I
> am in, we use a special lacquer which we mix with the finish to achieve a
> wrinkle on cabinetry. I know wood lacquer is different than lacquer used on
> metal products but I would be bet there is a comparable formula for metal
> finishes.
> I cant stress enough the importance of sanding. Sanding is the key to an
> excellant finish. This is the one thing  almost anyone I have ever talked
> to or discussed why they have a failed paint job is because they havent
> spent enough time with the sanding process. It is the key to an great
> finish.
> I dont know if I have added more confusion to your question or helped you
> out. Hopefully I have helped you out. Let me know.
>
> Bob-W0YBS
>
>
>
>  I redo a lot of vintage rigs, and I always try to paint the cabinets if I
>> can.  I have just about given up on rattle can spray due to small fan size
>> and lack of nice uniformity on the larger cabinets.  I have a commercial
>> sprayer I want to try (except for setup and cleanup), and wonder if anyone
>> on the list can tell me what type (not brand) of paint I should use on
>> primered metal.  Must it be oil based, or with water based paint work
>> well?  I also wonder about the need of thinning.  My spray tip is .015.
>>
>> Also, has anyone had any luck using Tung oil mixed with liquid paints to
>> produce a good wrinkle finish?  If so, how much Tung oil should you start
>> with in the paint?
>>
>> I hate the rattle can wrinkle paints.  It's been about 50:50 on success,
>> unless it is small parts.  Large flat surfaces never give me a uniform
>> cover of wrinkle.
>>
>> Thanks
>> Brian / w5ami
>>
>>
>


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