Painting an Aluminium Chassis

[Gold]

Like this one - the holes at the front lead into the gloves:

Yeah, but small and table top.

 

[k brown]

You need pretty good protective gear for using these - we used an industrial sandblaster where I used to work in the auto shop, there were special steel mesh gloves and these were mounted into the lock-down top visor hood of the machine. These things will take you down to the bone and the flying blast particles go everywhere including your eyes. They go through a ferocious amount of blast grit - our machine had a recovery hopper at the base which then fed the grit back into the system. Aluminium will disappear at an alarming rate.

Walnut shells for aluminum.

 

[RoadrunnerOZ]

I guess not. It just says metal. The etching primers they have say they are for aluminum. Not VOC though.

I've seen small table top sand blast cabinets. I figured I'd start with something like baking soda in a mostly sealed plastic bin.

The data sheets for any paint are the best guide. The VHT paints seem to be fairly good.
Bead blasting gives interesting results.
We used to get wheels blasted and then use a filling primer to level the surface - for what you want to do you need paints that won’t fill your blast texture.
For mixing console channel ID strips I have had the lettering engrave etched and paint filled - cheap as chips to get done - all I had to do was choose font, size and spacing and these guys supplied the cut to size metal, booth sprayed it and then etched and paint filled the lettering in any colour I wanted. This was all this company did so it was very cheap. They also did multi-layered laminex so for example black laminex with a white interior, when engraved gave white lettering on black - they had anodized and stainless finish laminex as well as matte, satin or textured.

 

[Gold]

Walnut shells for aluminum.

I thought it might look cool to ding it up kind of like hand hammered. Then clear coat it then mark it with a stencil (vinyl cutters are cheap and I don't need tiny fonts or closely packed lettering). Then clear coat the top. I was thinking it might look kind of 3D. Just thinking out loud.

 

[RoadrunnerOZ]

Walnut shells for aluminum.

You can buy grits for all sorts of applications. Back in the ‘90s I did part time work for a company salvaging tree trunks from swamps and rivers to make exotic furniture with natural timber edges and I used to sandblast the bark off the logs with a portable machine - I had to wear full protective suit and helmet - you could strip an entire tree trunk in less than 5min - this machine used silicon carbide grit that was a thick sharp ended flake. Nasty hot work out in 40degC summer days. There was a finishing grit that gave a nice smooth finish to the exposed timber and I’m pretty sure this was crushed walnut shell

 

[RoadrunnerOZ]

I thought it might look cool to ding it up kind of like hand hammered. Then clear coat it then mark it with a stencil (vinyl cutters are cheap and I don't need tiny fonts or closely packed lettering). Then clear coat the top. I was thinking it might look kind of 3D. Just thinking out loud.

Bead blasting gives that sort of finish

 

[RoadrunnerOZ]

Bead blasting gives that sort of finish

You can get bead blasting done with various grades/sizes of beads for specialty effects.

 

[MicMaven]

Like this one - the holes at the front lead into the gloves:

Um ... ahem ... that is a bit more involved than MY low cost cardboard box spray booth . . . / James



(PS - The car in the photos on the wall is my beloved BMW Z4 M roadster ... a man needs a hobby, ya know!)

 

[RoadrunnerOZ]

Um ... ahem ... that is a bit more involved than MY low cost cardboard box spray booth . . . / James

View attachment 116858

(PS - The car in the photos on the wall is my beloved BMW Z4 M roadster ... a man needs a hobby, ya know!)

Yeah I would have used cardboard for my spray box if I didn’t have a few 6 foot sheets of Corflute and rolls of duct tape lying around - I had to make it breakdownable (I know, it’s not a real word but I like it) as I don’t have anywhere to store it made up as mine is a bit larger than the hobby ones on eBay. It works really well as I used a high CFM fan to suck the air past the job and kill overspray, an air duct filter plate from the local hardware and a pile of Dacron in the fan box for additional filtering. For larger spray jobs I have used plastic dropsheets outdoors stretched between spike poles hammered into the ground - bit of gaffer and instant spray backdrop.
Love the car - I’ve had 3 x BMW 5 series but the price of gas these days shifted me to a smaller Audi - turbo 4 manual travelling toolbox

 

[scott2000]

Yeah, I remember wearing pretty much a space suit when we used to sandblast water towers with the black beauty getting ready for paint. It was actually a telecommunications company I worked with. They were hustlers. The cell antennas we put up went on some water towers so they finagled that contract with Sprint too..
We even did landscaping around the tower sites.... Hauling a trailer full of several hundred pound arborvitaes and a bobcat with a work van...lol not good...

 

[RoadrunnerOZ]

When I was working for the timber company between recording sessions we used to also go out and cut down Camphor Laurel trees for furniture and breadboards - Camphor is a pest tree here and the government gives you a tree seedling to replace the Camphor if you cut them down as a reward. The crew were a bunch of cowboys - the truck driver would arrive to the middle of some slopey field with a massive flatbed with a Palfinger hoist and pick up the logs we had cut and trimmed. He was usually still drunk from the night before - he’d knock off drinking at about 3am and be onsite at 7:30. We used a Toyota Landcruiser and a van to run tension ropes to the trees to guide their fall and frequently got bogged - good anchor that van.
We used to see the local Telecom crews out in the countryside and they were much the same - they managed to drop a wire carrier truck over the side of a cliff - there were a couple of cars down the same cliff as well - the road was a dirt road recently graded with loose fill on the outside of a bend - one of the cars down the cliff was mine - bye bye Mr newly fixed up ready for painting Ford.

 

[scott2000]

There are paints designed for use in harsh environments, specifically aimed at aluminium railings

Clean the cured primer surface before applying topcoats. Better still unbolt the railing and paint it out of the wind and salt.

Finally got a chance this weekend to look at those inserts.....there are 3or 4...
Sweet they can easily be removed.... Don't really want to strip every single inch...but maybe a soak in some citrus gel stripper in a tub?...... Can I just scrape, sand and wire wheel off as far as needed then prime? Same primer ok for coating that stays? I'm not looking for a nice finish so not going to obsess where feather may look bad.... but will still try my best...can't imagine the remaining good coat is worth leaving though....

Need to start stressing about color matching soon

 

[RoadrunnerOZ]

Finally got a chance this weekend to look at those inserts.....there are 3or 4...
Sweet they can easily be removed.... Don't really want to strip every single inch...but maybe a soak in some citrus gel stripper in a tub?...... Can I just scrape, sand and wire wheel off as far as needed then prime? Same primer ok for coating that stays? I'm not looking for a nice finish so not going to obsess where feather may look bad.... but will still try my best...can't imagine the remaining good coat is worth leaving though....

Need to start stressing about color matching soon

Look for stripping compound that is ok with aluminium. Best best is the brush on gel stripper - you leave it on until the paint bubbles away and then if the bond is loosened enough the paint will hose of - better if you have a pressure washer - you can use this (but ONLY after hosing off to neutralise the stripper or you’ll get caustic stuff flying everywhere - even the non caustic can’t be good for your eyes!). You need a good area to work with paint stripper removal to dispose of the stripped paint and excess stripper. You could try a heat gun and see if this will work before going down the stripping path.

You certainly couldn’t get more exposed to the sea air!
If you leave any old paint on it will suffer the same fate as what is happening now - there’s no gain only trouble in the future from priming over the top of a bad coat - you really need to totally strip and then rinse down or heat gun if it works.

 

[scott2000]

Thanks!
I'd really like it to last if possible....
will start looking at some paint products..
My luck it''l be a gray white or crazy bright white if I just jump in head first....
I can take a piece of the vinyl for a match since it's close enough or they wouldn't have used it....or ask the manufacturer for some direction on the color...
but I'm guessing there's a chance it may be limited by whatever product I end up with....

 

[RoadrunnerOZ]

You can get virtually any colour mixed for either brush or spray application. One of our suppliers of auto paint will make up the paint into spray cans as well as providing the liquid for booth spraying single pot acrylics. You need outdoor marine grade suitable paint though due to the salt air - you can always look at marine supply stores for advice on a source of paints and primers.

 

[Gold]

I ordered some etch primer, Dark Green enamel, clear coat and a rubberized car undercoating from Seymour paints. It was either pay for shipping or spend $5 more and get another rattle can. So I got the rubberized coating. I also ordered a respirator from the bay. About $25 as opposed to $100 from McMaster. I hope it works and I don't poison myself.

I'll spray the etch primer on a weekend evening when no one is here so I don't annoy the neighbors.

 

[RoadrunnerOZ]

Watch out for falling seagulls

 

[RoadrunnerOZ]

I also ordered a respirator from the bay. About $25 as opposed to $100 from McMaster. I hope it works and I don't poison myself.

Just make sure the respirator is not just particulate matter filtering - if it’s a proper spray mask all good.

 

[Gold]

Just make sure the respirator is not just particulate matter filtering - if it’s a proper spray mask all good.

The respirator is for both particulates and vapor. It uses 3M 6200 and 7502 filters. I also bought goggles that seal around the edges just in case the paint is an eye irritant.

 

[Gold]

Does anyone happen to know if there are DIN numbers for the finishes on Neumann equipment? Specifically on Neumann disc cutting equipment.

I’ve never liked painting. I avoid house painting like the plague. So why am I into painting these boxes?

I have a Neumann lathe that needs a paint job. I am loath to disassemble it and send it off to be done commercially. I am doubtful it will go back together as well. This has been the main sticking point preventing further work. It occurred to me last night that this might be the first step in figuring out how to paint it myself without total disassembly.