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Painting a South Bend Lathe

Bellaru433

Aluminum
Joined
Jun 8, 2017
I'm in the middle of restoring a South Bend 10 heavy and since I live in California I am on able to get oil based paint so I had a buddy of mine send me some from Sherwin Williams in Nevada,, it's a nice machinery grey oil based gloss.. my question is I've taken everything down to bare metal now do I need to put a primer underneath this type of paint ..?
Thank you..
 
I'm in the middle of restoring a South Bend 10 heavy and since I live in California I am on able to get oil based paint so I had a buddy of mine send me some from Sherwin Williams in Nevada,, it's a nice machinery grey oil based gloss.. my question is I've taken everything down to bare metal now do I need to put a primer underneath this type of paint ..?
Thank you..

You smuggle illegal paint into California and admit it online? Not too bright are you.... Sherwin Williams does have a website, you will likely get better information from them.
 
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Lowes should have oil based paint in the paint department...

Visit lowes or home depot and get some primer.

Look at what your paint requires for thinning as s [me use thinner and others use reducer or acetone.

Wash surface to be painted with same chemical used for thinning and just a simple wipe down with a clean rag wetted with the chemical as that will help insure nothing left on the surface that may mess up the paint.

Spray first coat on the thin side and after it cures a couple days check for issues then spray a second coat mixed thicker.

Then apply top coat and mix thick and spray many coats to build it up to cover and make smooth.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337Z using Tapatalk
 
I am in California too. I have learned that walmart camping fuel(white gas or Coleman fuel) is cheaper then paint thinner and it is basically naptha. I use it instead of paint thinner. only problem is it dries a little faster so on the hottest days the paint may not self level as well.
Bill D
Modesto, CA. USA
 
All this for a South Bend? A pine top and a bucket of shit would do:rolleyes5:


An honest question: What did making that remark do for you? You took the time to read the post, why not take the time to be civil? Do you find yourself so high and mighty that you cannot relate at all to someone in a different situation? If the latter is the case, can you not simply 'walk away'?
 
You smuggle illegal paint into California and admit it online? Not too bright are you.... Sherwin Williams does have a website, you will likely get better information from them.

Smuggling illegal paint across state lines to repaint a South Bend is a matter for the FBI. I should sell this story to the producers of the FBI Files. I wonder what they would consider a bigger crime, the act of repainting a S.B., the smuggling of the paint, or not paying the CA. sales tax. :D

Serious note:
If the metal is clean then a primer is not necessary. If there are castings that have a rough texture that you want to smooth out then a primer is cheaper to build up the surface. The VOC content is what each county looks at. I have heard about guys buying some paint in a neighboring county and bringing it back home.
 
Because no amount of paint will make it other than a South Bend, which was the harbor freight lathe of it's day. Because no amount of paint will make even an HLVH any better. Krylon or Rustoleum overhauls are a joke. Even if he were asking about scraping it to perfection it would still be a South Bend.
Sometimes the truth hurts.
 
Because no amount of paint will make it other than a South Bend[.]

-Sometimes the only machine a person can find locally is a South Bend.

Sometimes the only machine a person can afford is a South Bend.

Sometimes the person only has room for a machine the size of a South Bend.

Sometimes it's a choice between old American iron or new imported.

Sometimes a person will choose a machine with good parts availability, lots of documentation, and a thriving group of owners to help him with repairs and replacements.

Sometimes a man is long retired and just wants to tinker in his garage, and a South bend just happens to be one of the first ones he found.

There was a time I'd have helped hide a body for an SB- because sometimes any lathe is better than no lathe. The first lathe I owned was an import, because I couldn't even find a South Bend.

Yes, I'm aware this is Practical Machinist and not "Hobby" Machinist. But guess what, despite the efforts of people like you, there's still a lot of hobbyists in here.

And the question, regardless of the OP's machine, can apply to most other machines as well- and there's nearly always an active thread on here somewhere of somebody rebuilding a mill, lathe, die filer, planer, shaper or kumquat-squeezer.

Your reply was boorish at best, and uncalled for. I, for one, would appreciate it if you kept such thoughts to yourself in the future.

Doc.
 
Really? If they were so bad, how did so many survive? They survived because South Bend produced some of the best castings ever. Why would the military and schools buy from Harbor Freight when money was never an issue? Just because they were belt drive does not make them junk. In fact sometimes it is desirable.
Because no amount of paint will make it other than a South Bend, which was the harbor freight lathe of it's day. Because no amount of paint will make even an HLVH any better. Krylon or Rustoleum overhauls are a joke. Even if he were asking about scraping it to perfection it would still be a South Bend.
Sometimes the truth hurts.
 
Because no amount of paint will make it other than a South Bend, which was the harbor freight lathe of it's day. .

I'm gonna disagree TD, .to the point of - bollox was it! ......the SB was and, still is a good machine of it's type and in the right hands more than capable of producing first class work.

As to whether a guy wants to paint his SB or any other lathe, that is a matter of personal choice.
 
-Sometimes the only machine a person can find locally is a South Bend.

Sometimes the only machine a person can afford is a South Bend.

Sometimes the person only has room for a machine the size of a South Bend.

Sometimes it's a choice between old American iron or new imported.

Sometimes a person will choose a machine with good parts availability, lots of documentation, and a thriving group of owners to help him with repairs and replacements.

Sometimes a man is long retired and just wants to tinker in his garage, and a South bend just happens to be one of the first ones he found.

There was a time I'd have helped hide a body for an SB- because sometimes any lathe is better than no lathe. The first lathe I owned was an import, because I couldn't even find a South Bend.

Yes, I'm aware this is Practical Machinist and not "Hobby" Machinist. But guess what, despite the efforts of people like you, there's still a lot of hobbyists in here.

And the question, regardless of the OP's machine, can apply to most other machines as well- and there's nearly always an active thread on here somewhere of somebody rebuilding a mill, lathe, die filer, planer, shaper or kumquat-squeezer.

Your reply was boorish at best, and uncalled for. I, for one, would appreciate it if you kept such thoughts to yourself in the future.

Doc.

Amen Doc, ......and my 10" SB clone (Boxford) still puts food on the table and a fire in the grate every week.
 
There are no instructions on the can,, and after calling sherwin williams and 5 different answers i just thought i would ask here and see what others might have to offer.. Knowing youll always run into those who would rather provide some smart remark then seriously try to help.. Just like those who would rather call me stupid for "smuggling" oil based paint from my neighboring state.. What a joke.. And then theres the number 1 answer of them all who says to smear shit all over it because its just a south bend lathe..
Regarding the rest of you.. Thanks for your help..
 
I can't think anyone would seriously condemn you for wanting to spruce up your SB. My first lathe was an SB 9" that I bought over 40 years ago. I can tell you I made a lot of money with that lathe making custom medical devices. I still have it over in the corner and actually use it from time to time for second operations. I love it and would never get rid of it. Make it pretty and you will be more inclined to keep it clean if for no other reason.
 
I'm in the middle of restoring a South Bend 10 heavy and since I live in California I am on able to get oil based paint so I had a buddy of mine send me some from Sherwin Williams in Nevada,, it's a nice machinery grey oil based gloss.. my question is I've taken everything down to bare metal now do I need to put a primer underneath this type of paint ..?
Thank you..

If it's "true" oil paint, no. It'll act as it's own primer. But I'd bet it isn't and the oil might be some modern stuff like some sort of modified soy oil. Then a primer is needed. One quality of old oil paint was that it'd stick through some ( thin...) layer of machine oil - it's in it's nature. :). I'd wash the castings with thinners, then with acetone and then with ammonia. I'd spray/brush an etch primer followed by an undercoat and I'd tint the undercoat towards gray, a little darker than the top coat. Then, I'd brush a thin layer of top coat in one direction only, let it dry and brush /spray further coats.
Nowadays, one can get melamine primers. They'll stick to anything like crazy. They're water based albeit a bit thick but a life saver when adhesion is an issue.

Best wishes with your project - drop some pics !
 
Really? If they were so bad, how did so many survive? They survived because South Bend produced some of the best castings ever. Why would the military and schools buy from Harbor Freight when money was never an issue? Just because they were belt drive does not make them junk. In fact sometimes it is desirable.

Belt drive is bad? Then why does the Hardinge line of lathes (40-50 years of manual ones) have two belts?

Question: Is the Sherwin Williams a two-part paint? Why this brand? If price is no object then plenty of auto-body paint stores have better two-part paints.
 
Belt drive is bad? Then why does the Hardinge line of lathes (40-50 years of manual ones) have two belts?

Question: Is the Sherwin Williams a two-part paint? Why this brand? If price is no object then plenty of auto-body paint stores have better two-part paints.

The biggest reason I have heard for someone not liking a South Bend is because they are belt drive. I never said it was bad.
 








 
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