Rustoleum--In Praise of:

Smedley · Aug 19, 2007

Certainly skilled crafstmanship, air brushes and industrial paints are superb for South Bend lathe restoration. Yet--there is another way....

I'm restoring an old 9C. I took the entire machine apart. I cleaned each part with hot water, laundry soap,a tooth brush and soft bristle brass wire brush. I also used compressed air and pipe cleaners. I used an old thin knife and scribe as tools to clean the corners.

I took the bed to the car wash and used 4$ of quarters to clean every speck of grime and grease.

Then I used Rustoleum metal primer. I brushed the primer on each piece. I then finished with rustolem gray metal paint in gloss.

As I'm assembling, I've used 3 In 1 Oil, WD 40,m and Mobil One light weight engine oil. I was afraid that these oils would soften the paint. The paint has stood up without fail.

I used a fine Purdy sash brush and a 1/2 in wide China Brsitle professional grade artist brush to apply the paint. It took 3 coats to cover. I brushed each coat on in careful fashion, and paid careful attention to all edges.

I'll post some pics when assembled. Thanks for this positive forum, which gave me the idea and inspiration to take on this spare time project over the past 9 months...
Smedley

BobC · Aug 20, 2007

I look forward to your pictures. I have a Heavy-10 that needs to be cleaned/re-painted.

Bob

james robert · Aug 20, 2007

Hi Smedley, Ive always liked the gloss black epoxy Rustoleum in the spray bomb it works well on motorcycle parts.

After about three coats you have a professional looking finish and durable.

Welcome to the forum.

James

J-Head · Aug 20, 2007

I used Rustoleum enamel on my Kearney & Trecker 2H restoration and I was surprised how much better it holds up than the original paint which probably contained lead. When I cleaned the machine with gasoline and brake cleaner (proper ventillation) the old paint wiped right off with the grease and everything else. The new paint seems to be uneffected by either solvents.

matt_isserstedt · Aug 20, 2007

I've also had pretty good luck with Rustoleum sprays. They seem to dry incredibly slow so when I worked 2nd shift, I painted early in the AM and left the part(s) on the driveway (in July and August out in the sun). The parts dried hard and I put them back inside when I came home at midnight. Been suitably impressed by the durability of the paint, but never experimented to find out whether the "sun dried" part had anything to do with it other than merely speeding the process up.

Davis In SC · Aug 20, 2007

Sounds like you found the secret to painting... Surface Prep.. IMHO, Surface Prep is 90% of painting.. Even the most expensive paint is garbage if applied to a greasy surface...

Matt, the "Sun-Bake" does work well... "Oven-Bake" works well in the winter months, too..

I have a Grob Saw, and a Sigourney drill press that I did the Rustoleum trick on 15 years ago, both still look great. Ain't nothing wrong with Rustoleum, as long as the surface prep is good..

bronto48 · Aug 20, 2007

Davis certainly has it right about surface preparation being 90 percent of the importance of any painting job. The coatings (paint) industry says the exact same thing in their training literature. With a proper surface preparation, even a cheap paint can do a better job. As you move to the more expensive, high performance coatings, surface preparation becomes critical. Urethanes and epoxies are two examples. They work great, but demand very careful surface preparation.

wulf11acr · Aug 20, 2007

I agree Rustoleum works and dries much better than Krylon or ace Products in an oilly enviroment, and is easier to match up when touchup. Surface prep is what makes the paint job along with care to the tool.
William

John E · Aug 20, 2007

I've been using Rustoleum paint in brush and spray forms for as long as I can remember. My Father was using them before that. The oldest parts still holding the finish are a pair of 1947 Chrysler Straight 8s in a classic wooden boat. While it's been out of service for a number of years, the paint has held up very well after nearly 40 years. A good clean engine room I'm sure has helped...
I'm currently using the 'Machine Grey' on my SB9 restoration. My prep work was quite different though - parts washer to degrease, commercial paint remover, followed by a rinse with alcohol (aka stripper wash), and then a final scrub with lacquer thinner just prior to spray time. Priming with the grey metal primer followed by 2 coats of finish grey. Still have the second coat to go.
I've also used a degrease/sandblast/rinse process on my own boat parts - tanks, linkage, other mechanicals. The engines got the same attention (minus the sand on some parts...) using Rustoleum red primer, and Tempco (??) Chris Craft Engine Blue finish. All painted before assembly, then a finish coat after assembly. Still looking great 3 years later. All done in a homemade spray booth (6 ft square, 10 feet tall) with ventilation. Probably used 30+ cans of various types and colors, about half Rustoleum for that project.
I've not done any machines with Rustoleum before so I don't have firsthand knowledge on how it will hold up in that application, I've been very pleased with every other use. I guess I'll see once I get the SB9 finished. The BP Mill comes next. John

spope14 · Aug 20, 2007

Spray bombs will work well with proper prep and use. Good things all said and done. I tend to think of them in the same way I would think of my old Devibilis (sp) spray rig (did not bring it with me when I moved).

Prep, use of the can, proper masking and prep between coats and after coats, there really is little difference but for some of the actual paint qualities.

Did the running boards of a car with apray bombs, prepped it like i would a full blown paint job with a spray gun. Bondo, primer - right color, had a spray bomb matched to the paint color. I was asked several times who did the "body work" and paint job.

Did an Eagle CNC Mill as well. Proper prep and all. People ask how we have kept the original paint so long, I just tell them "proper cleaning".

Milacron · Aug 20, 2007

I don't know this to be true for sure, but I have the impression that standard issue enamel paints will actually last longer on a machine tool than the harder 2 part higher performance paints. Standard enamel seems to be less prone to flaking and the worst offence of all..."cancer" situations where a small hole in the paint is actually hiding a much larger rusty area under the paint surrounding that hole....gawd...I hate it when that happens !

Having said that, when I see that that situation, I have no way to know for sure the paint isn't standard enamel, but I seriously doubt it is due to drying times if nothing else. Machine tool manufacturers are highly unlikely to be using standard enamels on anything due to the long dry times.

Anyhoo, bottom line is that the two part paints will stand up to abrasion and scratches better, standard enamel certainly is softer, esp at first...but standard enamel seems to last longer on sheet metal areas especially due to resisting flaking and paint cancer.

WizardOfBoz · Aug 20, 2007

When I cleaned the machine with gasoline and brake cleaner (proper ventillation) the old paint wiped right off with the grease and everything else

Boy, I think the only thing that Atlas did better than some of the higher-end mfrs like Kearney and Trecker and South Bend was paint. J-Head's story, along with the story of someone else's story on the web about removing and SB Heavy 10's paint with nothing but TSP, has me jealous.

I am using some pretty serious paint removers on an Atlas 10, and the stuff is still hell to get off. Sheesh.

I may try Rustoleum - Polane for this machine is probably overkill, and Forest reminds us that a show-room clean machine is probably not a machine that gets used a lot.

By the way, can I remove old grease on Zamak parts (mostly change gears) with TSP, or will this affect the material's strength?

Thanks,

Jim

George Liquor · Jun 24, 2019

I have a Smart and Brown VSL which i am in the process of prepping for paint, i might try the needle gun approach sounds effective. I have been looking at Paragon Paints, they have the original color Smart and Brown green, has any one tried their products. I too have had good results from Rustolium, i used it on the Biro butchers bandsaw i restored and converted to shop use, i just like the idea of the original color it looks good In pictures i have seen.
George.

mjk · Jun 24, 2019

I switched to the 2X Rustoleum version about 15 years ago for a product that after fabrication and assembly needed to be "One color when the customer receives it until the morons tore it up"
It sprays nice and fairly durable. Dry time is quick and covers better than Krylon.

The Rustoleum industrial and the good old oil base brush on have really good specs for durability.

Rustoleums tech support is very good and they can shed some light on dry time and "bake" time and its effect on performance.

thermite · Jun 24, 2019

George Liquor said:
I have a Smart and Brown VSL which i am in the process of prepping for paint, i might try the needle gun approach sounds effective. I have been looking at Paragon Paints, they have the original color Smart and Brown green, has any one tried their products. I too have had good results from Rustolium, i used it on the Biro butchers bandsaw i restored and converted to shop use, i just like the idea of the original color it looks good In pictures i have seen.
George.

Benjamin-Moore's tough and easy to use "Super Spec" industrial alkyd is represented in the UK.

Tintable. Practically any colour you have a sample of or a code for.

They wont be alone in that capability.

Britain's own ICL was one of the early pioneers of uber-accurate colour measuring.

ripperj · Jun 24, 2019

I painted a Rockwell mill( the one I sold here 1.5 yrs ago) with Rustoleum over 20 years ago. It was (edit)brushed, not rushed on, three coats I believe . The paint held up amazingly well. The only thing that screwed it up was I did not do a good enough job getting the blue off the ways that were all scraped. And the blue/way oil mix stained the white base where it ran down the column

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jim rozen · Jun 24, 2019

Another rustoleum convert here.

1) never found primer to be needed. All coats are color.

2) my go-to is the cheap disposable foam brush.

3) paint like this seems to take a *long* time to harden up. Don't rush it.

thermite · Jun 24, 2019

jim rozen said:
Another rustoleum convert here.

1) never found primer to be needed. All coats are color.

2) my go-to is the cheap disposable foam brush.

3) paint like this seems to take a *long* time to harden up. Don't rush it.

It is FAR faster to "cross-link" than B-M Super-Spec.

Both show a lot of differecne between winter(ish) and summertime application. Not extreme. Just the diff between say a 60-65 F shop and an 80-85 F shop.

ISTR B-M publish the thermal info for their Super-Spec. One could (has done..) "tent" the machine, add a modest heat-source, gain about a week vs ambient temp.

- I prefer GOOD bristle brushes for complex locations, disposable mini ROLLERS for large flat surfaces.

Both paints can be sprayed, but I prefer my orange peel in a classical English marmelade, the runs, not at all, and can do without the solvent stink and such, so cannot be bothered.

Doozer · Jun 25, 2019

I also have had great results applying Rustoliem
with no primer. I believe many times primer is sold as a gimmick
to sell another product to the customer.

-Doozer

richard newman · Jun 25, 2019

I used to like the Rustoleum rattle cans, but I hate the new cans that will spray upside down. There's no way to clear out the nozzle and feed tube to avoid clogging.. I can remove the nozzle and clean it, but not the feed tube.

Hate to have to throw away hardly used cans! Any suggestions?

Rustoleum--In Praise of:

Plastic

Aluminum

Stainless

Hot Rolled

Diamond

Diamond

Hot Rolled

Aluminum

Cast Iron

Stainless

Administrator

Diamond

Plastic

Titanium

Diamond

Stainless

Diamond

Diamond

Titanium

Titanium

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