Got My First Lathe... Logan 1875 - With Restoration.

[Mr Mike]

Again I Failed.. but there may be a silver lining..!

Ok so I got tired running around town looking for a pro spray gun, Well I run around town every day doing service work.. But I stopped at the 3 major paint shops this week. Not one caries Devilbiss or Binks spray guns.. so I went back to HF and after 2 more trips to HF was ready to prime, Trip 1. to get a conventional none HVLP pressure pot spray gun.... The pressure Pot, Fluid & Air lines and Regulator were all good... But lol the fluid needle in the gun was defective.. Trip 2. to get a replacement Fluid needle.

I hooked everything up to begin priming and tested a few spray spots on rocks - looked kinda ok..
Immediately when I started spraying the chip tray I could tell this was going to be a disaster.. But hey.. I can always sand and start over I'm thinking..! So now's as good a time as any to figure out the gun and make adjustments till I get the primer to spray right.

I fallowed the primer directions to a tee.. 9 to 19 psi on the Fluid, and 50 to 60 Psi on the Air - The directions did state that an Conventional Devilbiss JAG pressure pot gun with a 777 cap and E or F = 1.8mm 1.4mm Needle Or equivalent, The HF meets all the requirements. Well all but one...

The one thing I couldn't determine would be the Devilbiss 777 spray cap.. Which may be the difference in my ability to spray the darn stuff properly. It was breezy out but not windy, and cool around 60 Deg. So I should have at some point got a decent spray pattern even with a cheap HF setup that was working without Issue.. I could not get a decent atomization and I could not find any fault with the HF setup at all.

After failing miserably I cleaned the spray equipment up all nice and clean.. and put everything away but I didn't release pressure off the tank because tomorrow we are going to give it another go..

The Silver Lining..

This primer is frigin amazing. within 20 minutes it was dry to the touch.. And in about and hour I couldn't scratch it off with my finger nails... And when I went to used a Medium Scotch Bright pad to rub down the rough high spots.. It did nothing to the primer, the pad had no residue on it.. the primer was hard as a rock.

I'm going to do a little testing on the primer tomorrow, See what damages it. lol even when cleaning out the not yet dry spray equipment, I used paint thinner.. It had amost no effect. I had to use acetone to clean everything up. But paint thinner is what they told me to use to clean up with.. Hmm..

In either case I'm going to do my best to figure out how to spray this stuff... The other option was an Airless with a .13 to .19 tip. which I have but, what a clean up nightmare that will be.

No luck yet.. To be continued...



This is the best example of Orange Peel I've ever seen. Hides every imperfection.

 

[Mr Mike]

So the good news is I talked with the paint people today at PPG, and will be heading to the store tomorrow morning.. They have been super helpful from the start at the commercial store.. I told them what I have tried and done and my problem spraying it..

Matt the person thats been putting up with me from the start said he would be glad to help me solve the problems I'm having spraying this stuff.

I also did a little testing on the primer, Paint thinner doesn't attack it, Denatured Alcohol just cleans it, Acetone is its Nemesis and takes it off. I used a SS wire hand brush and the first seveal strokes did nothing at all and after I vigorously scrubbed one area, it seemed to make it just a little dirty. I got my palm sander with 80 grit paper and after about five minutes of sanding, the primer was starting to smooth out.. the sanding created a fine dust powder like flour almost.

After sanding with the palm sander I got the orbital sander out with 80 grit and started making a good dent in the primer, tons of powder coming off.. at this point in this 24" x 24" area I removed most of the orange peel leaving behind a smooth layer of primer. I changed to a 220 grit paper which was less like sanding and more like polishing it.

In the photo below acetone was used in the bare metal area. and further down Past that area I sanded with 80 and then 220 grit paper. The top was sanded with a palm sander with 80 grit paper, just a few passes, this just stated knocking down the orange peel.




The white primer covered the original gray paint with a single coat.
When I can finally spray this primer properly it will be an outstanding base coat. It builds quick and can be sanded smooth. You cant damage or scratch it off with your finger nail, Its designed to be corrosion resistant, Love how tough it is.

Excerpt from TDC:
--
PITTSBURGH Paints Alkyd Fast Dry 2.8 VOC Universal Primers are corrosion inhibitive primers formulated especially to coat interior or exterior metal surfaces to prepare for most topcoats. Uses include parts, machinery, and other fabricated metal surfaces. May be topcoated with a variety of finishes including epoxies, urethanes, acrylics and other alkyds. FOR METAL SUBSTRATES ONLY
--



In reading the TDS about the Primer, Xylene is what should be used for clean up - It actually states under - CLEANUP: 97-727 Paint Thinner <--- the 727 is their code for Xylene. Note: Xylene vapor is bad for your liver big time, DANGER - Xylene has a cumulative effect, so don't breath it or get it on you, kids.

Well thats all I got for today... till next time.

 

[Nogoingback]

Mr. Mike, you're doing a great job fixing up that lathe. Can't wait to see the finished
machine: it's going to look fabulous.

 

[Mr Mike]

Mr. Mike, you're doing a great job fixing up that lathe. Can't wait to see the finished
machine: it's going to look fabulous.

Hello Nogoingback, Thanks for the vote of confidence... I hope your right.

 

[RandyM]

Mr. Mike, you're doing a great job fixing up that lathe. Can't wait to see the finished
machine: it's going to look fabulous.

Yup, Nogoingback is 100% correct.

 

[hermetic]

Hi Mr Mike, good job! I think your paint is too thick for the temperature you are spraying in, the paint is not running together enough before it tacks off, so you get the orange peel finish. The pressure pot delivers a LOT of paint, and for normal work indoors in a heated spray shop, the primer is mixed with thinner to the consistency of creamy milk, try using more thinners and don't try to rub down too much,far better and easier to spray a thinner coat to bury the orange peel. just take the tops off the orange peel with 100 to 160 grit paper used wet, then dry off, tack rag and spray more primer, but thinner and see how it goes, Good Luck!,

 

[Mr Mike]

Hello Hermetic, I did pretty much just like you said, sanded down all the orange peel to a semi smooth surface, and re-primed the chip pan. I was going to use my airless to respray the primer I like but its not capable of spraying hot solvents. So in order to get this job rolling I changed from a solvent to a water based system using a fine finish tip in the airless. Its not going to be the new out of box finish I was shooting for, but still acceptable.

Tee Supports are on and Its ready for the Dark Grey topcoat.



I'm probably being over picky, while it looks pretty good their are imperfections scattered over the chip pan. I really should have built a tank and stripped it. I also tried to match the original color - I Eye-Balled a color chart to the cleanest area under the chip pan.. its kinda close to the original none faded color - the new paint is a couple shades off but close enough for a 39+ year old lathe.




The paint its self came out pretty decent, The paint is thick bodied and did a good job hiding small flaws, I'd give the overall finish of the chip pan a 70%. While the primer & paint did not lay out as flat and smooth as an automotive grade paint job, Its what you might see on some steel front doors.



I didn't even notice the dings near the bottom corner, other than that this side of the chip pan came out pretty darn good. Also you cant see it well in the photos but before I painted I rounded off the sharp edges of the lip so the paint would have something to hold on to. I let it bake in the sun all day then put it with all the other completed items to keep it safe.



The primer I used is Sherwin Williams Pro Industrial Pro-Cryl Universal Acrylic Primer, Its main application is corrosion resistance of Metals & Machinery, The paint I used is Sherwin Williams semi gloss Pro Industrial Water Based Alkyd Urethane, Its main application is heavy cleaning, handling & abrasion resistance.

The chip pan will be set aside for 14 days to fully cure and harden. I'm sure by then it will look much better since I wont be critiquing it as closely as you would just after painting. Also once the lathe bed and assembly is put back in place 50% of the imperfections will be hidden or disappear from view. I'll do a scratch and hardness test after its fully cured to see if its as tough as I was told it would be.

Over all I'm fine with the way the chip pan came out. Even if I would have stripped it clean, the best I could hope for painting with an airless would maybe be a 80% finish.

Next up will be the Small Pedestal or maybe both cabinets depending, I wont be able to spray the interior of the small pedestal with the airless due to space limitation with the none removable shelving... I'll get the color close with a rattle can thou.

 

[hermetic]

Well, that topcoat looks fine for a machine tool to me! Too much gloss and the marks show real easy!!, Keep up the good work!
Phil

 

[Mr Mike]

I'm hopping i'll have better luck painting the cabinets then I did with the chip pan.
I've stripped or sanded smooth to the touch all old paint from the exterior of the small pedestal.

I'm going to try and finish painting both cabinets this weekend.




I had to reposition the hoist to the top of the gantry to accommodate the additional height of the tee supports on the cabinets .
The cabinets would be impossible to move once painted without a way to lift and keep off the ground, while the paint dries.




I will remove the door from the larger cabinet also, then strip and prep for paint.





I have fingers crossed for beautiful weather this weekend ...

 

[HRgx]

What a superb job you are doing Mr Mike. It's going to turn out so nice that you may not want to use it...LOL