Painting a Craftsman/Atlas lathe

[pipehack]

In the VERY near future I'll be disassembling, clean and paint my 6" lathe. I'm leaning towards rustoleum machine gray. Have any of you guys painted them a different color? If so I'd like to see it. The Gray, to me just seems like it would be perfect for it though and I will probably just go that route. Kinda silly to even post this seeing my mind is more or less made up, I just would like to see what you guys think. I've checked the "show us your atlas lathe set up" thread.

 

[icore3user]

I just got through painting my 53 Delta Bandsaw the same color ( smoke grey ) and am still painting my 55 Index mill the same color. So why not an Atlas Lathe. Have Fun.

- al

 

[bl00]

I painted mine blue, but can't find a pic showing the whole thing. Here's a partial:

 

[Dranreb]

We get a lot of grey days here and on a grey day grey is so dismal, warships disappear in fog (lot of fog in my brain) restoring an old Atlas lathe is trendy and green, so I went with green....with a touch of red to wake me up!

 

[wa5cab]

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and mine is that I wouldn't paint any civilian machine tool any color except gray.

Robert D.

 

[GoMopar440]

In case you haven't bought the paint yet, you should let you know that Rustoleum Machine Grey comes out quite a few shades lighter than what you see on the can. The can pictures a medium grey that is almost a prefect match for the Atlas Grey that was on my 1940's TH54 lathe. Once I started painting with it it was VERY apparent that the color was closer to what I would call a light grey color. The color change is fine by me as I'm painting the entire lathe, so it will all match when it's finished. If you only plan to do some of the pieces you will have obviously mismatched colors. The only way around it I know of is to bring a clean sample piece of the lathe into a big paint shop and have them color match it and mix you up a batch of paint.

Here's the thread on my lathe restoration/rebuild that shows lots of pics of the old original Atlas paint as well as the new lighter Rustoleum Machine Grey. The thread hasn't been updated in a little while since I'm back in school (AAS in Drafting Technology) so the project is on hold until after the fall semester is over.
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/show...tlas-lathe-rebuild-refurb-project-(pic-heavy)

FWIW: The Rustoleum paint seems to be pretty good paint if you are ok with the lighter shade of Grey. I can't give any impressions of durability yet since the lathe isn't back up and running yet.

 

[Uncle Buck]

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and mine is that I wouldn't paint any civilian machine tool any color except gray.

Robert D.

What he said......................:+1:

 

[Tom Griffin]

Be sure to visit Tractor Supply and grab a can of their catalyst/hardener. It works with Rustoleum or their brand of enamel and makes it cure much faster and harder than air dried enamel.

Tom

 

[wa5cab]

How do you use the hardener? Spray it on after the final colour coat?

Robert D.

 

[papermaker]

The hardener is mixed in with the paint and thinner before it is sprayed. Don't forget the respirator when spraying paint especially if your using hardener. Nasty stuff to breath.