Re Painting MY Lathe & Mill

[8ntsane]

Hey Guys

The warm weather has returned, and Ive been putting off the repainting of my lathe and mill. After looking at the jobs done by members here, I think this summer is as good of time as any. Really I do not enjoy that type of work, but the paint work is pretty old, and in need of fresh paint.

Now for the questions?
The Mill built in 1969 and in pretty good shape paint wise so Im not going to do any stripping. Ill just sand, fill in the really rough spots, and repaint.

The Lathe built in 1941, and this old boy has had more than a few paint jobs over its life time.

This leads me to ask, should the machine be stripped with chemical stripper? Or, would you just sand, putty in the rough stuff, and repaint?
I intend on brushing on the paint, as spraying wouldn't go well with the neighbours.

Other things that come to mind, what brand paint gets along with old paint jobs of the past? I would like the jobs to turn out well, and not have a lot of brush marks. What did you guys use,or do?

Really, I think I should just have the mill dropped off at Randys house, and the Lathe dropped of at Dywane,s house, and call me when there ready :roflmao: They both did amazing Jobs the their machines.
So, any input here would be helpful guys.

 

[GK1918]

After a good rub down with rag and gas, then a good rub down with tuff stuff, I had on the shelf
rustolem painters choice (water base) dark gray. I brushed it on, dryed in no time its semi luster
leaves no brush marks. The test of time oil gas chips no effect. Accidental scratch, just a touch up
blends right in. Seems to be the exact color of my mill and shaper so I touched them up alittle
and it blended perfectly.

 

[Tamper84]

Im going to be doing the same thing here shortly. Can I ask why the water base?

Thanks,
Chris

 

[stevecmo]

I used Citristrip on both my lathe and mill. I thought it did a great job. The original factory paint was pretty stubborn and took a couple of coats. No nasty fumes and safe to use.

I used Rustoleum primer and Rustoleum Professional Smoke Gray on both machines, brushed on. The paint takes awhile to dry hard, but when it does it's pretty tough.

Here's a pic of both to give you an idea.



Hope that helps.

Steve

 

[jgedde]

I'm picky about the finish, so I'm a big fan of a complete strip followed by metal prep/etch (The Home Depot stuff is as good as any), priming/filling, and finally painting. Obviously a two part urethane paint is best (stuff like Imron), but barring that, an modern Alkyd enamel with an isocyanate hardener is not bad. Alkyds I've used successfully are: Coronado RustScat, Coronado Corotile, Rustoleum Enamel, Sherwin Williams Metal/Wood enamel, Majic (from Tractor Supply).

The hardener doesn't make it dry faster, but does speed curing and dramatically improves chemical resistance. All of these work...

http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/majicreg;-catalyst-hardener-1-2-pint
http://www.toolking.com/valspar-18-4625-hp-8-oz-enamel-hardener/
http://www.5starxtreme.com/auto-bod...ctivators/5132-synthetic-enamel-hardener.aspx

There are also new waterbased acrylic enamels that do very well on machinery. Look for acrylic DTM paint.

Here's my Walker-Turner bandsaw done with Sherwin-Williams metal/wood alkyd enamel and 5-star hardener:


John

 

[8ntsane]

Thanks guys, good infro

I have been thinking about striping or not to strip. Makes me wonder what is the better way to get a real nice finish. I have seen many machines that really just appeared to have another coat of paint brushed over several years of bad paint jobs. That isn't the kind of job I want.

I was thinking of a good sanding to smooth out rough spots, then using a automotive spot putty with hardener to further smooth out the bigger imperfections. Then paint the machine.

It has me thinking? Am I going to waste a lot of time sanding and puttying the rough stuff, Or would I be way head using stripper to get rid of all the old paint? I would guess if I stripped with chemical stripper, then Im forced to remove all the fillers that the factory used originally? I would think if the stripper soaks into the original filler, then there is no turning back, and must be scaped right to the bare metal.

Another concern I have is I don't want to get involved with tearing the machine apart to do this job weather stripping, or not. I am willing to go the whole 9 yards on the prep before paint, I would like the job to turn out nice. Im sure back in 1941 they didn't spend to much effort on the cosmetic stuff, But, If Im doing this, I would like it better than the factory let it out the door.

Thoughts on stripping, or not?

 

[Old Iron]

I use a needle gun to strip the paint off mine, Then a wire brush and paint with Rustoleum oil base enamel bruched on.

Paul

 

[autonoz]

I used Aircraft stripper. I purchased it at Oreillys. Spray it on, let it sit for 5-10 minutes wash with water and use a brush for stubborn areas. It works better than any stripper I have ever used. Bio-degradable, no protection needed. I did use gloves to keep the paint off my hands.

 

[EdR]

I used Aircraft stripper. I purchased it at Oreillys. Spray it on, let it sit for 5-10 minutes wash with water and use a brush for stubborn areas. It works better than any stripper I have ever used. Bio-degradable, no protection needed. I did use gloves to keep the paint off my hands.

Hmm . . . I could be wrong, but I believe the Klean-Strip Aircraft Aerosol Paint Remover is primarily industry common methylene chloride, which is not significantly less hazardous than other common industrial strippers, not great for skin, eyes, lungs, etc. and - although it is advertised as solvent and water wash - I don't believe it is particularly biodegradable - I don't think Klean-Strip advertises it as biodegradable -- all of this not to say that it isn't a v. good stripper in a convenient form to use, just that you should exercise the usual caution with it, particularly in aerosol form, I would have thought.

Ed R.

 

[Coralhound]

I used Citristrip on both my lathe and mill. I thought it did a great job. The original factory paint was pretty stubborn and took a couple of coats. No nasty fumes and safe to use.

I used Rustoleum primer and Rustoleum Professional Smoke Gray on both machines, brushed on. The paint takes awhile to dry hard, but when it does it's pretty tough.

Here's a pic of both to give you an idea.

Hope that helps.

Steve

Nice work Steve, I like the buffing you did on the hand wheels, nice touch.

I have restored about 12 woodworking machines and have used rustoleum enamels, both spray and brush. I have done some small items for machining and it appears to hold up to oils well with casual home use. Luckily my mill and 2nd op lathe were nice enough original paint that I didn't need to restore them. I did have to do my HSL cabinet, used dark machinery grey (from HD) to get a closer match to the lathe original color. I had a local guy soda blast the cabinet to bare metal, prep work is 3/4 the process.