Painting what you built

[dirtrod]

I have been painting my tractor projects with oil base enamel for years and while very durable it takes forever to dry. I live in the Pacific North West and consecutive sunny drying days can be scarce.
Any recommendations on a durable and fast drying paint?

 

[Soundguy]

use a paint with a hardner. i use valspar paints with hardner from tractor supply and get 'touch safe' cures in under 2 hours, and dust and bug safe in under an hour.

i also recently tried some nason synthetic enamils.. a lil harder to work with than the basic old alkyd valspar.. however with their quick dry hardner.. i was getting bug/dust safe in 15 minutes and hand safe in 30m to 45m

soundguy

 

[Cat_Driver]

Here is some of the best paint on the planet.

Welcome to Ellis Paint on the world wide web

 

[Rustyiron]

10-4 on the hardener, if you look carefully (at TSC) they have it in little cans for their ag colored tractor paints. I'm not much of a painter but would imagine that any hardener for oil based paints would work.

 

[TraderMark]

+1 on the hardener.
I was in the same boat as you dirtrod, being in the south with the high heat and humidity was a real drag for painting until I started using the hardener and using an automotive reducer instead of mineral spirits or naptha.

 

[flusher]

Never use tractor enamel without hardener added in the correct proportions. You just waste your time spraying without the hardener.

 

[LD1]

Never use tractor enamel without hardener added in the correct proportions. You just waste your time spraying without the hardener.

Agreed. Use hardener. It is pricy but worth it. I have painted stuff without it and it seems the enamel paint that tsc sells NEVER gets hard. A month later you can scrape it off with a fingernail. Really soft. With hardner, in a couple of days...it is really hard. You cant scrape it off if you tried.

 

[Soundguy]

+1 on the hardener.
I was in the same boat as you dirtrod, being in the south with the high heat and humidity was a real drag for painting until I started using the hardener and using an automotive reducer instead of mineral spirits or naptha.

ditto that.. forgot to mention.

don't use mineral spirits on spray applications.

i use naptha on valspar paint with hardner and it is fine.

on the nason syn enamil, i use their medium reducer.. no naptha. and their quik dry hardner.. it literally is getting same in 15minutes... no joke.. follow the mix directions for catylist times.. et.c

 

[LD1]

I have had good luck with using acetone on the valspar TSC stuff with the hardener. Wether to not its right????? But it works for me and stuff that I have painted 4-5 years ago still look great.

I like the acetone because that is what I use to prep/wipe down the surface prior to painting. It seems to cut oily residue better than wiping down with napatha, and it flashes off quicker. And with flashing off quicker, the paint seems to dry enough to be handled sooner. But the end result of the job, I cant tell the difference between acetone and napatha. I like the acetone for the reasones I just mentioned.

 

[Soundguy]

just have to wath the acetone with the synthetic enamils and some acrylic modified enamils.