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.

 

[sixdogs]

Be careful with the hardener. I was under the impression the iso-cyanates in it can be deadly without an external supplied ait source. Is this correct or is this hardener different? Are guys using the hardener with or without external supplied air?

 

[robs660]

I have never used more the. A 3m filtered full face mask that I have. I'm still here and no twitch to speak of. ;-)

 

[Soundguy]

Be careful with the hardener. I was under the impression the iso-cyanates in it can be deadly without an external supplied ait source. Is this correct or is this hardener different? Are guys using the hardener with or without external supplied air?

the valspar hardner specifies a exposure / concentration level.

I use a good fitting paint mask with organic cartridges and chemical prefilter cartridges for vapor, and solvents. I also paint outside.. and preferably in a 1-4mph breeze.. no more than that as too much overspray

 

[rswyan]

Be careful with the hardener.

Yeah buddy :thumbsup:

I was under the impression the iso-cyanates in it can be deadly without an external supplied ait source.

Yup .... and any old compressor ain't gonna work as a fresh air source ....

Nasty stuff .... super-glue your lungs ....

Is this correct or is this hardener different?

Last I looked (year or so ago), it was ....

Are guys using the hardener with or without external supplied air?

Good question ....

 

[muddywater]

I use a supplied air respirator. Hardeners (isos) are bad for you. A good respirator that fits correctly supposedly works better than nothing, but I have a beard. There are some good supplied air respirators for about 400 dollars. The payback is not having to buy the expensive organic cartridges (also your lungs will pay you back). Great for sandblasting also. The nice supply of cool air is refreshing and easier to breath as you don't have to pull your air through the filter.

The brand I have is Hobbyair. It is identical to one that cost almost twice as much, but doesn't carry the NIOSH certification you would have to have if you worked in a "buisness".

Check out some of the industrial coatings from some of the major paint companies (ppg, dupont, etc.) They arent cheap but no where near the price of automotive paints. They can mix your colors, tough as nails, covers well, and takes the weather much better. You would need the paint, hardner, maybe an accelerator, and the correct thinner. Proabably $150 bucks for a gallon, but it would paint an entire tractor easily. As much work that goes into paint prep, it is not that much more for a job that will last.

 

[Soundguy]

i've heard plenty good things about hobby air.


I have a buddy that used an old milsurp gas mask.. the kind witht he snorkle nose that has a tube running down to a can on your hip. he routed that to a tube, and ran it to a canister vacume out the window of his shop... used the prefilter cartridge onthe canister vac intake, and put a slight restricotr in the hose and a vent in the rear of his tyvek hood.

works neat..

 

[ironwood]

I have an old wall mounted hand dryer from a public bathroom ("old school" porcelin coated) that I removed the heating element from and used an old funnel to "force" the air into a 1.5" sugical tube, then off to my reclaimed Scott mask from an old firefighting rig. Works awesome, and CHEAP. Bought hte FF mask at the flea market. In my new shop I put the hand blower in an adjacent room and plumbed it into the shop via PVC pipe. I used to sandblast redwood signs INSIDE my Mom's garage, INSIDE an old girlscout tent (she lived "in town"), this gave me lots of fresh cool air......

Just a thought, you should NEVER breathe air from a compressor (oil contaminated)

Ironwood

 

[muddstopper]

I like this product Stop Rust POR15 . It drys fast and you cant scratch it with sand paper. Metal must be clean and you cant spray it over old paint, but it will last forever.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I like this product Stop Rust POR15 . It drys fast and you cant scratch it with sand paper. Metal must be clean and you cant spray it over old paint, but it will last forever.

Does it work on Galvanized metal?

 

[Soundguy]

i'd etch it with phosphoric acid first..