Painting with Hammerite smooth paint
Painting with Hammerite smooth paint
My folding bike has been much abused in its long life and is always getting scratched...Would it be okay to handpaint with a smooth black Hammerite paint..? Would it pose any problems in the future if I ever went for a resparay? I have sprayed with a gloss black before but it soon gets scratched again..
Re: Painting with Hammerite smooth paint
Hammerite smooth black is quite tricky to get - smooth! It surface dries very quickly (being cellulose based) so getting brush marks to blend in and disappear is difficult, especially at joins where you are meeting with previously painted areas (even if only done a few seconds earlier).
Thinning and spraying would be the way to go but that's an altogether different prospect.
Thinning and spraying would be the way to go but that's an altogether different prospect.
Re: Painting with Hammerite smooth paint
I have used SPRAY Hammerite smooth with some success. Lots of very light coats and time to dry. The frame has since been resprayed professionally with no comment or complaint from the sprayer.
Re: Painting with Hammerite smooth paint
I would not bother as Hammerite type paint is expensive and takes an absolute age to cure. It appears to be dry but remains very soft until cured. The results of this thick paint are hit and miss in my experience and you will be forever touching up as it likes to 'chip' when eventually cured!
A much better option is to have your frame powder-coated.
A much better option is to have your frame powder-coated.
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Re: Painting with Hammerite smooth paint
I wouldn't even paint a shelf in my garage with it - it's absolute rubbish! If you want a better finish either use humbrol paint applied with a brush or a can of aerosol paint from a car store. As someone else said a powder coat is durable.
Re: Painting with Hammerite smooth paint
I would avoid the usual acrylic car spray paint, not at all tough enough. Enamel paint as per the Humbrol suggestion will generally be a bit tougher, e.g. this brush on black enamel from Halfords: http://www.halfords.com/motoring/paints ... lack-250ml.
Re: Painting with Hammerite smooth paint
Today's hammerite is not the same as yesteryears before the EU requirements to control the voc's. This older thread from 2015 may help but try searching for a newer one.
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=99891&hilit=Hammerite
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=99891&hilit=Hammerite
At the last count:- Peugeot 531 pro, Dawes Discovery Tandem, Dawes Kingpin X3, Raleigh 20 stowaway X2, 1965 Moulton deluxe, Falcon K2 MTB dropped bar tourer, Rudge Bi frame folder, Longstaff trike conversion on a Giant XTC 840
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Re: Painting with Hammerite smooth paint
V4281051 wrote: ... Would it pose any problems in the future if I ever went for a resparay? ...
I've been a fan of Hammerite and Smoothrite (the original name of Hammerite Smooth.) Apart from anything else, if you are value the frame enough to be thinking of an eventual respray, then I'd say don't bother with Hammerite now. I don't think it would be hard to remove by the usual methods of blasting prior to respray, but you won't get satisfactory results with a brush now. Hammerite is great IMO for getting a thick protective coat over poor surfaces including a bit of rust, but it's not an appearance finish for something like a bike frame.
Re: Painting with Hammerite smooth paint
you can buy smoothrite in aerosols and (in the hands of an expert) you can get near-professional quality to the finish this way. But.... it ain't easy and the correct prep takes ages, plus the paint finish is disappointingly prone to chipping IME.
The idea that you can paint onto bare metal with minimal prep is OK for garden gates and drainpipes (sort of) but not for bicycles, IME.
If you want a really good DIY finish, I'd suggest careful prep, many coats of cellulose primer/undercoat, rubbed down very smooth between coats, and then a colour coat in two-pack paint. The real strength in such a paint job lies in the undercoat; the right paint will cure until it is almost as hard as iron.
You can buy aerosols of two-pack paint on e-bay for about £20 each. The parts are mixed in situ by punching in a tab in the bottom of the aerosol; once mixed, you should use all the paint within two weeks, else it will go off inside the can.
FWIW there is immense satisfaction in doing a nice paint job but it takes ages and the costs of materials (to do it well) are not insignificant.
cheers
The idea that you can paint onto bare metal with minimal prep is OK for garden gates and drainpipes (sort of) but not for bicycles, IME.
If you want a really good DIY finish, I'd suggest careful prep, many coats of cellulose primer/undercoat, rubbed down very smooth between coats, and then a colour coat in two-pack paint. The real strength in such a paint job lies in the undercoat; the right paint will cure until it is almost as hard as iron.
You can buy aerosols of two-pack paint on e-bay for about £20 each. The parts are mixed in situ by punching in a tab in the bottom of the aerosol; once mixed, you should use all the paint within two weeks, else it will go off inside the can.
FWIW there is immense satisfaction in doing a nice paint job but it takes ages and the costs of materials (to do it well) are not insignificant.
cheers
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Re: Painting with Hammerite smooth paint
Brucey wrote:you can buy smoothrite in aerosols and (in the hands of an expert) you can get near-professional quality to the finish this way. But.... it ain't easy and the correct prep takes ages, plus the paint finish is disappointingly prone to chipping IME.
The idea that you can paint onto bare metal with minimal prep is OK for garden gates and drainpipes (sort of) but not for bicycles, IME.
If you want a really good DIY finish, I'd suggest careful prep, many coats of cellulose primer/undercoat, rubbed down very smooth between coats, and then a colour coat in two-pack paint. The real strength in such a paint job lies in the undercoat; the right paint will cure until it is almost as hard as iron.
You can buy aerosols of two-pack paint on e-bay for about £20 each. The parts are mixed in situ by punching in a tab in the bottom of the aerosol; once mixed, you should use all the paint within two weeks, else it will go off inside the can.
FWIW there is immense satisfaction in doing a nice paint job but it takes ages and the costs of materials (to do it well) are not insignificant.
cheers
+1 re Smoothrite and chipping. You could also spray a base colour with ordinary acrylic rattle can spray, then finish with a coat of 2-pack clear coat.
If you take it back an aluminium frame to bare metal you need to use an etch primer first. For a steel frame use the usual rattle can primer, or you could try a zinc rich primer. Before that on steel frames use a wire brush on a drill to remove as much rust as humanly possible then treat any remaining, e.g. in pits, with a rust converter like Kurust.
Question: can carbon frames or forks be sprayed, e.g. with plastic primer and acrylic or 2 pack? If not what do the manufacturers use? I have some CF forks that have a few scratches in the paint, nothing deep and not from impacts.
Re: Painting with Hammerite smooth paint
re painting CF; ideally one would like to know what paints were used originally and what resins are used in the CF. Having said that the resin is usually comparable to an epoxy resin and the paint is usually comparable with a two-pack. This means that touching in scratches (with a cellulose or acrylic paint) is unlikely to cause problems. If necessary try in an inconspicuous area and see what happens.
cheers
cheers
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~