Painting with Hammerite smooth paint

For discussions about bikes and equipment.
Post Reply
V4281051
Posts: 158
Joined: 5 Jan 2007, 8:21pm

Painting with Hammerite smooth paint

Post by V4281051 »

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..
toontra
Posts: 1190
Joined: 21 Dec 2007, 11:01am
Location: London

Re: Painting with Hammerite smooth paint

Post by toontra »

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.
tatanab
Posts: 5033
Joined: 8 Feb 2007, 12:37pm

Re: Painting with Hammerite smooth paint

Post by tatanab »

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.
Pneumant
Posts: 278
Joined: 7 Oct 2010, 8:25pm

Re: Painting with Hammerite smooth paint

Post by Pneumant »

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.
fastpedaller
Posts: 3435
Joined: 10 Jul 2014, 1:12pm
Location: Norfolk

Re: Painting with Hammerite smooth paint

Post by fastpedaller »

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.
niggle
Posts: 3435
Joined: 11 Mar 2009, 10:29pm
Location: Cornwall, near England

Re: Painting with Hammerite smooth paint

Post by niggle »

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.
rjb
Posts: 7200
Joined: 11 Jan 2007, 10:25am
Location: Somerset (originally 60/70's Plymouth)

Re: Painting with Hammerite smooth paint

Post by rjb »

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. :wink:
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=99891&hilit=Hammerite
At the last count:- Peugeot 531 pro, Dawes Discovery Tandem, Dawes Kingpin X3, Raleigh 20 stowaway, 1965 Moulton deluxe, Falcon K2 MTB dropped bar tourer, Rudge Bi frame folder, Longstaff trike conversion on a Giant XTC 840 :D
thirdcrank
Posts: 36776
Joined: 9 Jan 2007, 2:44pm

Re: Painting with Hammerite smooth paint

Post by thirdcrank »

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.
Brucey
Posts: 44517
Joined: 4 Jan 2012, 6:25pm

Re: Painting with Hammerite smooth paint

Post by Brucey »

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
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
niggle
Posts: 3435
Joined: 11 Mar 2009, 10:29pm
Location: Cornwall, near England

Re: Painting with Hammerite smooth paint

Post by niggle »

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.
Brucey
Posts: 44517
Joined: 4 Jan 2012, 6:25pm

Re: Painting with Hammerite smooth paint

Post by Brucey »

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
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Post Reply