painting boxes

[Brian Marshall]

any good articles or sites about painting boxes?

I've only found a couple that were slightly helpful, but not very detailed.

[brett]

Don't forget that your local powdercoater might do your boxes with powder left over from major jobs for a very modest fee.

Otherwise, auto paints are good quality at a reasonable price.  Hammered metal finishes are good if you are less-than-expert (like me).

[idlefaction]

hrm.  :/

i sand my boxes with 600 grit sandpaper, then do a coat of fast drying aluminium primer spraypaint.  that stuff dries in about 20 minutes.  i always find though that in the 20 minutes it takes, miscellaneous crap has managed to stick in the paint (dust, bits of leaf, random floating crud) which is so annoying!!    it's good to preheat the oven while this is drying.

then i do a coat of normal enamel spraypaint and bake it in the oven at 90 degrees C for about an hour, then another coat and bake.  i don't wait for it to dry or anything, just spray and stick straight in the oven.  i did five coats once, but now i don't bother cos it still chips off the same    (i only do two coats cos the stuff i use looks better that way)

then i put on lettering and do a coat of clear plastic spray and bake that the same, 90 degrees C for an hour.

it looks really good, but takes so long, and still chips off easily    any advice appreciated...

[bwanasonic]

Steve's *Tweako* photo essay has a bit about finishing:

http://www.smallbearelec.com/Projects/TweakO/TweakO.htm

I've been meaning to try the epoxy clear coat he uses. If anyone has a brand name and source for this stuff...

Kerry M

[petemoore]

Sometimes these guys can be very friendly and helpful.
 See if you can have one call you when they're doing a [say blue metal flake] finish coat you might like on you box.  For cheep [I would offer 5-10 buxx] they can just turn around and spray you r little box in a minute, using the setup they have all ready for the car.
 I like the clear or glossy Nitrocellulose Laquer best for getting the final hard clear coat's' on there. I can get it to look like glass almost. The N.L. is easy to werk with [IMO] cause it goes easy and can be multicoated for a supeer thick, gleamy, hard coat.
 Powder coat is probably the hardest ....          ?