Painting Enclosure Question (This ones different)

[BAM]

Could i paint my enclosure without baking it? like say, could i just go the the hardware store, buy a can a spray paint, slap on a few coates, then put clear coat on? i mean, id probably get something a little higher quality than regular spray paint, but then again, maybe not. any thoughts?

[no one ever]

i got a set of "professional grade" spray paint: primer and red... no baking. i painted my wah with these (trying to emulate an RMC). it never really hardened, and the red easily flakes off to reveal gray primer. you could do it, but you wouldn't be satisfied with the results.

[tatems]

Well if you can't afford a small oven like me, you could make a Solar Oven. Just get a cardboard box, line it with foil and off you go. All you would have to do is spray on the colour you want and chuck it in the solar oven while its drying. I've never tried this so don't take my word for it, but if it works it might be an easy solution.

Heres a picture of a solar oven
http://www.josephprep.com/Provisions/SunOven/Images/sun_oven_large.jpg

Cheers,
Tatems
   

[Dave_B]

Don't forget to check the thrift stores in your area.  They often have toaster ovens for less than $10-15.

[Steben]

It all depends on how high you set your goals.
I have up til now never baked a pedal. My experience: for home practice its not really needed, it wouldn't take as long to dry you paint job, that's all.
For on stage: haven't heard complaints.

I even used Tamiya colour cans. It gives nice flat dull colours. I really like dark yellow (with blue LED), like the WOII germans used on their tanks.

[R.G.]

You don't have to bake paints. I originated the toaster oven baking process back in the '90s in the Guitar Effects FAQ because I was looking for a way to make spray-can paint more durable.

I had trouble with paint scraping off easily, and common spray paints not curing very hard. One day I found a used toaster oven in a Goodwill store for $7 as I remember and a light bulb went off in my head. It was low temperature heat, and my spouse would not chew upon me for stinking up the kitchen.

Baking spray paints just gets the solvents baked out of them faster and more completely than air drying does. The outer surface of paint is the only place where solvents can come out. In air drying, the outer surface dries first, inhibiting how fast the solvents can come out of the more-inner paint. Thin coats can dry more completely, which is one reason they tell you to put on several thin coats rather than one thick one. Baking raises the vapor pressure of the solvents inside the paint layer as well as increasing vapor mobility and forces the solvent out of the paint layer faster and more thoroughly. But you can get the same result by just air drying for a long time.

If you bake at too high a temperature, you can chemically damage the paint. I always use 170F to 200F.

[nelson]

I never bake my pedals, they havent got a chip on them (yet). I use lots of thin coats.

[Steben]

I never bake my pedals, they havent got a chip on them (yet). I use lots of thin coats.

VOI-LA!

[Melanhead]

I never bake my pedals, they havent got a chip on them (yet). I use lots of thin coats.

Same here ... lots of thin coats! ....

[Mojah63]

    I use the toaster oven deal to speed up the painting process. It still takes like takes 2 days even when baking to put enough coats of paint  to make it look good. I'm personally giving up and buying prepainted boxes from pedalprtsplus.com. At first I didn't want to pay the 4 buck or so extra BUT I end up spending way too much time sanding, cleaning, priming, wet sanding,priming then 4 coats of color wet sanding in between....  Baking blah blah blah...

If you aren't in a hurry I don't see why you have to bake them BUT to get a real deep finnish it will take some time and a few coats of paint. Clean the boxes really well  and if they are aluminum clean them really really well and use an etching primer...

If I wasn't such a pick nit I wouldn't even bother...

[Burstbucker]

I picked up a used toaster oven at the local Salvation Army Thrift Store for $5.00 and have used that to bake several of my DIY pedals.

I find that the baking process gives the paint a nice smooth/glossy look but I don't think that it helps in making the paint any more resilient to chipping and may actually make it worse.   

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

Tehre are almost as many "how to paint boxes" threads as "how to use P*P" threads. And for the same reason..... everyone is using different paints on different surfaces in the firsst case, and different printers, papers, and irons in the second.

[R.G.]

...gosh, you mean the details make a difference??? 

[trumpus]

I just finished my first project, a TB loop box (http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?s=&threadid=108233&perpage=15&pagenumber=3).  I used all the right primer and paints and followed the recommendations pretty carefully, but ended up having some issues with my finish (it crackled when i applied the clearcoat, despite over a week of drying time and the label bubbled a bit).  Now, i did not bake the box (because i didn't have a spare toaster oven) and the paint cooled in my garge, which was admittedly too cold.  I figured this out and started drying it in the house under a heat light, and things went much smoother.

I supect some of my label bubbling had to do with the fact that after clearcoating over the label, i let the box airdry and then put it ~6" away from a 75W light bulb/heat lamp.  Any thoughts on this?

For my next project, though I would like to bake the box, but had some questions....

1.  Do you need to/can you bake a Hammerite finish?
2.  Do you put the box in the toaster to bake right after applying the finish, or do you let it air dry first, and then bake it in 1-2 hours?
3. WHEN do you bake it?  After the primer?  The color/hammerite?  The clearcoat?  Can you still bake the clearcoat if you have a label on it

[petemoore]

I just finished my first project, a TB loop box (http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?s=&threadid=108233&perpage=15&pagenumber=3).  I used all the right primer and paints and followed the recommendations pretty carefully, but ended up having some issues with my finish (it crackled when i applied the clearcoat, despite over a week of drying time and the label bubbled a bit).  Now, i did not bake the box (because i didn't have a spare toaster oven) and the paint cooled in my garge, which was admittedly too cold.  I figured this out and started drying it in the house under a heat light, and things went much smoother.

I supect some of my label bubbling had to do with the fact that after clearcoating over the label, i let the box airdry and then put it ~6" away from a 75W light bulb/heat lamp.  Any thoughts on this?

For my next project, though I would like to bake the box, but had some questions....

1.  Do you need to/can you bake a Hammerite finish? You can bake anything.
2.  Do you put the box in the toaster to bake right after applying the finish, or do you let it air dry first, and then bake it in 1-2 hours? When the paint is wet/either way.
3. WHEN do you bake it?  After the primer?  The color/hammerite?  The clearcoat? How hot is what this question could be, If the paint comes out good then yes.
   Can you still bake the clearcoat if you have a label on it

I don't see why not. It should be able to withstand 150 to 175 degrees at least.
  All these questions really should be answered after noting humidity, unless your paintcan says nothing about humidity, then figure humidity messes with paint anyway, the hot oven of course changes the humidity levels..then noting the results rendered on a testpiece.

[Fp-www.Tonepad.com]

I use a heat lamp to cure the paint on my boxes. Works rather well.

Fp