clear coats on bare aluminum - cast your votes!

[peterg]

Tremclad Rust Paint Clear Satin or Krylon Acrylic Crystal Clear Satin?

[GGBB]

No opinion on the Tremclad.  Thumbs down on the Krylon - takes far too long to fully harden, and then it isn't that hard.

[Arcane Analog]

I use Krylon exclusively. You are using it wrong if you cannot get it to harden quickly. Mine air dry in 10 minutes and can easily be handled in under a half hour. They are rock hard in a few hours. No baking required.

[peterg]

Thanks AA and GGBG.  1 for and 1 against Krylon. Any other suggestions are welcome. I'm planning on using peel and stick clear labels on raw Hammond boxes.

[Arcane Analog]

They all work fine. Proper technique and thin coats are key. Thick coats will be uneven with bubbles and/or inconsistencies and you will have GGBB's drying issues.

[rousejeremy]

Duplicolor dries pretty hard.
I have to agree with GGBB about Krylon. Doesn't seem to dry very hard. Maybe it's a Toronto thing.

[Arcane Analog]

You are using too much.

[rousejeremy]

Duplicolor dries faster and harder using the exact same amount in my experience. If I'm doing it wrong, then you have to appreciate the fool proof element it offers.

[Arcane Analog]

I guess. I just follow the label. Two sessions of thin coats five-ten minutes apart held at the proscribed distance and my finishes are hard as nails. I like Krylon because the can lasts for a very long time as you only need a little bit for a great finish.

[GGBB]

I really doubt that I could be doing it wrong when I followed the directions.  The touch and handling dry time wasn't the problem, nor did I get bubbling or running  - it was the cure time.  I have a pedal that's almost a year old and it is still soft - here it is: http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=99142.msg879476#msg879476.  Looks great, but not a hard finish at all.  With Valspar I didn't have this problem.

[peterg]

Gord. Nice looking pedal. How did you do the graphics?

[Arcane Analog]

I have been using it for years. Never had anything but a perfect finish with Krylon. It has to be something you are doing or a bad can. It sounds like you are using too much. A can lasts me for a year or so.

[GGBB]

Gord. Nice looking pedal. How did you do the graphics?

Thanks - nothing fancy - it's just a waterslide decal printed with a colour laser printer.

[GGBB]

I have been using it for years. Never had anything but a perfect finish with Krylon. It has to be something you are doing or a bad can. It sounds like you are using too much. A can lasts me for a year or so.

3 thin coats a few minutes apart.

[Arcane Analog]

Are you letting the paint base coats dry before you apply the Krylon or is it still tacky? Are you letting the Krylon dry between coats or reapplying when it is tacky?

Thin is also a subjective term. I am still thinking your coats are not thin enough. In my experience, putting too much on and reapplying a few minutes later would certainly give you the problems you are experiencing. If you have a third coat on and the bottom coat is still wet it cannot dry. You say in the description of your pedal that it was your second build. Are you sure you were applying it properly on your second time around? I have well over 100 builds with the product and no issues.

[HOTTUBES]

I get my local paint shop to mix me up automotive clear in those UPOL cans !!
It's a bit more money , but its a far better clear than your store bought 6$ rattle can stuff !

[LucifersTrip]

remember, the temperature and humidity are big factors. I was once trying to help someone with a similar drying problem, and it turns out he lived a few blocks from the ocean.

[alanp]

Tried clearcoat (Plastikote Clear Super), blimmin stuff cracked after a month.

So I do clear nail polish now, localised over the indian ink, as opposed to all over. Dries hard as nails, only problem is that you can't muck around brushing it on as pretty much everything is dissolved by it. (Indian ink stays in place while it dries, and comes through crisp and clear, while most dye based inks will run.) I use it on most inked enclosures I do these days, including the No Name Flange, Multiplex, and a bunch of others. No issues with chipping or cracking!

It's harder to find than rainbow coloured nailpolish, though, and you look a bit of a twerp shopping for it.

[GGBB]

Are you letting the paint base coats dry before you apply the Krylon or is it still tacky? Are you letting the Krylon dry between coats or reapplying when it is tacky?

Thin is also a subjective term. I am still thinking your coats are not thin enough. In my experience, putting too much on and reapplying a few minutes later would certainly give you the problems you are experiencing. If you have a third coat on and the bottom coat is still wet it cannot dry. You say in the description of your pedal that it was your second build. Are you sure you were applying it properly on your second time around? I have well over 100 builds with the product and no issues.

I know you want to believe I wasn't doing it properly, but I was.  May have been the second pedal, wasn't the second paint job.  Don't worry about it - I solved the problem by using a different product.   No change in technique necessary.  The problem here is likely to be the definition of what hard means as related to pedal clear coat finishes.

[Arcane Analog]

User error is my guess. You have one pedal that did not work for you versus hundred+ on my end.