My enclosure finishing experience

[vigilante397]

I drilled the jack holes too close to the top

That's my favorite thing about painting enclosures, it's easy to hide repairs. You can fill in holes in the wrong place with JB weld and paint over it with very good results (especially if you're this thorough with your paint jobs )

[MonarchMD]

Why my brain didn't think to fill those holes in my old enclosure is beyond me. I'm pretty sure I referenced the Bondo job I did on this one.

I guess that might be what I work on next.

[bloxstompboxes]

I've read 150F or 200F for 30 minutes but someone here just referenced 300F. I'm starting out at 150F.

Leave it in the oven as it cools down? Or use gloves to take the tray out immediately after 30 minutes being in the oven??

That was me at 300F I've heard a lot of people do lower temperatures for a long time (2 hours or so) but I do 300F for 15 minutes, then usually let it cool inside the oven (door open and rack pulled out) for 15 minutes before handling. On the other hand if it's an etch (or engraving) that I've just filled in and am going to sand off the excess paint I'll pull it out with pliers and take it straight to the sink, run cool water over it then go straight to wetsanding.

I know you have had your own experiences and it seems to be working for you, but I would be cautious about the 300F. If I remember correctly, the can states that the paint shouldn't be applied to surfaces that exceed 200F. I also had some very dangerous and unfortunate issues myself last year with too high of temps. It was winter, the toaster was outside in my nonisulated/nonheated shop. I was not preheating the oven and had it set to 150F. I would put the enclosure in and turn it on for 30 min only to have it burst into flames inside the oven on the first heating element cycle. Whatever temperature sensor/thermocouple was used to monitor the oven temp wasn't heating up as fast as the rest of the oven due to the oven being stored in the cold. This caused the oven temp to rise way above the 150F I had set, and the flashpoint of the paint causing the toaster oven door to pop open with a woosh of flame and a ruined paint job!

Now I preheat the oven, open the door for a 30 count, and then pop the enclosure in there. Just trying to warn everyone to be careful since it could have very well been my house ruined as well.

[MonarchMD]

I creeped up to 200F on my first try. I left for vacation yesterday (SPRING TRAINING BASEBALL!!) and plan to get right back at it when I return. Got a label mocked up for clear inkjet labels and then gonna clear coat. Might do my 1590A type ones with the labels as a test first.

[bloxstompboxes]

I say ruined but that was also how my YJM308 ended up like this:

[vigilante397]

I say ruined but that was also how my YJM308 ended up like this:

And I'm still a very big fan of your "ruined" enclosures But if I remember right you put it straight in the oven after painting? I let my paint dry 15 minutes before baking. My cycle is usually

Let paint dry 15 minutes -> bake 300F 15 minutes -> let cool 15 minutes -> apply another coat, repeat

[bloxstompboxes]

Yeah. I put them in right after spraying so they are still wet. Still, I'd be worried what baking them above the 200F limit does. But, if it is working for you then I say kepp going with It.

[MonarchMD]

What labels are you guys using?

I used Avery clear ink jet and it wasn't exactly clear. The paint process seemed to rock. This was sprayed with a couple color coats and then baked at approximately 200F for a bit. Then I applied the label and coated with clear gloss. My only displeasure is the cloudiness of the label. It was that way when I applied of, not from baking. The coating with clear and baking helped a little but the previous poster's pic looks super clear as far as the label is concerned.

[jimilee]

That doesn't look bad at all. I use clear water slide and white background water slide for darker enclosures.

[bloxstompboxes]

What labels are you guys using?

I used Avery clear ink jet and it wasn't exactly clear. The paint process seemed to rock. This was sprayed with a couple color coats and then baked at approximately 200F for a bit. Then I applied the label and coated with clear gloss. My only displeasure is the cloudiness of the label. It was that way when I applied of, not from baking. The coating with clear and baking helped a little but the previous poster's pic looks super clear as far as the label is concerned.

If you mean my post, then the decals are from smallbear. They are indeed clear but also very thin and delicate. I bought some on ebay for no particular reason and they are just as clear but thicker and hold up better to handling while removing the backing and so on. However, they do stand prouder of the surface and seem to show up a little more. But, I have only tried one of them. I have got a few more to go before I rule them out or not.

[MonarchMD]

I committed to the Avery clear label paper for this one, but three more of these will be produced in the next week with a clear sticker I had printed custom. It is definitely a "clearer" sticker, we'll just have to see how it holds up under the clear coat.

Very happy with the "baking" process. I have been reading up on myths about it helping make the finish stronger and it seems that the finish isn't any more durable than if you don't bake it, it just makes it faster to work and I also think it smooths out any imperfections that almost always come about from spray cans. No orange peel to speak of and a very smooth final coat with zero sanding/polishing.

[karbomusic]

I committed to the Avery clear label paper for this one,

The ones I use which are the same that Small Bear sells are called "waterslide" decals FYI. They don't have the opacity problem.

Very happy with the "baking" process. I have been reading up on myths about it helping make the finish stronger and it seems that the finish isn't any more durable than if you don't bake it,

I have no reason to believe it does anything other than speed up the process which is often very worthwhile. As I mentioned up ^there somewhere, curing properly is more about multiple  thin coats in short intervals (see paint can) so that the upper coats don't prevent lower coats from curing properly. Just to drive that point home... Here's what happens when thick coats cause improper curing at the extreme. This box was baked *multiple times* at 200F and is 48 hours later (even after baking) when this occurred. I actually handled it for two days, having no idea until I went to unplug another pedal and placed my thumb/weight on this one to keep my balance. As you can see, the topmost layers created a skin, akin to a paint lid which prevented the bottommost layers from curing...




When not such an extreme, it just seems plastic like and not truly hard. Took me awhile to realize understand the clues/symptoms of this.

[MonarchMD]

Been awhile but I did a 2nd enclosure with Testors water slide decals. I coated the deals with the same top coat I use for final clear coats on the finished enclosures instead of the Testors decal binder.

Very pleased with the result. My friend has the finished product doing some testing, so I just have the one picture of the enclosure just before final clear coating and baking, but I think the water slide is my favorite so far. It was easy and I'll probably pull the trigger on the small bear decal paper as the Testors stuff is a little pricey.

I can get 6 sheets for 10.99 and then 40% off that. About $7.75 for 6 8.5x5.5 sheets. I can get three full 125B enclosure per page so that's 18 enclosure decals. $.50 per approximately. I'll see how the math adds up.

Anyway, I can't hardly see any indication that it's a decal after I finished a final clear coating and baking.


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[MonarchMD]

I also didn't give the decal a ton of dry time. I will next time but it didn't seem to be much of an issue except when I went to cut the decal paper from the pot and switch holes.


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