Alternative method to baking boxes(?)

[Rodgre]

Hey all. There is so much great info on this forum about the many ways to finish enclosures and I just wanted to throw in my 2 cents about what has worked for me pretty well lately.

1) scuff up box surface for paint to adhere to.
2) clean box surface with thinner/turpentine to get finger oils off
3) shoot box for 30 seconds or so with a heat gun (I bought mine for $9 at Big Lots for heat shrink) to heat the box a bit.
4) spray self-etching primer. A light coat at first, then one more light coat to cover the whole box.
5) shoot box with heat gun for another 30 seconds or so to dry the primer.
6) let primer cure overnight
7) heat box again with heat gun
spray color coat. Light at first, then another light coat to cover the box.
9) hit box with heat gun again to dry paint.
10) once proper coverage is obtained, let cure overnight.

I find that using the heat gun gets the paint to a dry-to-touch state pretty much immediately (though the box is too hot to touch with bare hands for a while!) and the curing process has been pretty reliable if I let it rest without much activity overnight.

I've found that this process has been pretty good at keeping edges from chipping and scratching from normal wear.

Anybody else use this method?

Roger

[John Lyons]

I've sped up drying time with a heat gun a couple times here and there.

One other thing you can do it to warm the paint which will make it thinner
and less chance of orange peel. It will spray thinner so watch those runs
and spray light coats.

john

[gutsofgold]

What do you guys use to scuff up the enclosure before painting?

I usually use 400 grit wet sand but that actually seems to polish the enclosure to an extent. Should I be user lower grit?

[Rodgre]

I would do a more coarse grit than 400.

Typically, I will either use that green scuffing cloth stuff (Scotch Brite?) - definitely not the kind with soap in it! or else I'll put a scuffing brush wheel on my drill press and run it over the box.

I also use a 150 grit sanding block sometimes too. I like nicely defined edges on boxes, so block sanding is key for that.

Roger

[railhead]

I can't find self-etching primer ANYWHERE in my home town. None of the auto-body shops carry it in rattle cans.

[B Tremblay]

I've been grilling mine, using charcoal.  Propane is so pedestrian.