Prepping before painting

[ZippityNZ]

Anyone care to share their tips on how to best prepare a Stanley plane body and frog for painting?

Once the rust and grime has been removed, how to you clean your plane for painting?

Thanks

 

[MikeG.]

Oooooh.....controversial assumption alert!

 

[ZippityNZ]

??

 

[MikeG.]

I thought that was obvious. Many people would think it an anathema to strip and repaint an old tool. Cleaning it up is one thing, but removing the original paint is a step too far for some. Each to their own, of course.

 

[nabs]

I have not repainted a bench plane but did decide to do a "proper" restoration on this Miller Falls drill.

I think the prep will depend on what you use for the final coat. I painted mine with enamel paint - used for painting small toys and the like - and used Mipa Rapid Filler as an undercoat. I was quite pleased with the result:

I used sandpaper and a dremel to remove what was left of the original paint finish and wiped down with meths before painting.

 

[ZippityNZ]

I thought that was obvious. Many people would think it an anathema to strip and repaint an old tool. Cleaning it up is one thing, but removing the original paint is a step too far for some. Each to their own, of course.

Horses for courses, I guess :lol: :lol:

Regardless of the perceived rights and wrongs, I was simply asking for advice on the procedures taken to clean the metal prior to japanning or applying aerosol paint.

Thank you for your interest.

 

[will1983]

I have "restored" a couple of planes in the past, I used Hammerite smooth aerosol black paint on mine and haven't had any flaking/chipping issues.

Anything involving old tools is always a bit contentious on here but as I see it as mine were nothing of any outstanding historic significance or value so it doesn't really matter as long as it made them useful (and nicer to use) to me that's better than sending them to the scrap pile.

It was a good learning experience in setting up and understanding how a plane functions.

 

[will1983]

Apologies, i missed out the prep part.

Cleaned with hot soapy water to get the crud off.
Dosed with paint stripper to remove any old finish
Soapy water again to neutralize the paint stripper
Dosed with rust converter (mine were very neglected)
Soapy water again
Wipe down with meths
Masked off unpainted bits
Wipe down with meths again
Sprayed - 3 light coats

 

[ED65]

Getting a casting ready for repainting, or re-jappaning, is probably the most complicated aspect of this because there are so many different approaches, and so many possible combinations. Many a prior thread on this part of the process here if you really want to see the full range of options.

But once the casting is as clean as it's going to get (more on this later), make sure it's bone dry and clean with a wipe over of solvent, acetone by preference, and you can start painting immediately.

I was going to say that's it really but then I thought of a bunch of things, none of which may be obvious #-o

Here are a few nuggets:

• If you're jappaning, regardless of formula, it's advisable to warm the casting before setting brush to metal. This may be of benefit when painting too, especially if the workshop is cold.
  
• If you're using a spraycan finish another tip for when it's cold is to warm the can thoroughly (reduced viscosity + raised pressure = better atomisation). This is perfectly safe as long as you only use hand-hot water, nothing you can't comfortably leave your wrist in.
  
• If you're painting on enamel by brush, sans primer, an old-timey trick is to thin the first coat or two to the consistency of milk. I start with two coats like this, then the next coat or two are around the consistency of single cream, and maybe one last coat with just a few drops of white spirit added to improve flow. I'm not aiming to match the appearance of factory paint, if you are you'll want to apply quite a bit more paint than this.

BTW if you're not baking your paint you'll want to leave it for a good fortnight to a month to fully cure before you can assume it's as hard as it can get. Baking shortcuts the drying/curing stages and can reduce the whole process to just a few days, and reportedly in some cases it also improves final hardness.