Rustoleum Spraying Questions
 

Not rattle can but proper HVLP gun sprayed. I am beginning my slow learning/reacquaintance with compressor fed spraying. I have chosen Rustoleum brush on canned paint for it's low cost. So much of my lacking is in gun handling technique and I'd like to get better at a spraying sequence too before trying a vastly more expensive paint system. I am very familiar with the reasons to not ride a rough amateur paint job on one's own frame and I am good with doing so, besides Rustoleum will be easier to remove in the future when I decide to revisit this frame and use nice paint.

Right now my first question is about what chemical those who have used Rustoleum have used to clean the gun. The first 3 times I sprayed (primer then a primer/color mix then just color) I used Lacquer Thinner and it didn't seem to dissolve the paint very well. I ended up taking the flow valve needle and packing out of the gun and worked at the residue with Q tips and a lot of elbow time. The last time I sprayed (just yesterday and color only) I used Acetone and that seemed to work better, I don't think I'll need to take that needle valve out this time, but still wonder if there's an even "more aggressive" cleaning agent. With both cleaners I removed the directional/fan cap and the orifice (1.5 or 1.3mm) to get inside the gun.

I am still experimenting with thinning chemicals. Lacquer Thinner worked OK with the primer and paint/primer but less so with just paint. Acetone went far better, quicker to mix (at around 10-15%) and the paint wetted out nicer. Next up will be Mineral Spirits. Before I try spraying, I do a very small batch thinned as I think is right and brush it on a test surface to see how the flow/wet out is, it's tendency to sag/run and how long before it is no longer tacky. The testing I do in the basement as its conditions are pretty constant so comparisons are more valid.

IIRC there was a thread here describing some of the efforts and results of their spraying Rustoleum too. I think the bike (or the main one) was red. Memory fails me but I recall some description of using hardeners, reducers and/or activators. Anyone remember this thread? Andy

I painted my mill with rustoleum in a gun. Been a while though, and I don't remember what I used to clean. I think it's an enamel though, so mineral spirits or paint thinner should work.
I was just thinking about getting rid of the gun. I'm not too impressed by how I cleaned it last time.

The SDS I just looked at says it has Naptha, MEK, and mineral spirits in it. I assume that means that mineral spirits should work as a cleaner. I don't know what "paint thinner" is these days.

I've never painted a bike frame with Rustoleum (I use base/clear when I paint a frame) but I have painted quite a few other things with it. The can usually has thinning instructions that specifiy what thinner to use. I believe I used acetone and a small amount of Japan Drier to accelerate the drying time and get a better finish.

I usually use laquer thinner to clean my guns, but whatever is recommended to thin the paint should work also.

The TDS says you can reduce up to 15% with acetone for spraying. Clean-up with mineral spirits.

Rust-Oleum is Alkyd enamel. You can use hardner, to speed the cure time, and increase hardness. I used a similar paint, Glidden Farm & Implement Alkyd Enamel, with Krylon hardner, when painting a lathe stand I made last year. It worked out well.

My biggest heartburn with that project was the Rust-Oleum primer I selected. It flowed out like crap. I won't use it again. This was used on the splash pan, after I ran out of Por-15 paint, which I primed the main stand with. That stuff flowed out way better.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...7ac653b7f8.jpg

That looks nice. Last thing I painted on my lathe was with spray cans of ... something. Maybe rustoleum. It seems to be working well. At least it doesn't look like it was painted to be in a clown show now. Or at least, I don't think so. I have often thought that they should have picked one color and stuck with it.

I am an amature, but my experience has been that I thin Rustoleum with acetone and cleaned the gun with acetone. I like acetone because it is a solvent I can use in many applications.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...27bca2539c.png
The Wilton vise above was painted with Rustoleum thinned with acetone. I may have added a bit of mineral spirits as well. I mixed white and green in an attempt to get Wilton Green. It didn't work. I got minty green.

I also spray with 2k primers, base color and clear coat and clean with acetone.

Allot of the paint shops around here, Central Texas, use Penetrol as a thinner for Air Guns. The mix can be as much as 40% Penetrol and depends on the ambient temperature and Dry Time.

Rustolium Gloss Enamel has proven itself to be an economical high quality paint with an Air Gun, Airless Sprayer, or Brush. Penetrol too has proven itself in this area of the country. But the percentage mix is not fixed in any way that I know of. I have seen some painters using air guns use 20% Penetrol one day then 35% the next. Why? ...Duh, the create remains...

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...5b2ea3df8.jpeg


For me the most tedious part of using Rustolium Gloss is that long wait on dry time. Often I just hand the frames in the attic and wait a few days... Tedious Indeed...

All the wiltons I have seen have been more of a blue.

Aggree. The early ones had grey, blue and green. There may have even been two greens. The one pictured above is 1946.

The color that I had in mind, but didn't really look at before I mixed up paint:

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...35330390e2.jpg

The Rustoleum paint mixed with acetone and perhaps some mineral spirtis came out good, even if the color was too minty.

A lot has happened since my last addition to this thread. The bike this thread concerns is done and I'm good with the results, at least for now...

I had first used lacquer thinner for the thinning and clean up solution for the primer with mixed results. The primer/color layer and the yellow areas had acetone as the thinner and as mentioned did better for during application wet out and clean up too. The third layer was the green and this got the mineral spirits as the thinner and cleaner. It seemed to slightly mix with the paint and apply nicer then the acetone did but not by a lot. Rustoleum thinned with MS did seem to not dry as fast though.

With each step i used my heating box for curing the paint faster but with the Rustoleum it took days before I felt I could handle the frame and prep it for the next layer. This aspect bothered me enough to source a quart of Japan Dryer and start experimenting with it. It will quicken the drying of an oil paint and is used in very dilute ratios, about 50:1 per label directions. More on this later.

Overall I find Rustoleum able to be sprayed from a HVLP gun fed by a small garage 120V compressor. I would use either acetone or MS for the thinning dependent on temperature (A for cool weather and MS for warm weather). Had Rustoleum offered a non rattle can of clear I would have used it for the completion of the bike's job. Instead this is what I did.





https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...21f2768dd8.jpg

I had learned that a good clear coat can hide a lot and make an OK job look better as well as i wanted to begin my exploration of catalyzed paint so I got a gallon of Vietek clear and matching Qt of hardener. I have to admit to being somewhat nervous both with a few aspects. Mixing ratio for the small amount I needed (about 2/3 cup per coat) was one, how the gun would apply the clear paint was another and how would I clean the now waiting to harden epoxy like stuff...

The last first- I picked up an aerosol gun cleaner solvent, made by the same company, and test cleaned the gun with it before mixing any paint. The cleaner spray seemed pretty aggressive on the dried bits of old paint so I was more confident on its ability to clean out still wet paint.

I decided to mix slightly more paint then I thought a coat would need and that turned out well. I have a stainless steel cup that holds 150ml and it's just big enough after the hardener is added to still mix and pour without drama. I "guessed" at the points along the volume scale (admittedly coarse in the divisions) for the clear VS the hardener. Mixed and poured into the gun's cup through a funnel filter.

I trialed the spray on a test board getting the paint volume and pattern shape about what I thought would work and did the fork first as is my fashion with building too. The Vietek clear went on so much nicer then the Rustoleum did with any of the thinners. The difference was impressive. I sprayed out the gun and refilled with a new batch of paint and recoated the fork and frame. Before I blew off the tiny amount remaining in the gun I did a couple of blotches on the test board to monitor the drying rate. The gun cleaned up easily with the specific cleaner with a few rinse throughs needed. This paint dried far faster than the Rustoleum did. I left the frame outside for a few hours (and collected a few early season bugs on it) and then "baked" it in my heating box for a day. The paint was hard enough to consider assembling it. Which i did a few days later.

All this was done outside. The paint mixing in the open garage and the spraying in the driveway with not too much wind. I did smell the vapors a few times but really tried to keep my head up breeze. Were I to do this weekly I would think about a fresh air supply system for breathing.

Here's a parting shot. The up and down the block late evening test ride suggests a nicer feel, then the bike it replaces:) Andy

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...2b5d13975b.jpg