"andy everett" wrote in message
...
Steve, thank you for your reply. I left out some details. This gate is
wrought iron. Two 7 foot posts at about 200 lbs and two gates, six feet
high by five feet wide at about 300 lbs. It was bought at an antique
store and when painted it will decorate a small park in south east
Pennsylvania. It is quite massively built, thick metal bars and flat
work. Because of how it is built sand blasting seems the way to go to
get off the rust. I thought at a minimum this was something that needed
to be done. The people I am doing this for are in a rush to get it in
place. What could be the life of the paint job if it was powder coated
verses going with a good oil base paint?


It would be almost impossible to clean well enough to get the powder coat to
stick. Were it me, I would blast it, watching not to eat away too much
metal. Then prime it with a good primer. I like enamel. Then spray it
with a good enamel. Let it dry three or four days in warm weather, then
spray it again. Once you hang it, you will have to retouch all the dings
and weld marks. Use an electric wire brush to get it clean, then touch up
paint. Go back after it has rained a few times, and touch up the places
where rust is evident.

Getting it up seems to be the priority. Can you paint it once it is up?
Sandblast it, then hang it, then paint it? If not, blast it, paint it,
install it, and retouch, retouch, retouch. Put a limit on how long you are
willing to keep up with the retouching, because it will rust for decades.
Keeping it painted and looking good will be an ongoing project, particularly
if they go with a light color. Try to steer them to black or dark brown.
Let them know that it IS an iron piece, and rust is as inevitable as
Democratic presidents.

Good luck. Sounds like an interesting project. If you would like, or if
any contributor here would like, e mail me, and I will send you a pic of my
last gate.

HTH

Steve