Ah, thats much better information. I thought it was steel or other
malleable iron.
I have painted over brass with clear rustoleum and no problems. Just
give it a few days to harden. Use acetone to clean first, then buff any
residue off with a soft cloth.
On 2/21/2012 1:04 PM, Michael Joel wrote:
On Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:01:22 -0500, "Mike Marlow"
wrote:
Michael Joel wrote:
I have only tried to lacquer some metal once.
I first buffed the metal to polish it then wiped it down with
denatured alcohol to get any waxes/residue off. After the lacquer
(said it worked for metal) dried it was easy to get off. Any amount of
firm handling and it would start scratching right off.
Anyone used any lacquer to preserve a polished metal?
Oh - where to start... Ok - you read the instructions and you interpreted
them in a reasonable way, given a limited understanding. If you had read or
researched further, you would have easily seen that a good primer (and maybe
even an etching primer) were required to get a good bond. But... stop to
think - hundreds of thousands of cars have been painted with lacquer. If
they worked and your technique failed, where do you think the problem lies?
I will guarantee you that if you had read the instructions for your lacquer,
you would have found it is not a DTM (Direct To Metal
application. I will
also guarantee you would have found that a highly polished surface is not
what you want to paint to. It does seem that you have not researched spray
painting at all, for you to have posted your experience. Not a problem -
it's things like this that help us learn, after all. Hell - if I had a
nickle for every damned mistake I ever made, I would be relaxing on a beach
in the Carribbean, sipping on drinks with umbrellas in them, and admiring my
wife in the sunshine. Alas...
Get your metal to a smooth, flat level (not polished!) and shoot a primer on
it. Flatten that primer with a 500 grit paper - unless you can shoot good
enough to shoot a nice level primer coat. THEN shoot your lacquer at it.
I'm a big advocate of shooting an etching primer on bare metal before
shooting a sandable primer at it - even if the primer is DTM. That may be
an "old habits die hard" statement.
You would have no such such problems as you have described, following this
technique.
I am aware of the differences in auto lacquer. You are right in that I
should have taken the time to test it with an auto lacquer (acrylic).
Product I tried was simply a can of Minwax clear lacquer - claiming to
be a good metal finish. Directions have no mention of etching base or
any base (except a possible use of a sanding sealer - which of course
is n/a). It most likely would be a good metal finish - it the item is
to be placed out of reach and out of use.
The item being covered was a set of piano pedals and hinges. Pedals
are usually solid brass, nickel (plated), or cast iron with a plating
of brass or nickel. Hinges are usually solid brass.
Such items are usually polished and then lacquered to protect the
metal's polish. The desired end result is of course a highly polished
metal that does not tarnish quickly.
---- as a side topic ---
What are people's expectations of being able to protect items such as
piano pedals? Of course these get a good rubbing from shoes.
Acrylic Lacquer I do not believe will hold up long.
A conversion laqcuer seems more trouble than it is worth. Same for
other conversion finishes.
So - some form of a polly? Easy to apply - trouble is of course long
drying times - but this is usually ok since a small dust free area
should be easy to come by.
Also - these items generally lose their plating - pedals especially. I
have thought of trying to color them back by applying a colored finish
(I doubt most customers would be willing to pay the expense of true
replating). Opinions on this?
Thanks
Mike