Automotive paint for handrails?

[Paddy]

hello,

I'm continuing my hand rails but now outside. I made a rail system from available parts seen on line, 1 inch square tube and top cap profile. I had the 1 inch tube drilled for 1/2 inch holes every 4 inches. So the there is a square tube at the top and bottom, but top has the welded decorative cap. The 1/2 inch rods are unique, they are ground rods all shinned up and clear coated.

The rails in side look good after just 4 years. But I know the outside ones are going to fade peel and rust quickly is I just use Rustolium. If the copper rods were paited blat it wouldn't be such a pain to repaint every few years. But I like the copper/black contrast.

So it got me to thinking how long automotive paint last. Even old junkers from the early 90's still look good.

So is it piratical for me to buy automotive paint and paint the components before assemble? I'd need to use the primer and clear coat as well. I'm not so worried about the perfect quality of my painting skills, just want it to last 20 years. Thoughts?

Paddy

 

[dieselcrawler]

I think you are on the right track with automotive paint.

Nice house by the way... share more pictures if you don't mind!

 

[ray66v]

I have used every type of automotive finish, professionally.

Yes, an automotive finish is more durable, because it costs ten times as much, or more, than house paint, or Rustoleum.

It's the metal prep, and the primer that really matter for your project. The paint is not as important.

With quality prep, and a good primer, Rustoleum can hold up quite well. Twenty years, for steel, outdoors? Good luck with that. Ten years should not be a big problem, but twenty years is a pretty long time. I guess it depends on how far you are willing to let it go.

There is a ton of stuff involved here. It can't be summed up sufficiently, in a few paragraphs. Processing the railings properly, and painting them properly, are extremely important. If you don't do that right, the most expensive paint in the world won't hold up well.

Figure out how much you want to spend on materials, and that is your starting point. You can't do champagne on a beer budget.

I would not clear coat it. That will only add time, and expense. It's not going to make it last longer.

I have painted a lot of steel doors, and trim for houses, with tinted epoxy sealer, as the top coat. If you don't want a high gloss, it's a nice durable finish, for a fair price.

See if you can find someone locally that can help you get started. And, hope they know what they are doing.

Keep in mind the guy at the paint store is making $10 and hour. And, if he knew what he will suggest he knows, he would potentially make 5x that. So, don't consider him the final authority on anything.

Everyone's an expert.

 

[Snobdds]

I have used every type of automotive finish, professionally.

Yes, an automotive finish is more durable, because it costs ten times as much, or more, than house paint, or Rustoleum.

It's the metal prep, and the primer that really matter for your project. The paint is not as important.

With quality prep, and a good primer, Rustoleum can hold up quite well. Twenty years, for steel, outdoors? Good luck with that. Ten years should not be a big problem, but twenty years is a pretty long time. I guess it depends on how far you are willing to let it go.

There is a ton of stuff involved here. It can't be summed up sufficiently, in a few paragraphs. Processing the railings properly, and painting them properly, are extremely important. If you don't do that right, the most expensive paint in the world won't hold up well.

Figure out how much you want to spend on materials, and that is your starting point. You can't do champagne on a beer budget.

I would not clear coat it. That will only add time, and expense. It's not going to make it last longer.

I have painted a lot of steel doors, and trim for houses, with tinted epoxy sealer, as the top coat. If you don't want a high gloss, it's a nice durable finish, for a fair price.

See if you can find someone locally that can help you get started. And, hope they know what they are doing.

Keep in mind the guy at the paint store is making $10 and hour. And, if he knew what he will suggest he knows, he would potentially make 5x that. So, don't consider him the final authority on anything.

Everyone's an expert.

Very good advice.

Yes, I would use automotive paint because it dries very hard...if done right. What your planning is not easy, just because it's intricate and time consuming. But if you're willing to commit, it will look great for a long time.

You might get away with a simple sealing coat of epoxy primer and a single stage paint. I used some John Deere industrial black that dried super hard as a top coat, I think it comes in single stage . Might be an option...

 

[dstig1]

What makes auto paint hold up is the prep. De-grease, phosphate dip, e-coat, color coat then clear coat. And that is over galvanized steel, on top of that. Skip steps and you will lose life on the finish. Will you be using galvanized? If not, then it probably won't hold up all that long. This is one of the main reasons I am going with SS for exterior railings...

 

[Snobdds]

Why would he need to galvanize? It's inside...

 

[Paddy]

just re-confirming that yes this is an outdoor railing. Inside is not the issue. I did look into hot dip galvanizing and it was not the price that pushed me away. It's the complex painting steps. Hot dipped galvanizing needs to be rinsed in a special clean bath, then needs to be primed with 24 hrs of the process. If delayed past 24 hrs, a process of removing the white rust, that forms very quickly, must be done. Reading about it on line sounded hard to duplicate. The other option is to wait one year after galvanizing when the white rust has a very strong bond.

Reading above, prep is key. De-greasing will be a pain, 1 inch hollow tube with oil from drilling all the holes. I could fill a short section of gutter with thinner to remove the bulk oils. Might take a progression of baths to get it real clean. Then sand with 150 to get a good surface texture.

 

[Snobdds]

My appologies on it being for outdoor use.

I still think you will be ok for outside use without hot dip galvanizing. Just use some good epoxy primer as a sealer...

 

[Paddy]

I just googled dip painting. Sounds like back in the old days, they would paint car parts by dipping. To get around mass quantities of paint, they would fill a tank with water and have 2 inches of oil based paint floating on top. as the part was lowered it would get covered with paint before it passed in to the water. Pulling the part out, the water stayed happily behind. Brooms and hockey sticks were painted this way too. The upside is the inside would also get a coat of paint.

So this begs a questions, does automotive paint repel water, i.e. float on water??

 

[ray66v]

A properly applied automotive finish, is as waterproof as you can get.

Galvanizing is extremely helpful for protecting the metal, where it gets nicked, or scratched. Where the paint film is undamaged, it is of no value. And, on the flip side, heavy coats of zinc, can actually leave the surface uneven, making a quality finish more difficult. Your call.

In a perfect world, you paint tubing, with an electrostatic spray system. I have painted aircraft tube frames, similar to the one in the photo, with mine.

The gun applies a positive charge to the paint, and the metal part is grounded. Without it, most of the paint you spray misses the target. And, you make lots of real expensive dust. With it, you waste less paint, and achieve much more even paint coverage, as the paint wraps around the tube.

This would not be cost effective, >$1k for a used one, and there is a higher learning curve. So, it's not practical for you to do that. But, you may get lucky, and find someone who has one, and wants to do the job.

I guess you could try posting an ad on Craig's List?