# Painting steel



## canopainting (Feb 12, 2013)

Im a residential painter not an industrial, altho I do get obsessed reading about it on the internet often. I am refurbishing an old iron hoop bench from the old California state fair grounds that my father brought home from the old state fair grounds before they demolished most of it when i was a kid. Also Im having six more hoops made to make three more benches. I had the old wood duplicated/milled using mahogany which Im gonna just varnish. The steel had many coats of hard paint, 12 coats at least, I used a heat gun and scrapped it off then used a grinder to completely blast it. The first coat looked green so Im thinking it was some kind of zinc. I have been considering Zinc clad IV and Acrolon 218 unless i cant buy it here in Sacramento, maybe Acrolon 100. I want them to last for a good generation. What can you recommend? I don't think I can or want to put HS zinc in any of my sprayers. HVLP? Maybe just use a chip brush. I want to post a picture but cant figure out how.


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## CApainter (Jun 29, 2007)

That first coat may have been lead. I'd be inclined to have it powdered coat it.


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## Paradigmzz (May 5, 2010)

Macropoxy and acrylon. 

Macropoxy is self priming.

When in doubt, brush and roll.


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## Umissedaspot (Aug 14, 2021)

canopainting said:


> Im a residential painter not an industrial, altho I do get obsessed reading about it on the internet often. I am refurbishing an old iron hoop bench from the old California state fair grounds that my father brought home from the old state fair grounds before they demolished most of it when i was a kid. Also Im having six more hoops made to make three more benches. I had the old wood duplicated/milled using mahogany which Im gonna just varnish. The steel had many coats of hard paint, 12 coats at least, I used a heat gun and scrapped it off then used a grinder to completely blast it. The first coat looked green so Im thinking it was some kind of zinc. I have been considering Zinc clad IV and Acrolon 218 unless i cant buy it here in Sacramento, maybe Acrolon 100. I want them to last for a good generation. What can you recommend? I don't think I can or want to put HS zinc in any of my sprayers. HVLP? Maybe just use a chip brush. I want to post a picture but cant figure out how.


Test for lead BEFORE you start removing all the paint. Not after.
I'm a sandblaster. Sandblasting is THE best way to clean metal surfaces and provide an ideal profile for the coating. An epoxy primer ( part A and part B ) is best for steel. After that an oil based top coat will suffice.


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## CApainter (Jun 29, 2007)

Umissedaspot said:


> Test for lead BEFORE you start removing all the paint. Not after.
> I'm a sandblaster. Sandblasting is THE best way to clean metal surfaces and provide an ideal profile for the coating. An epoxy primer ( part A and part B ) is best for steel. After that an oil based top coat will suffice.


I'm surprised you didn't recommend a polyurethane given that it completes a conversion coating system. Also, polyurethane tolerates UV exposure better than a single component oil base paint.


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