Painting Aluminum Pipe

[soundlight]

I paint a lot of aluminum sch 40 pipe for the lighting set carts that I build (see picture). I've gone through dozens of cans of Rustoleum Pro Flat Black and I'm trying to find a way to eliminate the environmental harm, waste, and cost associated with spray paint and get an electric spray gun of some sort and also figure out what paint to use for this. It doesn't have to be flat, but we definitely don't want gloss. Something satin or closer to flat is preferred.

I know pretty much nothing about the various paint sprayers out there and what they require as far as paint, but I saw this and it looks kind of like what I want: https://www.wagnerspraytech.com/products/paint-sprayers/flexio-2000-paint-sprayer/ I'm trying to stay away from pneumatic sprayers because I don't want to get a beefier compressor than we have now (just a little pancake compressor for blowing out fixtures and cleaning things).

Bonus points if the paint you recommend also works great for painting plywood, because then I could just spray the whole cart after assembly!

 

[RonHebbard]

I paint a lot of aluminum sch 40 pipe for the lighting set carts that I build (see picture). I've gone through dozens of cans of Rustoleum Pro Flat Black and I'm trying to find a way to eliminate the environmental harm, waste, and cost associated with spray paint and get an electric spray gun of some sort and also figure out what paint to use for this. It doesn't have to be flat, but we definitely don't want gloss. Something satin or closer to flat is preferred.

I know pretty much nothing about the various paint sprayers out there and what they require as far as paint, but I saw this and it looks kind of like what I want: https://www.wagnerspraytech.com/products/paint-sprayers/flexio-2000-paint-sprayer/ I'm trying to stay away from pneumatic sprayers because I don't want to get a beefier compressor than we have now (just a little pancake compressor for blowing out fixtures and cleaning things).

Bonus points if the paint you recommend also works great for painting plywood, because then I could just spray the whole cart after assembly!

View attachment 17756

@soundlight Have you looked into powder coating? In my automation shop days we found a laser cutting shop which also did their own powder coating. The major plus, his shop was a 24 / 7 operation and most of the time he was powder coating matte black. This worked out perfect for us. Sometimes his trucks were going to be in our area for pickup and / or delivery, sometimes we'd drop items in his shop at any hour and he'd powder coat them for us the next time he was running matte black (which was much of the time) Cheryl and Mike's shop was approximately 60 miles north of ours but our schedules meshed well and they were powder coating matte black most the time; even if we only had one or two small items to coat Mike would run them through the next time he was running matte black and they'd be back in our shop before we knew it. If you can find the right shop, running the same bizarre hours, even our world of "perpetual prototypes" was conveniently accommodated. Powder coating can be both environmentally friendly and economical if you can find the right shop.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard

 

[Van]

Powder coating is a way to go./ Another is to look into an HVLP system; Many are now self contained. HVLP List Pros, great coverage, speedy application. Cons, can be wasteful of paint, must keep your equipment cleaned.

As far as what to Spray, try just about any manufacturers 'DTM' or 'Direct to metal'. Rustoleum makes some, "Pitt-tech" by Pittsburgh Paints was the first I ever used and I had great results. It's super sticky and takes a bit longer to dry than straight Latex but it cleans up with soap and water. It was developed for use on outdoor railings and for the Oil industry so you know it's durable.

Oh, and you can spray it on wood, Aluminum, Steel, Plastic, your pet cat....

 

[soundlight]

@RonHebbard we had looked in to powdercoating but it's expensive and requires us to book in advance, not a shop I called that could offer me quick service like that. We don't have a vehicle yet that could easily transport a bunch of this, so we try to keep all of that in house. I already strap enough unfinished pipe on top of my SUV...

@Van that definitely sounds like what I'm looking for. I'll look in to that, and the spray gun I was looking at was HPLV. Do you have any particular models you'd recommend? I know I'll need to look in to one that can handle the specific type of paint I'll get. How long is "a bit longer"? Currently the spray paint takes about a half hour to dry and 2-3 hours to cure enough for me to handle it, but I'm willing to make big sacrifices on the dry time side (I can leave it overnight in the shop to cure) if it won't smell a lot during the overnight cure process. The lingering smell is definitely one of the reasons I'm trying to get away from spray paint.

Thanks for the input so far!

 

[Van]

@RonHebbard we had looked in to powdercoating but it's expensive and requires us to book in advance, not a shop I called that could offer me quick service like that. We don't have a vehicle yet that could easily transport a bunch of this, so we try to keep all of that in house. I already strap enough unfinished pipe on top of my SUV...

@Van that definitely sounds like what I'm looking for. I'll look in to that, and the spray gun I was looking at was HPLV. Do you have any particular models you'd recommend? I know I'll need to look in to one that can handle the specific type of paint I'll get. How long is "a bit longer"? Currently the spray paint takes about a half hour to dry and 2-3 hours to cure enough for me to handle it, but I'm willing to make big sacrifices on the dry time side (I can leave it overnight in the shop to cure) if it won't smell a lot during the overnight cure process. The lingering smell is definitely one of the reasons I'm trying to get away from spray paint.

Thanks for the input so far!

If you have overnight then you have plenty of time. It does continue to cure but I think you'd be fine to use it after 8-12 hours. When it comes to HVLP just about all are decent. Heck buy a cheap one from HF just to try it out, doesn't make ense to buy 1 3k system that you'rte only going to use occasionally. I used to have an old Graco set up that was $12k!, ridiculous.

Yeah, there is a little more smell with DTM than with regular Latex but it is nothing like Lacquer or Oil based paints.

And it's a hell of a lot better for the environment.

 

[kicknargel]

I've not used a HVLP canister sprayer like those mentioned above, so I can't really compare, but we get a ton of use out of our airless paint sprayer and I think a lot of shops could benefit from one. There's a trade-off in setup and cleanup time, but if you're going through more than a gallon of paint I think it's worth it because you don't have to stop and refill. You can connect the machine to up to a 5 gallon bucket and spray the whole thing quick. We use it a lot for back-painting and priming. For your use, you can get a "detail" tip that mimics a canister sprayer.

 

[RonHebbard]

I've not used a HVLP canister sprayer like those mentioned above, so I can't really compare, but we get a ton of use out of our airless paint sprayer and I think a lot of shops could benefit from one. There's a trade-off in setup and cleanup time, but if you're going through more than a gallon of paint I think it's worth it because you don't have to stop and refill. You can connect the machine to up to a 5 gallon bucket and spray the whole thing quick. We use it a lot for back-painting and priming. For your use, you can get a "detail" tip that mimics a canister sprayer.

@kicknargel I know less than zero about painting. On building construction sites I've observed painters with up to five 5 gallon paint containers connected together in series by hoses feeding one airless wand and nozzle and blitzing their way down corridors undercoating every room they come across. Usually a team of three: One painter painting, a second shaking, stirring and replacing buckets plus an apprentice fetching fresh buckets and removing their empties. The painter in charge of the feeding end is commonly using the same set of connectorized lids over and over; stirring up fresh five gallon buckets then replacing their factory lids with his. I've seen this on two hospital sites and at least one large opera / ballet theatre.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard

 

[bobgaggle]

Look into electrostatic sprayers. We use an airless sprayer with an electrostatic attachment whenever we do a big run of metal. Hook up the ground clamp and one pass covers all sides of the tube, its pretty incredible. No more craning and twisting to hit every spot...