Frame respray paint selection

[hillmy]

Hi, i was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for a particular brand of rattle can that I could use to respray an old frame. Its a steel tube track frame I picked up a couple of weeks ago. I stripped off all the paint and its ready for a coat of colour. I know that using rattle cans isnt ideal but im on a tight budget and cant afford a pro respray/powder coat.
I have seen a few brands that are specific to painting bikes, like Spray.bike, which seems ok, bike radar gave it a good review but there is very little else on it around.
so i was wondering if anyone had any suggestions.
Also, im new here, it seems like an informative and friendly forum and i thought id join

thanks
Max

 

[kingbling]

Valspar from B&Q gives a good finnish cost a tenner

 

[mdvineng]

Finishing off with a coat of clear laquer can help with imperfections.

 

[SullyW5]

Re:

Spray.bike is very easy to use without any experience and the colours are great so thumbs up from me.

The finish is good but not perfect. It doesn't drip at all though which is amazing on lugwork and corners.

If you want a semi pro finish you can go to an automotive paint shop and ask is they can do aerosols? If so, get a 2K paint and a 2K laquer on top of a primer which will be hard wearing with a beautiful finish. Might take a bit of practice though. The cost is maybe a couple of quid more than Valspar, Halfords etc but the paint goes further.

One can can usually be enough for a couple of light coats frame and forks.

 

[captaincowelly]

Re:

Welcome to Retrobike Max!
Always good to gain another new member-a pretty good bunch on here,plenty of helpful advice,good humour,great community.
I'd agree with SullyW5,I use a local automotive paint shop myself.Costs not much more than a tenner for a large can.They just mix it on request (seemingly infinite selection of colours) and it seems to spray much better than standard aerosols,real fine mist.
Costs a few quid extra to go the primer/basecoat/lacquer route and lacquer can be a bit tricky to work with but the finish is more glossy and hard wearing.Personally I would wet-flat between coats too,to take away any orange peel finish that may occur.But that's just me.

 

[Jonny69]

Avoid Halfords paint as a general rule. It's weak, chips off easily and has a poor finish. It's cack, basically.

That said, their rattle can satin black is the complete opposite and very good for a bosh over.

 

[531brazed]

2k is not available in rattle cans, it has to be used very soon after mixing as it contains a hardener which sets the paint. Its pro-booth only, isocyanate hardener is not good for you....

agreed, automotive paint supplier will provide a decent can of paint, the halfrauds stuff is all thinners.

 

[SullyW5]

Re:

hardener is not good for you....

I'm no expert but pretty sure I'm regularly buying 2k paint and laquer. I believe they now mix some type of hardener in the can. Probably not as good as the old hardener but seems to do the job.

The place I buy it from supplies to the film and tv industry and their cans are mixed fresh so perhaps there is a time limit to use before the hardener fails?

 

[hillmy]

Ok, i think the difficulty for me will be finding a hard wearing paint that doesn't require a booth/professional equipment. I might get a can of the spray.bike stuff and do a test on a scrap piece of steel just to see if im happy in putting in the work for the whole bike. If i did use a fancy rattle can of some kind, on top of a few coats of primer and combined with a hard clear enamel type of thing, could i get a decent finish?

 

[SullyW5]

It takes practice and a fair bit of time to be honest

Spray.bike will look great! They do a laquer as well if you want to add a sheen. No harm in putting a coat of primer down first....it will help show you bits that need a sand if nothing else.