Metal primer?

[Max]

Anyone have a recommendation for a really good (clean) metal primer? (wrought iron fence) (I built it in my *woodworking* shop so it's remotely on topic) ;-)

Max

[J. Clarke]

How good do you want it to be? I went after my basement hatch and my railings with a disk sander and followed up with Rust-Oleum and it's been fine now for 15 years or so, although it could use a touch-up.

If you want significantly better than that then you're going to spend big bucks for an automotive, marine, aircraft, or MIL-SPEC finish (all the same chemistry, prices are in order listed).

[Denis M]

There is no winning answer when it comes to wrought iron priming.

The best thing is to remove all the rust first and prime the metal immediately after.

Any good primer like Rust-Oleum or its equivalent will do a fair job lasting for about

+or - two years.

If you are looking for long term duration (2 to 5 years?) proper cleaning and chemical washing coated with a good two parts epoxy is a little better.

BTW: Warships and Cruise ships are continually been painted. Soon as the painting is finished they start all over again. Oil refineries are having a little more success with two parts epoxy.

[whit3rd]

True wrought iron is pretty good in weather; it's also an alloy that hasn't been produced in most of a century, so it's a bit confusing how you could have just built a fence.

If there's loose rust, remove it (wire brush or sandblasting work), and follow up with primer and black paint. If it's gonna look like wrought iron, it HAS to be black. Exterior steel primer with 'zinc chromate' is the usual recommended starting point.

[Max]

The metal is clean. When I use the term "wrought iron" I'm really referring to mild steel. (They use the term "wrought iron" around here when referring to window guards, fences, screen doors etc.) I'm building a fence to go around a statue of a firefighter that's in a small memorial park (There is also a stone there with names of FFs who died in the line of duty). The fence is 10' on a side. (a ten foot square) (40 lineal feet) 4' high. The top & bottom rails are 1" sq. tube, 11 gauge. The bars, 4" apart (according to code) are 1/2" sq tube, 14 gauge. Corner posts are 1 1/2" sq. tube, 11 gauge. I would like to paint the *steel* white and I believe a *good* primer will be key to a good paint job.

Max

[Robatoy]

Take them to a sandblaster... then to a powder coating place... unless they're not removable...then paint will do as described above.

[Ponsford]

------------------------------------- Ponsford

Sandblast,then wash with cheap wash thinner, then apply a coat of (ospho) metal conditioner, let dry, apply two coats of Sherwin Williams zinc chromate,let dry for 48 hours, then two coats of (what ever color) S W industrial enamel. You'll get a good 5-10 years, depending on environment.

[Josepi]

Take it to a metal shop and get it epoxy powder coated with the baked on finish. It will probably last 20-30 years depending on UV exposure.

--------------

Max

[Lew Hodgett]

they're not removable...then paint will do as described above.

----------------------------------- Around here the powder coating guys do their own sand blasting which results in one stop shopping.

Lew

[Robatoy]

They do here, in the bigger cities, as well. Makes nothing but sense.

[Father Haskell]

Use DuPont blue metal prep or similar phosphoric acid treatment before primer to prevent rust from starting should the paint develop any pinholes (it will). Prime and paint with Rustoleum.

[tiredofspam]

Zinc chromate is good for alum. But iron?

I have had good results with rustoleum. Like everyone said sand it clean to bare metal. I used sikkens m600 to clean the metal, then I painted it w/primer then topcoat. 10 years and still no rust. I'm happy. It needs a fresh coating to handle the weathering, but no bubbles of rust, nothing. Still smooth here in NJ where it snows ,blows and burns.

[allen476]

You have about 2 choices here. The rustoleum option would be ok if it were home use but since it is a fence for a public area, I don't think that it would be a wise solution. Between kids climbing on it, people leaning against it, and lawn care, I doubt it would survive more than

2 years. 1) A good prep followed with a coat of self-etching primer, followed by 2 coats of a good quality base primer. Then a good quality epoxy paint. This is where having a friend in a auto paint shop is a good thing. Finish should outlast all of us and take some wear as well. If you want to do it yourself, then a trip to an auto paint store for some good advice would be worth your while. Look to see if they have DuPont Imron paint. About as good as you are going to get in epoxy. 2) Powder coating. I don't think that it will take as much abuse as epoxy but should give you a very durable finish. You will probably have to seek a shop out that can handle something that large and it won't be cheap.

Allen

[lektric dan]

google "rust converting primer" or "rust converting paint"

[Robatoy]

Ahhh yes, M600.. miracle juice.

[Robatoy]

Imron is polyurethane, not an epoxy. It can, however, be brushed as spraying a fence like that would waste a LOT of material and at those prices you need to think about that. Other than that, a solid suggestion.

DuPont does offer some industrial epoxies.

[Max]

Lotsa good info here and I appreciate it all. I've contributed a little over $300 for the steel in this project so I'm looking for some economy from this point on but I do want a durable product. I'll be doing my research. Special thanks to Gordon Ponsford for his e-mails.

Max

[tiredofspam]

Hold on there. Before you do IMRON know the risks. IMRON must be sprayed with a full respirator. Not what you use in your shop. Its a respirator with a pump, and carbon filter, a hose long enough to keep the pump outside the contamination area. My setup cost me over 800 about 20 years ago.

IMR> >> Anyone have a recommendation for a really good (clean) metal primer?

[clare]

Except IMRON is not epoxy, it is catalyzed cross-linked poly-urethane.

[clare]

Imron CAN be electrostatically sprayed - which would, in my opinion, be the ideal.