Metal paint for rusty fire escape

Hi,

I have a rusty rear fire escape which I have refused to paint for about 10 years... i.e. it was galvanised metal and my Mum, God bless her, insisted on painting it wit the end result it needed to be painted on a regular basis...

Anyhow, I think it is in danger of rusting through so I am going to get a drill and a rust attachment on it in the next few days and then I will have to paint it. I am looking for tips for metal painter/primer/rust treatment for it. I am considering Hammerite's straight to rust treatment which comes in colours, comes in big tins and apparently you can thin it and use it with a spray gun (I have never used a spray gun before)

So, any advice on which paint to get and from where? Are there online stockists that I can use as my local DIY store seem to deal in very small tins only? Also, any advice on using a spray gun and are these cheap/expensive tools to buy?

Thanks,

John.

I've used black smooth hammerite on heavy garden/field gate hinges. Works well has survived our weather or a good couple of years without obvious signs of degredation. Same can't be said for the galvanised screws which are rusting nicely. Try not to create tiny bubbles which form pinholes later, you do really need two coats to overcome this and note that the second needs to be applied fairly quickly after the first or you have to wait weeks...

My thoughts about a spray gun outside are that 5% of the paint will end up on the intended object, 95% all over the neighbourhood.

Spraying is a way of getting a good finish with suitable paint on a large surface away from any draught. Ie, in a purpose made spray booth, or somewhere where spray scatter doesn't matter. For anything else, pointless.

Halfords? Dunno about prices.

Thanks both - hammerite it is then. Any one know an online supplier of it in the UK? My local B&Q has 1 one large tin in black... be nice to get the silver grey.

John.

Found a place that sells it online for about £35 - B&Q were a touch under £50. Any views on the hammered versus satin versus smooth finishes for an outside metal fire escape?

John.

Forgot the url...

Probably. IMHO, Smoothrite's a con.

Thanks Steve,

Within about 5 minutes of trying the drill option today I more or less concluded that it was the wrong tool. I took a look at angle grinders today and wondered whether they woudl be a better tool - not sure what type 'disc' to use with one though? Can you suggest one?

Thanks,

John.

I'm not sure it's a con, but it is extremely brittle. So it chips easily and then it's no use at all.

Don't use a disk. Angle grinder discs are for cuttting and grinding not cleaning off rust and paint. Use a wire brush. These come in two types radial and cup. One of each is probably a good idea though cup brushes are more common. You remove the disk fitting accesories from the spindle (that should be one slip on "washer" and a threaded clamp) and screw the brush onto the spindle.

You must wear goggles and gloves. At the speed a grinder operates the small particles that break off the wire brush and the particles of paint can go right through skin and will make a real mess of your eye. Ear defenders a good idea as well.

Or if the OP can't find hammerite in stuitable quantites and price he could try and track down the stuff that vehical restorers rave about for use on subframes/chassis etc. I think it (or one of them) may have been mentioned in the last month in here.

A leather apron does as well ;-)

Also get a flap wheel since these are a little less aggressive than the wire brush. Note also that hammerite can be painted straight onto the rust without much preparation other than brushing off the loose stuff.

Can't find it ?

Distributors all over the place, website etc, you can hardly miss it

Well, really you need a full kevlar suit

... and a good mp3 player

Those impregnated plastic thingies are a bit safer than a wire brush, IMHO.

Not the word after "and".

I purchased the cup type yesterday but assumed it was for use on a drill. I just took a look at the B&D website and buried deep in it is a pic of an angle grinder using the cup disk. I assume it can be used, as I did, on a drill anyhow?

John.

The kind of brush where the wires are twisted into thick ropes (tufts? "tufted brush", something like that) last longer, IMO. Come in both radial and cup, ISTR.

One standard procedure for removing bits of metal wire and bits of metal spark from the eyeball is to use a dentists drill, and just remove the middle of the rust spot with that.

Thomas Prufer