Spray painting powder-coated metal

[Nige]

I have several chairs with various parts made from powder-coated metal which needs to be spruced up. Can anyone give me any advice on the best way of spray painting them - preferably an using aerosol-based product such as Hammerite or a metallic car spray paint?

The makers of Hammerite make great play of it not requiring a primer; would this still be the case on powder coating and if so, what surface treatment would be required? Given the very complex shape of some of the parts, sanding them down would be extremely tedious - is any alternative preparation possible?

Any advice would be gratefully received...

Nigel Lord

[Rob Morley]

Powder coating is basically plastic that has been melted onto the metal, so I guess a plastic primer, but there are many sorts of plastic ...

I would try heatgun/blowtorch and wire brush nitromors and wire brush shot blasting

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

Wirebrush too big try a "suede brass wire shoe brush", obtained from a chandlers or cobblers(no pun intended). :-P

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

[Rob Morley]

To paraphrase: "Wire brush too big, try a wire brush".

[Andy Dingley]

Use a paint that will adhere to soft plastics (possibly nylon) - these are fairly specialised, you might find them as car bumper paint.

Mechanical surface prep won't make a bit of difference if it's the wrong paint.