DIY Editing Desk....

twocik23

twocik23

Veteran
I've been working on a beat up old table from a thrift store and have come down to painting. Painting has never been my thing and well I tried.... The table was perviously painted and I tried to paint over that with Krylon aluminum spray paint (didn't work). The paint is now rubbing off of the metal and it's all over my hands. \


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What are my options here ? Should I strip it and start over or is there a better painting method that I'm not using ?
 
Here's a few pictures of the desk and where the paints rubbing off. Is this because I didn't primer it (just thought about that)??



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twocik23 said:
Is this because I didn't primer it (just thought about that)??
Click to expand...

yes, and you should have sanded as much of the previous paint off before using the primer too.

When you are done you might consider putting some sort of clear coat on top so minor scratches won't take out the paint.
 
Damn, I knew I should have used the primer.

Sanding

So I should have sanded the frame down to the bare metal ?
 
Well, you don't have to get every speck of previous paint off. If the previous paint doesn't have a good bond to the metal under it. then it can undermine the paint you put on top if you know what i mean.

Also a few passes of a light coat of paint are better than one heavy pass. a very light sanding between passes will help keep it smooth.

If you can find colored primer, get one that is as close to your intended color as possible.

Good luck! show us how it turns out :)
 
I took a little of acetone to the one leg and it came right off and now the under coat (old paint job) is starting to look really flat matte looking. I guess I'll just sand it down to the bare metal and start over.


What kind of paint do you recommend ?


Yes I'll keep you guys updated. I plan to build a computer cabinet with racks too.
 
Spray paint isn't really a strong enough paint for that. I tried painting my bicycle with spray paint once..... sanded it down, primed it, painted and several layer of a spray on clear coat. Didn't work at all. One day on the bike and it was chipping all over the place
 
Every guy I ask at homedepot & Lowes tells me that the spray paint method is fine, but I was thinking the same thing....


What do you think I should use ?
 
Spray Paint is fine.

I have had furniture and bikes (that I ride every day) for years that I sprayed and they work/look fine. The trick is that you will be tempted to work fast, because it is spray paint but you have to approach it like anything else.

Give it a good sanding. You don't have to get everything off the frame, but you are giving the paint a good surface to stick to. Prime it after.

When it is time to paint, take - your - time. I have used everything from $.80 Walmart paint to Krylon and up. It all works if you take your time. For furniture that will be used all the time (desk, coffee table) I do three or four coats of spray paint (on things like bikes I do six). This takes all day and then some, but the nice thing is you can leave it while it dries. For furnature, anything you find in the HomeDepot isle will work, but I have found the best most durrable sprays to be made by Dupli-Color. Your choice.

I do a couple coats then sand it down with some 150 paper, then a couple more. After that, I clear coat it. Again, many light coats work very well here. I would go with at least two, but preferably three coats to finish it off. After that you should have a great uniform looking piece of furniture that will stand up to a lot of abuse (and not come off in your hands!).

And remember, let every coat dry before starting the next, don't be impatient.
 
Krylon is fine as long as you prep the surfice. You did sand it first, right? You don't even need primer.
You may wanna just coat the top with thick black felt. Awesome mouse pad. You'll wear through it after a year or so, depending on how many hours you edit a day but it's pretty cool.
 
"William"

Great tips, thanks.

Now that I have the frame down to the bare metal, you're saying to sand ( 40, 60, 120, etc.. ? ), primer, paint ?



"Grinner"

The wood isn't a problem, got that down, it's the metal (steel) frame. Yes I've got 8 coats on both the desk top and keyboard ledge, thanks for looking out though. :)



I've stripped both coats, original & my krylon coat. It's down to the bare metal. The tables original factory coat was pretty hard to get off, but that was until I found the right stripper. I've tried acetone, wire brushes, power sanders, etc.. all worked ok, but Klean-Strip worked amazing !!



*** Warning this stuff is really dangerous and very toxic, use at your own risk***

Wear chemical resistance gloves, good eye protection, respirator, etc... Read the directions first.




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Ok I've scrubbed & sanded to the bare metal and next cleaned the surface with a denatured alcohol and now primer. I then sprayed the frame with a Krylon aluminum spray paint, again it's kind of rubbing off.

The humidity is 70% here, the primer stuck just fine, but the aluminum Krylon doesn't really stick.....


Any thoughts ?
 
Ditch the paint. I have had issues with silver paint in the past. There is just something about silver that is problematic and the brand does not seem to matter. If you are doing everything correctly, i.e. sanding, cleaning with solvent and priming (regardless of whether or not you are stripping first) and you are spraying light even coats and letting them fully dry(depends on humidity), then there should be no issues whatsoever. If you have 70% humidity, an hour or so under a heat lamp might help matters. Beyond that, might consider another color and/or brand. Rustoleum Professional in black has been good.
 
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Update

Found that rustoleum metallic works like a charm on steel, not amazing results but just enough to get the job done (and lots of other little sanding tricks I picked up). I couldn't spend anymore time on this project and kind of rushed the last couple of coats, but I'm pleased with the results.



Total cost for project - $120.00



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