best way to paint a round metal tube?

[billygoat333]

Anyone here have any good tips on how to paint a round tube w/ rattle cans? I always seem to have big runs in my paint whenever I do anything curved I was wondering if anyone had a good tip on keeping that minimalized? I try to use very light coats, seems like it still does it. cheap paint maybe? lol

[Crazy Buddhist]

Hang the tube and paint in light coats spraying horizontally so you spray across it in lots of small sweeps rather than along the length. Keep coats light as you are. Also warm the paint in a can of hot water before spraying - especially if it's cheap - this makes the paint flow smoother through the nozzle and leads to less running.

CB

[billygoat333]

hmm never thought about painting it horizontal, yes that would probably help. lol. as for warming the can up, how warm of water should I use? lol don't want the can to burst. how warm is too warm?

[Crazy Buddhist]

Actually I meant hanging it vertically by inserting some kind of block or wedge in the top to hang it from ... this will lead to some wasting of paint as you will spray small sections at a time as you pass the spray past the tube. However if you do real light coats and work your way down the length, spinning the tube to get to the other side as you go I think you'll get better results.

Most important is never starting the spray on the surface .. get the paint at the flow rate you want pointing at the paper/protective material in your paint area, move across the surface then stop after you passed it.

Warming the paint makes a huge difference - especially, as I said, with budget paint though it's true for any paint. It also helps the first cover coat and the top coats stick better.

Like most painting jobs proper preparation of the surface being painted is key to a good finish. I usually spend much more time prepping for any painting job than actually painting.

My own experience of spray painting is limited but my neighbor is a pro car-finisher and these tips from him have helped me improve my finishes a lot.

Matthew

Some good general tips here: http://www.abac.co.uk/Spraying/SprayPainting.htm

[Eclecticos]

Could use a little hobby motor, and spray it from one end to the other while it spins.

[crazybillybob]

Hang the tube vertically,
Take short horizontal sweeps,
Keep the coats light,
Move the rattle can further away from the tube (cans call for 12-18 inches between the spray tip to the surface....go for the 18 inch + if your getting runs)


CBB

[billygoat333]

basically what I wanna do is repaint my mtn bike as it is baaadly dinged up from getting beaten up and down trails. lol. you guys have given me a lot of great ideas... now to see if my rents will let me steal a section of their garage and make a painting booth in there, as my apt probably wouldnt be the best place for this! I should just buy a spray gun for my Dad's air compressor. now that would be sick.

but anyways, my bike is a specialized and has a silver, red and black paint scheme. I wanna do something similar, but more rugged. would a matte paint be a better choice for anti-chipping and scratching?