experiences with duplicolor enamel baking?

[Alex Liebert]

A few people have reccommended Duplicolor Engine Enamel when refinishing old planes. I got less than great results and am preparing to strip it off and try again.

Either way though, I can see this stuff cures very slowly, and though the can doesn't explicitly recommend baking it my guess now is it's the way to go for enamel.

Has anyone here used this finish (or another aerosol enamel) on a cast iron tool- and if you baked it, could you share your exact baking procedure?

[Ted Martens]

Yep, did a block plane many years ago with (I think) Rustoleum. May have been Krylon, it was a long time ago.

Anyway, I did it at work where I had access to small pre-heat ovens that ran at 160 degrees F. I also had a couple attempts that had to be stripped and recoated - what worked was to heat the plane body before applying the paint, and put it right back in the oven to cure it. It probably was in pre-heat for 40 minutes to an hour in the oven before applying the first coat.

The hot surface flashed the solvents quickly enough to prevent runs or sags. IIRC, it took 3 or 4 coats to get to a thickness that really emulated the original Japan finish.

I haven't done it to any plane since, cuz it always kind of bothered me that it looked too 'new' - felt a little bit like forgery, I guess. The older I get, the more I appreciate the blemishes and imperfections in tools, and in people. "Perfect" is nice, but it never has an interesting story.

I kept that plane for about 25 years before giving it to a friend in need, and it still looked 'new' when it went on to it's current steward.
Ted

[don wilwol]

I never bake dupli-color. At one time the can had explicite instructions not to, but those instructions are not on the can any more.

I recoat every 15 minutes and remove the masking after an hour or two. It dries well enough to do anything overnight although it says full cure happens in about 7 days.

[Alex Liebert]

Yep, did a block plane many years ago with (I think) Rustoleum. May have been Krylon, it was a long time ago.

Anyway, I did it at work where I had access to small pre-heat ovens that ran at 160 degrees F. I also had a couple attempts that had to be stripped and recoated - what worked was to heat the plane body before applying the paint, and put it right back in the oven to cure it. It probably was in pre-heat for 40 minutes to an hour in the oven before applying the first coat.

The hot surface flashed the solvents quickly enough to prevent runs or sags. IIRC, it took 3 or 4 coats to get to a thickness that really emulated the original Japan finish.

I haven't done it to any plane since, cuz it always kind of bothered me that it looked too 'new' - felt a little bit like forgery, I guess. The older I get, the more I appreciate the blemishes and imperfections in tools, and in people. "Perfect" is nice, but it never has an interesting story.

I kept that plane for about 25 years before giving it to a friend in need, and it still looked 'new' when it went on to it's current steward.
Ted

Thanks Ted! I may experiment with a toaster oven then.

[Alex Liebert]

I never bake dupli-color. At one time the can had explicite instructions not to, but those instructions are not on the can any more.

I recoat every 15 minutes and remove the masking after an hour or two. It dries well enough to do anything overnight although it says full cure happens in about 7 days.

Thanks Don! It looks like you end up with a pretty heavy film, and you have no problem handling it roughly enough for the wire wheel etc just a day after painting. Do you not notice any finger prints or fingernail depressions etc when handling so soon?