Painting bandsaw, wipe down metal with what?

[Randall J Cox]

I'm cleaning up an older green Powermatic 20" bandsaw that was in commercial use for many years. Lots of scratches, written on with black flow pen, etc. Going to sand then spray it with dark green hammered rattle cans. What should I wipe it down with just prior to spraying? Randy

[Jim Becker]

Degreasing is important, so maybe TSP to start followed by a final wipe with DNA and a lint-free cloth.

[Mark Gibney]

I use kerosene to wipe down machinery.

A note about using alcohol - it typically contains ingredients other than actual alcohol and can ruin the paint finish on machinery that isn't going to be painted.

[Dave Sabo]

WOULD NOT be using kerosene or any other petroleum based product for my final wipe down.

Wouldn’t use TSP / water at any point on an iron or steel machine. But that’s me.

Prepsol or an equivalent from another brand is what the auto guys use. Some will use isopropyl alcohol. Be sure to wipe it off before it dries / flashes off though. Follow up with a tack cloth wadded up in a ball.

[Marc Fenneuff]

I wipe down surfaces with odorless mineral spirits. Done this on several machine re-paints. If leaving existing paint I usually wipe down with tack cloth before painting.

[David Kreuzberg]

Try this. Good stuff.

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/prep-all/klean-strip-prep-all-1-gallon-wax-and-grease-remover/kln4/sw3621?q=prepall&pos=0

[Dan Friedrichs]

Absolutely nothing. Watch this (short) video with a side-by-side comparison of nothing vs solvent, showing that 'no cleaning' (of bare metal) is more durable: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7onZGqrYyY

(The thing I hate about these types of question is that every answer is someone offering the one thing they've always used, with zero evidence that it's superior to anything else.)

[Dave Sabo]

My guess is Randall isn’t taking it to bare metal give the use of rattle can hammered finish.

[Randall J Cox]

Yes Dave you're correct, I'm not taking it down to bare metal. Have done that before, not this time on this machine. Dan, I watched your video and after sanding and blowing sanding dust off with compressed air, I'm just going to start painting. The paint color is right and its gloss and "hammered" which they advertise will cover minor imperfections and that you can paint right over rust (not that I would do that). Might be a couple of weeks before I'm ready to paint, have some mechanical stuff to fix and adjust first. Maybe i'll do before and after pics, of the paint at least. Anyway, thanks for all the replies! Randy

[Brian Deakin]

I do not know if this is a good idea but have you considered having the bandsaw sand of shot blasted It would also solve the step of cleaning the bandsaw
I had an old vice shot blasted and was impressed by the results and it did save a lot of time

[Philip Glover]

I have been using Prep All for many years and it has never let me down.

Regards,

Phil

[Randall J Cox]

I do not know if this is a good idea but have you considered having the bandsaw sand of shot blasted It would also solve the step of cleaning the bandsaw
I had an old vice shot blasted and was impressed by the results and it did save a lot of time

The bandsaw is somewhere around 1,000 lbs and isn't moving out of my garage now that its in. Nor am I taking it apart to totally strip and repaint. I'm trying to keep it simple this time. As I'm 75 I'll leave it to the next owner to do a total rehab. I might replace bearings in motor and wheels, not sure yet. just got it running today with new switch. I used to watch them bead blast B-52 bombers prior to repainting at Kelly AFB in Tx years ago, really cool. Good idea, just not this time. Tx. Randy

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Dan Gelbart shows how he uses Comet in one of his videos.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7onZGqrYyY

[Pat Germain]

Wax & Grease remover would also work well.

For extra adherence, I would also suggest scuffing the paint and shooting on a light coat of primer. I restored a car a few years ago and I found the Duplicolor high-temp primer works very well. You don't need the high-temp feature, but it's reasonably priced and you can find it at most auto parts stores.

As you likely know, multiple lighter coats of the top coat are better than one or two heavy coats to avoid runs and solvent pop.

[Alex Zeller]

I just use a tack cloth to wipe it down to get the last of the dust off of it. If it was down to bare metal I would use an etching primer first but if you are just painting over the original paint then I wouldn't bother with primer.

[Richard Coers]

Take a trip to an automotive paint store. Prep Sol was what I use when painting cars. http://products.axaltacs.com/dcat/us/en/dr/product/3919S.html?desktop=true

[Pat Germain]

Every extra step you take will help with adhesion and durability. You don't really need to scuff the old pain, but doing so will help. You don't really need to use primer, but doing so will help.

[Randall J Cox]

Lots of good ideas from you all with tons more experience painting than I have. I have sanded and rattle canned about 4 previous old Delta machines over the years and they are all holding up fine. I'm pretty gentile with my stuff so not to surprising. And the mild, but hot, weather here in Central Calif helps too, very low humidity. Randy