Members flanc Posted February 21, 2007 Members Share Posted February 21, 2007 I picked up a pair of used Yorkville EM168 monitors. The grills are a bit dented and I'm in the process of banging out the dents with a rubber mallet. I also added a second speakon connection since I toften daisey-chain two monitors per mix and don't like 1/4" connections for speakers. Anyway...after I finish straightening the grills, I'd like to hit them with a fresh coat of black paint. Any suggestions for paint that will last and not scratch off easily? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted February 21, 2007 Members Share Posted February 21, 2007 Sand the face of the grille with a pad sander and 320 grit to clean up and provide adhesion for the new paint. Real grilles are "painted" with a powder coating process which is a very tough finish and not DIY at all. Automotive type paints are another option but also not too practical. Rattle-can type spray paint is not very durable, but there are "epoxy" type products (not real catalyzed epoxy) that dry pretty hard over time but I have had [reasonable] luck with the Krylon gloss sprays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Not Serial Posted February 21, 2007 Members Share Posted February 21, 2007 appliance paint is pretty tough, i have painted things white with this and have been impressed with its durablity. i am unaware if it is available in black. it may be possible to have someone locally powder coat the items for you, although it probably will not be inexpensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members milesdf Posted February 21, 2007 Members Share Posted February 21, 2007 I recently redid a stage box, for paint i used krylon epoxy enamel, gloss black. After sanding down the old stuff pretty smoothly (there was still some old paint on it after i sanded) I hit it with about 3 decent coats. A day later I beat it against the floor and then tried to scratch it with a nail, didnt really have any effect. I found it at kmart (where I just happened to be shopping) so I imagine its readily availible elsewhere. The stuff was really expensive though, like $5.50 a can vs. $3.00 for generic gloss black. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members W. M. Hellinger Posted February 21, 2007 Members Share Posted February 21, 2007 Real grilles are "painted" with a powder coating process which is a very tough finish and not DIY at all. DIY powder coating does exist. It's popular with the NRA crowd. Apparently the stuff is foo-foo can applied and then you bake it on in your household oven. You might be able to touch up the nasties in your grills with this stuff without resorting to doing a Krylon overhaul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hamer Posted February 21, 2007 Members Share Posted February 21, 2007 DIY powder coating does exist. It's popular with the NRA crowd. Apparently the stuff is foo-foo can applied and then you bake it on in your household oven. You might be able to touch up the nasties in your grills with this stuff without resorting to doing a Krylon overhaul. I used trimclad rust paint on my elites semi gloss so far so good (spray can) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ihateyouguys Posted February 21, 2007 Members Share Posted February 21, 2007 DIY powder coating does exist. It's popular with the NRA crowd. Apparently the stuff is foo-foo can applied and then you bake it on in your household oven. You might be able to touch up the nasties in your grills with this stuff without resorting to doing a Krylon overhaul. Caswell plating has a website with instructions, a forum, and DIY supplies. http://www.caswellplating.com/ It's been awhile since I looked into it but the powder is applied to the item, which is imparted with an electric charge that attracts the powder. Then it's baked, either in an oven or with heat lamps. If the OP just has a couple grilles to do it might not be worth the cost & effort - but I'd probably do it just for the experience. If you want a tougher spray paint, try the stuff that's meant for appliances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members flanc Posted February 22, 2007 Author Members Share Posted February 22, 2007 DIY powder coating does exist. It's popular with the NRA crowd. Apparently the stuff is foo-foo can applied and then you bake it on in your household oven. You might be able to touch up the nasties in your grills with this stuff without resorting to doing a Krylon overhaul. That looks pretty cool....just don't think I'd use it enough to justify the purchase. I straightened out the dents as best I could with a rubber mallet....got it pretty decent. I sanded the grill and gave it a couple coat of the Epoxy Appliance paint that was recommended. It looks pretty good. It'll have 48 hours to dry before I use it at a gig this weekend. Worst case...I wasted $5 and some time sanding and then....I'll have to buy the powder coating rig. What we guys will do to justify more tools! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author Craig Vecchione Posted February 22, 2007 CMS Author Share Posted February 22, 2007 Use the $3 can. Sand before application, use some red or gray primer if the adhesion seems iffy. If it scratches or peels, it'll only cost you the rest of the $3 can or possibly another $3 can. Sometimes cheap and cheery is the way to go..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members flanc Posted February 22, 2007 Author Members Share Posted February 22, 2007 Use the $3 can. Sand before application, use some red or gray primer if the adhesion seems iffy. If it scratches or peels, it'll only cost you the rest of the $3 can or possibly another $3 can. Sometimes cheap and cheery is the way to go..... Yeah...I stepped up to the $5 can. http://www.rustoleum.com/product.asp?frm_product_id=33&SBL=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted February 22, 2007 Members Share Posted February 22, 2007 Caswell plating has a website with instructions, a forum, and DIY supplies. http://www.caswellplating.com/ Wow, totally cool. I worked in the metal finishing industry along with my dad many years ago. Also, worked in a circuit board shop. The haz-mat regulations are so tough (in CA at least) that we couldn't plate anything without a permit. I wouldn't have expected any kind of this to be available to DIY. The chrome plating materials (hex chrome) is extremely toxic... wonder how they get around the disposal issues? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ihateyouguys Posted February 22, 2007 Members Share Posted February 22, 2007 Wow, totally cool. I worked in the metal finishing industry along with my dad many years ago. Also, worked in a circuit board shop. The haz-mat regulations are so tough (in CA at least) that we couldn't plate anything without a permit. I wouldn't have expected any kind of this to be available to DIY. The chrome plating materials (hex chrome) is extremely toxic... wonder how they get around the disposal issues? It's been awhile, but I think there really isn't an issue with hazmat and disposal. Part of the benefits is that if you set it up right, any overspray should be reusable, because it should only sticked to the charged item. So in theory you could keep collecting the excess and use it until it's gone. I recall a story about the haz mat regulations in CA - apparently some city - was it compton? Had a thriving furniture industry decades ago but then really tough regulations were passed that prohibited the use of certain chemicals that were used to finish the furniture, so the industry went away. I'd like to get into powder coating just to learn how to do it, but I never had the space for the setup. But if I ever do I'm sure I'll have to control myself otherwise I'll end up powder coating random objects just for fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted February 22, 2007 Members Share Posted February 22, 2007 I was talking about the plating chemicals, not the powder coating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ihateyouguys Posted February 22, 2007 Members Share Posted February 22, 2007 I was talking about the plating chemicals, not the powder coating. DOh! Powder coating on the brain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members W. M. Hellinger Posted February 22, 2007 Members Share Posted February 22, 2007 Wow, totally cool. I worked in the metal finishing industry along with my dad many years ago. Also, worked in a circuit board shop. The haz-mat regulations are so tough (in CA at least) that we couldn't plate anything without a permit. I wouldn't have expected any kind of this to be available to DIY. The chrome plating materials (hex chrome) is extremely toxic... wonder how they get around the disposal issues? I'm of the impression that powder coating is basically some sort of melted glass type stuff... extremely low environmental impact. I had every painted metal item on my motor scooter powder coated, during which I had a good chat with the powder coat shop owner... where-upon he explained the virtues of the product and how he's picked up a lot of work from manufactures who have abandoned their paintbooths due to the all but impossible to meet regulation compliance issues. Anyway... I'm knee deep in a hot-rod 66 Chevy pick-up project... and I'm thinking that DIYS powder coat system is something I can't live without. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members W. M. Hellinger Posted February 23, 2007 Members Share Posted February 23, 2007 I'd like to get into powder coating just to learn how to do it, but I never had the space for the setup. But if I ever do I'm sure I'll have to control myself otherwise I'll end up powder coating random objects just for fun. If I was 25 again... I go directly to a bank, get a business loan, rent a huge-assed building in a industrial park and set up the biggest powder coating business my borrowing power would allow. I'm of the impression that my only problem after that would be deciding what shape to make my swimming pool and picking out the color of the leather seats in my Corvette. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mr.Talent Posted February 23, 2007 Members Share Posted February 23, 2007 Just use some Krylon or Rustoleum and call it rock and roll... if they get scatched- paint'em again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted February 23, 2007 Members Share Posted February 23, 2007 Powder coating is essentially melt-bonded plastic or resin type material. It is very environmentally friendly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zeromus-X Posted February 23, 2007 Members Share Posted February 23, 2007 If I was 25 again... I go directly to a bank, get a business loan, rent a huge-assed building in a industrial park and set up the biggest powder coating business my borrowing power would allow. I'm of the impression that my only problem after that would be deciding what shape to make my swimming pool and picking out the color of the leather seats in my Corvette. Is it really that big of a business? I can't see that. But if it is, I'm 25 with decent credit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members W. M. Hellinger Posted February 23, 2007 Members Share Posted February 23, 2007 Is it really that big of a business? I can't see that. But if it is, I'm 25 with decent credit. Lemme 'splain: When I had the parts for my scooter powder coated, the powder coat shop had literally 5 acres+++ of work stacked up in the yard, a big-assed (powder coated) "HELP WANTED, NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY" sign hanging on the front of the shop... and was building another approx. 50K sq. ft. building and installing equipment as fast as they could... 'cause "everybody" (local manufactures) was/are abandoning their paint booths and going to powder coat finishes. And the finished product looks GREAT... for decades... even if it spends it's life dipped in salt. And the powder coat shop's MSDS file was about 3/4" thick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DJ Swydez Posted February 23, 2007 Members Share Posted February 23, 2007 Lemme 'splain: When I had the parts for my scooter powder coated, the powder coat shop had literally 5 acres+++ of work stacked up in the yard, a big-assed (powder coated) "HELP WANTED, NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY" sign hanging on the front of the shop... and was building another approx. 50K sq. ft. building and installing equipment as fast as they could... 'cause "everybody" (local manufactures) was/are abandoning their paint booths and going to powder coat finishes. And the finished product looks GREAT... for decades... even if it spends it's life dipped in salt. And the powder coat shop's MSDS file was about 3/4" thick. Wow that does sound like a BOOMING business! Does it cost a lot to have items powder-coated at a place such as that? Either way, whoever owns that places is probably moving his cash home in semi trucks. How would a person go about getting into a business such as that? I'm not thinking rite now... but possibly in the future... cuz I'm not even 25 yet. Plus, I'm rite outside a large city with tons of manufacturing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author Craig Vecchione Posted February 23, 2007 CMS Author Share Posted February 23, 2007 Wow that does sound like a BOOMING business! Does it cost a lot to have items powder-coated at a place such as that? Either way, whoever owns that places is probably moving his cash home in semi trucks. How would a person go about getting into a business such as that? I'm not thinking rite now... but possibly in the future... cuz I'm not even 25 yet. Plus, I'm rite outside a large city with tons of manufacturing. Same as with any business....do your homework, and there's lots of it. 1. Know the business; if you don't know how to powdercoat, learn it inside and out. 2. Know business. You can be an expert -coater and not be someone who can run a business. Take courses, join the local small business associations, join social clubs and network with owners. 3. Know your market. The guy Mark uses may be enjoying a long-term growth because there are a bunch of businesses that will need coating services for years to come, or maybe he's riding the crest of a wave because there's a short-term need being filled. Either can be lucrative provided you structure your investment accordingly...don't buy space and equipment if the need is short-term, for instance, and don't go long-term on your business loans. Get in, make a profit, and get out, all the while looking for where to invest next. 4. 25 isn't too young to start a business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members flanc Posted March 6, 2007 Author Members Share Posted March 6, 2007 Update: I straighted and painted the grills with Rustoleum Epoxy Appliance paint. I also punched out another hole in the jack plate and installed a second parallel speakon adapter (to go with the dual 1/4 jacks). Anyway, I've used these monitors for 3 gigs now and not a scratch on the grill. I'm sure I'd be happier with the powder coating, but for $5 this was a great solution. A quick word about the performance of these 30lb little guys. Again, they are discontinued Yorkville EM168 10" monitors. They really do a nice job as a vocal monitor. They don't have much bass output .... but for vocals (and a touch of keys) they are really nice and are half the weight of the wedges they replaced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 6Imzadi Posted March 6, 2007 Members Share Posted March 6, 2007 What about the truck bed liner paint? I have used it on a couple of things, and it seems to stick pretty well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted March 6, 2007 Members Share Posted March 6, 2007 It would look pretty nasty on grilles IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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