Painting in the winter?

[Guest]

Right now it's about 35 degrees in my garage and the weather's not getting any warmer. I got a bunch of small pieces I need to rattle can paint. I can paint in my garage, but would need to open it up for ventilation. I use a space heater when I work in the garage that gets the temp up to maybe 50degrees. Any suggestions, tips, ideas how to paint in with the cold weather? Or do I just have to wait till the spring?

[GateKeeper]

keep the parts warm, keep the paint warm, hang the parts, spray them, give them a short time, and then bring them indoors to dry and cure.....once the paint dries a bit it don't stink.....believe me, it's how I am doing it as well......other than the brush on paint I am using, this I am doing directly in the basement....with the bathroom fan on of course.....

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[tkent02]

I painted two complete motorcycles in winter, just by keeping the parts and the paint inside and warm, take one piece at a time outside to quickly shoot it, immediately bring it back inside to dry. I have done this in temperatures down to the low twenties F, maybe colder. Have also sprayed a lot of smaller parts this way, no problems with any of them. Spraying inside makes no sense if you have to open up to ventilate, because the parts will get cold before they dry, that is no good. As long as the paint is warm and the piece stays warm, the air temperature doesn't seem to matter. If you spray outside there is no need to ventilate, you can smell the paint drying but it's not bad. I did this in the kitchen one year when we lived in an apartment, my wife didn't even notice after an hour or so.



The good news is there are no bugs and very little chance of dust in cold weather.

Snowflakes will need to be wetsanded out, so don't shoot if it's snowing. :-)



Keep both the spray can and the piece to be sprayed in the house where it's 70 plus degrees. I don't think they will dry correctly if the temp is much lower than about 70 or so.

I would set up to hang the pieces above the space heater to dry. Even better hang them in the warm house to dry. It won't stink much.

[azr]

I did some engine painting today (parts off the bike of course). Heated up the shed a bit where I did the spraying, then I cooked them in the BBQ, once that's done there is no smell at all. If they're small parts you could use a cheap old toaster oven.

[crackerman]

Some good info. Thanks guys,

I'm going to pick up a toaster over to bake some of the parts and I can use it to bake some small stuff that I powdercoat.

[tkent02]

Some good info. Thanks guys,

I'm going to pick up a toaster over to bake some of the parts and I can use it to bake some small stuff that I powdercoat.

Toaster oven, bought this at the goodwill or $7, but if I had to do it again i'd hold out for a bigger one. I guess they make frozen pizza sized ovens?



Frozen pizza sized would do just about everything you need.

[gsgeezer]

Toaster ovens work great for curing small parts, I have also set them on an old cookie sheet on top of a heater.

[chuck hahn]

Get a tarp of some plastic sheeting and section off half the garage. Be sure to put something up across the bottom of the rafters too...no sense in heating useless space. And the less area your heating, the temps may improve too. Rools of that plastic painter drop cloth are good.

Shoot the parts and set them as close to the heater as you can to cure. (Use something metal to set them on for accidental fire reasons)..then keep them warm for the cure process.

[spyug]

Like GK and tkent and others I do it all the time and never an issue. Just follow their directions. In the case of things like the engine that are heavy and unwieldy to move I will leave them in the garage and put halogen lights and space heaters very close to them for several hours to get the metal warm. Then remove the heat source and spray, then reapply the heat.

To cure smaller parts I use the Mark 1 Easy Bake Oven and space heater or halogen lamp. works a treat:



Old computer case lined with some aluminum foil.

Good luck with your projects.

[crackerman]

Great idea with the computer case. I work in IT so I see these computers go through recycling all the time. Def stealing that idea.

Like GK and tkent and others I do it all the time and never an issue. Just follow their directions. In the case of things like the engine that are heavy and unwieldy to move I will leave them in the garage and put halogen lights and space heaters very close to them for several hours to get the metal warm. Then remove the heat source and spray, then reapply the heat.

To cure smaller parts I use the Mark 1 Easy Bake Oven and space heater or halogen lamp. works a treat:



Old computer case lined with some aluminum foil.

Good luck with your projects.

[cowboyup3371]

Like the OP, I'd like to do this. However, the only thing I haven't found looking on VHT's or Duplicolor's cans or sites is what temp and how long for the smaller parts. It's one reason I've been so hesitant to start. What would you all recommend?

[jsandidge]

Vht

Like the OP, I'd like to do this. However, the only thing I haven't found looking on VHT's or Duplicolor's cans or sites is what temp and how long for the smaller parts. It's one reason I've been so hesitant to start. What would you all recommend?

Just did my calipers with VHT caliper paint. They recommend spraying with temps between 60 - 95?F, and humidity below 60%. Let dry for at least 48 hours. Cure at 200F for 1 hour. I guess even smaller parts would be the same.

It was only about 40F here, so I used the method above using warm paint and calipers that had been in the house. Took them to the garage to spray, then hung them back in the house to dry. Hardly noticed the smell in the house. I waited about 4 days to bake them. Paint is good and hard.

[cowboyup3371]

Cure at 200F for 1 hour. I guess even smaller parts would be the same.

.

Thank you, this is what I was looking for.

[tkent02]

Spyug, do you know how hot it can get inside this easy baker?

Any chance of getting the parts anywhere near 400F to cure powder coat?


Looks like a really great idea.

[Roscoe]

Brilliant!