Painting Weight Plates.

G'day all,

I scored some Olympic plates for free and I would like to repaint them as they are rusting a little and paint is chipped.

I read in other forums the steps for repainting is to;
- clean plates with wire brush on drill
- use rustoleom
- paint with hammertone paint

problem is in Australia we don't have any of those brands.

Questions are;

any cleaning tips? I was thinking of just using water and vinegar solution with steel wool.

when cleaning or removing rust do I have to strip all the paint that was previously on there?

will spray can paint work? and what type?

Thanks everyone in advance.

I would put up pics of progress but I have no posts.

[B]If you can please post before and after pics of your plates[/B]

[QUOTE=justtri;686945981]G'day all,

I scored some Olympic plates for free and I would like to repaint them as they are rusting a little and paint is chipped.

I read in other forums the steps for repainting is to;
- clean plates with wire brush on drill
- use rustoleom
- paint with hammertone paint

problem is in Australia we don't have any of those brands.

Questions are;

any cleaning tips? I was thinking of just using water and vinegar solution with steel wool.

when cleaning or removing rust do I have to strip all the paint that was previously on there?

will spray can paint work? and what type?

Thanks everyone in advance.

I would put up pics of progress but I have no posts.[/QUOTE]

They don't have drills and wire brushes in Austrailia?

this is a drill:
[img]http://www.cksinfo.com/clipart/construction/tools/drills/electric-drill.png[/img]

This is the wire brush they are talking about:
[img]http://www.toolstation.com/images/library/stock/webbig/56238.jpg[/img]

Use that to get the rust and flaked paint off. You can use a handheld wire brush and/or sand paper without a problem, but it'll take you a lot longer. Steel wool is WAY too fine to get anything out of it.

I doubt that you'll have any luck with water + vinegar, but acetone, or denatured alcohol will help a ton with cleaning up any old grease/oil residue before you paint.

Rustoleum is nice, but not necessarry. Just make sure you use a primer/sealer on them before you paint them. If you don't have some sort of primer first, you'll have adhesion issues with what ever paint you choose.

The reason hammer tone paint is recommended is two fold. Primarily, it looks cool and holds up well. But another key component is that it hides imperfections in the finish. Any 'hammered' paint finish will work well.

Here's an example
[url]http://www.whiteknightpaints.com.au/product/view/hammered-finish[/url]

Were still using stone tools lad.....lol joker

Thanks for the input. So Hammered is the finish, expensive though (on a student budget).

So are people painting the plates with a brush or spray through a air gun?

So do I wire brush all the old paint so its bare metal or just all the loose paint?

Cheers

[QUOTE=justtri;686996491]Were still using stone tools lad.....lol joker

Thanks for the input. So Hammered is the finish, expensive though (on a student budget).

So are people painting the plates with a brush or spray through a air gun?

So do I wire brush all the old paint so its bare metal or just all the loose paint?

Cheers[/QUOTE]

Hammered is the finish, and I just used that one link as an example. Check out your local stores for different finishes and prices. Spray on, whether aerosol, or with a gun will look better than brush/roll on as a general rule. Brush/roll on is, typically, less expensive though. Personally, I'd spray it on since I already have the equipment to do so.

I wouldn't worry about the entire surface, just wire brush off the loose paint, and use a little sand paper to cut any edge off the paint chip for looks. Also, try and get under the paint so that you know you're not dealing with any loose paint.

Be sure to clean the surface really well before you prime & paint too. Don't just dust it off and go at it, or you'll end up doing this again before too long. Clean the surface real well with a solvent to remove any grease, oil, or sanding dust.

Thanks champion. I will have to post pics with before and after (that is if i do a decent job)

[QUOTE=cavymeister;687060041]Hammered is the finish, and I just used that one link as an example. Check out your local stores for different finishes and prices. Spray on, whether aerosol, or with a gun will look better than brush/roll on as a general rule. Brush/roll on is, typically, less expensive though. Personally, I'd spray it on since I already have the equipment to do so.

I wouldn't worry about the entire surface, just wire brush off the loose paint, and use a little sand paper to cut any edge off the paint chip for looks. Also, try and get under the paint so that you know you're not dealing with any loose paint.

Be sure to clean the surface really well before you prime & paint too. Don't just dust it off and go at it, or you'll end up doing this again before too long. Clean the surface real well with a solvent to remove any grease, oil, or sanding dust.[/QUOTE]

I just finished a major refurbishing project with over 1000 pounds of old rusty plates.

[url]http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=134114601[/url]

Let me know if you have further questions.

That is a wicked job you did man. I'm going to try and replicate your work with some standard size plates before trying it out on the Olympic plates. It looks like a lot of work but i got the time.

Do you have a spray gun or did the paint come in a spray can?

And is it only 1 coat you put on?

[QUOTE=justtri;687560211]That is a wicked job you did man. I'm going to try and replicate your work with some standard size plates before trying it out on the Olympic plates. It looks like a lot of work but i got the time.

Do you have a spray gun or did the paint come in a spray can?

And is it only 1 coat you put on?[/QUOTE]Its one coat of a primer/paint spray can. If I missed a spot or was thin in a spot...I hit it again with a second spot coatioing. I cant say with 100% certainty that the paint will hold up as plates clang together as I have only had a few in the weight room. I expect them to wear just like normal weight plates would.

Just dont be in a hurry. Clean and brush one night, paint side A the next night, do the other side the next night, letter them the next night, and then let them sit for a few days to really harden

I went to the hardware store and they can order some rustoleum brand hammered spray paint.

I will give that a go. How much is a can over where you are? Just curious as it was $12 here.

[QUOTE=justtri;687848571]I went to the hardware store and they can order some rustoleum brand hammered spray paint.

I will give that a go. How much is a can over where you are? Just curious as it was $12 here.[/QUOTE]

It's around $7 here in southwest PA.

I had a crack with some weights i don't use and cheap enamel spray paint as a test.

They turned out ok.

[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/59/p4300174.jpg/][IMG]http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/3184/p4300174.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Still wet

[URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/42/p4300177.jpg/][IMG]http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/7667/p4300177.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

so you just sprayed over the rust?

[QUOTE=cassas00;689658831]so you just sprayed over the rust?[/QUOTE]

I soaked them in coke for 2 days then scrubbed them. I didn't want to put too much effort into the test spray.