Painting My Olympic Weight Set, Need Advice...

[singh376]

Hi,

i wanted to repaint my Olympic weight set because the the old paint looks like crap. I would have to sand the old paint then repaint them, but is primer necessary?

i painted one of the plates, lightly sanding it before. But the paint would scratch very easily. I run my nails over the surface, and the marks would not rub off.

any advice would be great.


thanks....

[fabtechprerunne]

Honestly, your best bet is to have them sand blasted and powder coated. The powder coat will not chip as easily as other paints.

[adaje41]

I used Rust-Oleum paint on mine, almost no prep work just scrapped off the thick caked rusts. No issues with chipping or rust 6 months after:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Rust-Oleu...4#.UbXXftgQooE

[Dark Phoenix]

I used Rust-Oleum paint on mine, almost no prep work just scrapped off the thick caked rusts. No issues with chipping or rust 6 months after:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Rust-Oleu...4#.UbXXftgQooE

I had massive water damage last year, a number of plates started to rust, so this is what I did. No issues.

[morebarbell]

I'm in the process of repainting two Ivanko OM plates that I rescued. They had previously been repainted without removing the remaining original paint and the uneven layers of peeling paint looked poor.

I thought it best to remove all of the layers of paint before repainting. I think it will be less likely to chip and peel and will also look much better. One option was to use a wire wheel on a rotary drill but I wanted to preserve the machined surfaces as much as possible.

I decided to pick up a stripper at Walmart. Some of you more experienced guys might know a better place to pick up strippers. If you are a novice, using "stripper" as an internet search term should be a real eye opener.



I was happy with the ending. A good stripper will do most of the work.



When I was finished with the stripper, I scrubbed every nook and cranny. It's important to wear protection. I double gloved.

I primed the plates with Rust-oleum rust reformer but I haven't gotten around to painting it yet.



I thought I might paint it Rust-oleum hammer tone Rosemary but it's a little more gold in color than the original paint.



Also hammer tone paint is best for covering up flaws but the OM plates are nicely machined. I will probably end up painting them black...like the song... since the early Ivanko plates were black.

[Stasher1]

I decided to pick up a stripper at Walmart. Some of you more experienced guys might know a better place to pick up strippers. If you are a novice, using "stripper" as an internet search term should be a real eye opener.

I was happy with the ending. A good stripper will do most of the work.

When I was finished with the stripper, I scrubbed every nook and cranny. It's important to wear protection. I double gloved.

Too easy.

The last one is sig-worthy.

[AttyGuy]

Honestly, your best bet is to have them sand blasted and powder coated. The powder coat will not chip as easily as other paints.

Really? At what cost?

The issue with sand blasting is that it will remove not just the paint, but also any foundry putty the manufacturer may have used to fill any imperfections in the weights. For many weights, a good wire wheel brush, a post-brush wi****wn with a clean rag, and some paint are all that is necessary. I strip only plates that need it; previously painted plates done by amateurs. Flat or semi-gloss black also hide imperfections well and are easy to touch up if required.

Of course, what do I know? I've only repainted 2-3000 pounds of dumbbells and 5000 pounds or more of plates. . . .

[morebarbell]

Too easy.

The last one is sig-worthy.

Easy and cheap... but messy.