Orange peel on new pocket clips after painting. Is this normal??

MTHall720

MTHall720

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Sep 21, 2010
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Due to the knife unfriendly atmosphere of work I decided to paint black two new pocket clips (new knives) which were a bright satin to start with. Didn't think any cleaning was needed. Now bad orange peel even with light coats.
Any thoughts on this?

Thanks much!:confused:
 
Cleaning was needed.

I'd soak them in Acetone or MEK (gloves and good ventilation a must, of course) to strip off the new paint, then sandblast or lightly sand them to remove the gloss and prepare the surface. Wipe them down one more time to make REALLY sure they are fully clean, then apply your coating. I've had good luck with KG Gunkote for that kind of thing.
 
If you want a quick fix try heat shrink tubing.
 
I hadn't thought any of those things. Would nail polish remover have enough acetone in it?
 
It most likely would, or at least enough to significantly help. I'd just be concerned with whatever other stuff is in it as well, more than the acetone content itself. When you're painting metal, there really IS no such thing as "too clean." Is it absolutely necessary? Probably not, but it is a cheap way of greatly improving your chances of a clean, well-bonded coating. Depending on the paint, I'd be a bit worried by the oily residue that mineral spirits tend to leave behind. Might not hurt with the right paint, or it might be a killer. That's the reason I mentioned acetone or MEK, they both evaporate clean. I've had particularly good luck with acetone. For any of these, you will want gloves and good ventilation! Don't take risks with your health. :)

The shrink tube is a darn good idea for a quick fix, no trouble at all there.
 
I've never noticed an oily residue left behind by paint thinner . . I could be wrong but a substance designed to remove oil based paints probably isn't going to be oily. And it should evaporate cleanly. Nail polish remover on the other hand has some sort of moisturizer or something and a few other things in it and will leave a residue. Pure acetone is a little less noxious than paint thinner and is great as an all purpose solvent but not as many people have it in their garage. You can get away with using small quantities of acetone inside but don't bring the aint thinner in :)

Komitadjie said:
It most likely would, or at least enough to significantly help. I'd just be concerned with whatever other stuff is in it as well, more than the acetone content itself. When you're painting metal, there really IS no such thing as "too clean." Is it absolutely necessary? Probably not, but it is a cheap way of greatly improving your chances of a clean, well-bonded coating. Depending on the paint, I'd be a bit worried by the oily residue that mineral spirits tend to leave behind. Might not hurt with the right paint, or it might be a killer. That's the reason I mentioned acetone or MEK, they both evaporate clean. I've had particularly good luck with acetone. For any of these, you will want gloves and good ventilation! Don't take risks with your health. :)

The shrink tube is a darn good idea for a quick fix, no trouble at all there.
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The only reason I know about the slight residue remaining is because I've used it to wipe adhesive remaining from shipping stickers and tape on glass. It's not a lot, but it leaves a thin, oily film behind. Probably not a problem with an oil-based paint, but I'm not sure what he's working with. It's actually really, really hard to find a SINGLE solvent that will clean everything. We used a three-cycle wash in the chem lab to get things "fully" clean, if we did not want to resort to an acid wash. Toluline, then Methanol, then Acetone was the typical regimine, as I recall.

Acetone is quite easy to come by around here, every hardware store has it in my area, which is one of the reasons that led me to mention it. I definitely agree about the nail polish remover, though. Those "extras" could cause all kinds of weird problems.
 
I was using Rustoleum brand metal spray paint in semi gloss black. Now I will try acetone and use a brush on touch up paint used for cars. I later want to paint torx screws an thumb studs in a different color. Just my way of doing small mods.
 
I'd actually be tempted to clean it very well and give the Rust-o another shot. It's good paint for metals, and will leave a nicer finish than a brushed-on one. The brush-on will work well for screw heads, though!

Good luck! Post pictures. :)
 
Komitadjie said:
The only reason I know about the slight residue remaining is because I've used it to wipe adhesive remaining from shipping stickers and tape on glass. It's not a lot, but it leaves a thin, oily film behind. Probably not a problem with an oil-based paint, but I'm not sure what he's working with.
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I'm thinking the residue was from the adhesive because i've had that happen before with other solvents. Not that it really matters :)
 
After all your trouble the paint will chip off especially on the edges. It will look like a Benchmade clip in no time.
 
Entirely possible. I'm actually now going to have to go pull out a piece of spare glass and do some streak tests with various solvents. Because now I'm curious. :)
 
lol we think alike. Too bad i don't have a garage (or shed or backyard) to conduct my tests simultaneously.
 
Clean it to bare metal with what paint manufacturer reccomends, often a solvent like brake cleaner followed by 91% alcohol or TSP and water with a full rinse and air dry. Roughen surface with steelwool first. Apply coat of metal primer then paint. Orange peel is often a sprayer or technique problem. Try another can and use several light coats at correct distance. Practice spraying on piece of junk sheet metal first.
 
Now I am wondering after seeing something on you tube if it may be worth trying a whole different approach by ending with a highly polished clip, followed by flame anodizing. I never tried that though and don't know if just a little mini torch applied to a highly polished metal pocket clip would give decent multi colored results or not.
 
MTHall720 said:
Now I am wondering after seeing something on you tube if it may be worth trying a whole different approach by ending with a highly polished clip, followed by flame anodizing. I never tried that though and don't know if just a little mini torch applied to a highly polished metal pocket clip would give decent multi colored results or not.
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Worth playing around with i think. The worse that can happen is that you'll have to polish the clip and start over again. If you do it post some pics that's a project i might take on one of these days.
 
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