Should I paint my KMG?

I didn't know about the natural colors! Man I am glad you said soemthing! I was thinking of going to the local Hot Rod shop :Amero's and have a sweet Paint Job on it and anodizing the Aluminum on the platen atachment.:eek: I was thinking Tangerine and some green highlights...arrowheads or maltese cross, maybe skulls. Now I have to think..it may not be professional. Oh and I wanted to say this thread is great!:) I like that there is savings from not having a factory paint job and then you can customize it yourself. I know theres places that can make custom decals to put on too. I liked that picture of the evil twins. I wonder if pick up spray bed liner would be really tough on a KMG?:thumbup: Thanks guys for a great read!:D ------Joe
 
Hammered finish paint is made by Hammerite and Rust-Oleum.

I rarely use any other paint anymore. It's easy to use, and gives a very nice look, along with great protection. It has millions of tiny glass particles in it that create the "hammered" look. It doesn't show up really well in these pics, but it does in person.

The base plate, contoller mount, tooling arms, and tool rests are all silver, the KMG chasis, tool arm tree, and 3" riser blocks are blue.

I also included a pic of the ever-important FLOOD light I built to go above my grinder. I already had a production made one a friend gave me over top of my Burr King (just to the right). The other one you can't see, is a "Doc-Lite" made for illuminating the inside of van style semi-truck trailers while loading/unloading.

I copied that... after a little cutting/grinding/brazing/welding, I had a light that will swing side to side, pivot left/right, and in/out.

Hope this helps :)

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I only dissambled a few things. I didn't want the carefully machined mating surfaces that Rob created to get screwed up with a layer of paint.

I think browning or bluing the tooling arms would be a PITA. You're talking about fairly big parts to do that operation on, and paint works just fine. It did not affect performance at all, and it's holding up well.
 
That lights a darned good idea, Nick. I've been seeking more light over the grinder recently, shadowless. I think I might just copy you. Thanks!

Now, about the idea of having a two-tone coordinated color designer KMG paint job...... doesn't that seem a little, well...you know!:eek:
 
Boiled Linseed Oil..... Put that stuff on mine and have never had rusting problems. Takes a little while to completely dry, but works pretty good.

R.D.
 
fitzo said:
That lights a darned good idea, Nick. I've been seeking more light over the grinder recently, shadowless. I think I might just copy you. Thanks!

Now, about the idea of having a two-tone coordinated color designer KMG paint job...... doesn't that seem a little, well...you know!:eek:
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Um, like, TOTALLY FABULOUS???

:D ;) :D
 
I just finished painting mine with engine paint Gm engine blue

I have found engine paint seems to work better then any paint if its not going to be primed or has a bit of rust

I used to work in a large steel shipping warehouse
the only paint that stuck was usually engine paint when we would color code our steel

everything but engine paint would flake off eventually but our stuff was raw unprimed unprepped in cold weather

if anyone doesnt wanna prep it seems to work well
 
NickWheeler said:
Hammered finish paint is made by Hammerite and Rust-Oleum.

I rarely use any other paint anymore. It's easy to use, and gives a very nice look, along with great protection. It has millions of tiny glass particles in it that create the "hammered" look. It doesn't show up really well in these pics, but it does in person.

The base plate, contoller mount, tooling arms, and tool rests are all silver, the KMG chasis, tool arm tree, and 3" riser blocks are blue.

I also included a pic of the ever-important FLOOD light I built to go above my grinder. I already had a production made one a friend gave me over top of my Burr King (just to the right). The other one you can't see, is a "Doc-Lite" made for illuminating the inside of van style semi-truck trailers while loading/unloading.

I copied that... after a little cutting/grinding/brazing/welding, I had a light that will swing side to side, pivot left/right, and in/out.

Hope this helps :)


I only dissambled a few things. I didn't want the carefully machined mating surfaces that Rob created to get screwed up with a layer of paint.

I think browning or bluing the tooling arms would be a PITA. You're talking about fairly big parts to do that operation on, and paint works just fine. It did not affect performance at all, and it's holding up well.
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Thanks Nick,

Lots of useful info in that post, and the grinder looks great too.

I bought a can of dark gray hammered finish for the grinder. I think I'll try buffing out one of my tooling arms and then give it a coat of clear lacquer. If it doesn't work out I'll think about going back to the store for some hammered silver paint for the other arm.

Mark
 
The grinder arrived today. It's obvious that buffing the tooling arms and clear-coating them would be an exercise in futility so I bought a can of hammered silver for the arms and the base. The base was so rough and dirty in finish that I put a 220 grit sanding pad on my DA polisher and sanded it off before painting. I doubt that the whole thing will be painted and set up before the weekend comes. Hopefully Pop's will get my belts to me before then.

Thanks for all of the tips and suggestions guys.

Mark
 
You're welcome Mark... I feel bad I forgot to mention the base! I spent a bit of time cleaning it. There's a new Scotchbrite product for angle grinders that works AWESOME. Unfortunately, I didn't have it then.

I cleaned everything really well with maroon scotchbrite, paper towels, and acetone prior to painting.


Bryce, thanks for the tip on the engine paint... I'll give that a try on something soon :)
 
I'm bumping this to the top. I hope more guys or gals got thiers painted or photographed since this thred started. I looked for hammered at Wally world and they had a couple shades including silver, but OOS on blue..must be popular..prolly looks good judging from the photos of Nick WHeeler's. I could see cleaning it and primering it just hoping to get the rust protection, even if it took alot of time and effort..I mean this isn't something we have to do like our job down at work, its something for ourselves. ---Joe
 
The humidity here today was near 100% with a high temperature of about 50 F. All of my unpainted steel surfaces had a nice coat of rust on them tonight. I have a cousin who runs a plating shop, so I'll see if I can talk him into plating my tooling arms and my MAP arm with either zinc or chrome. My tooling arms jamb in the carrier with even a light coat of paint on them, so only half of the arm is currently painted. I guess I could probably shim the carrier a bit to get around that problem.

I'm sure glad I took the time to paint my grinder!

Mark
 
Nice Blue paint job. I had wanted to paint mine but sold it before getting to it. Let's see some more pictured.:D
 
MeDoctor said:
I ordered a KMG this week and FedEx is supposed to deliver it Monday. It'll be used in my unheated garage (in Michigan... brrrr!) and I wouldn't want to see it rust. Have any of you painted your KMG's? Is there any reason NOT to? I assume I might want to leave my tool arms unpainted and just keep a light coating of oil or grease on them -- or more likely UltraMate 2800. (It's a lubricant/protectant that I bought a few cans of several years ago. The company that marketed it to consumers is no longer in business, but the product is still used in bulk in the automotive industry. I'm currently trying to find someone who'll sell me a manageable quantity, since I'm down to my last can.)

Thanks,
Mark
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The H30Phos Oil is a good rust preventative oil for your application.
 
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