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Type of paint for old sign poles

Texas_Signmaker

Very Active Signmaker
What type of paint would you use on old sign poles with cans that we are refacing?

I've been using rustoleum but that stuff is drippy.
 

Gino

Premium Subscriber
Ronan Bulletin.

In the summertime, all good paint will be runny and drippy. Nature of the beast. You need to be careful and have a lotta rags with ya. If you're up high, ya don't wanna drip or have the wind blow your drips onto cars or peoples' heads, so less paint and more strokes.

You are prepping the poles and cabinets first, aren't you ??
 

equippaint

Active Member
Rustoleum is usually on the thicker side if youre getting it in gallons. Id stick with that, maybe put a little hardener in it, mixed in another container of course. Can get that at tractor supply
 

Texas_Signmaker

Very Active Signmaker
Ronan Bulletin.

In the summertime, all good paint will be runny and drippy. Nature of the beast. You need to be careful and have a lotta rags with ya. If you're up high, ya don't wanna drip or have the wind blow your drips onto cars or peoples' heads, so less paint and more strokes.

You are prepping the poles and cabinets first, aren't you ??

By prepping do you mean grinding? If so yes
 

Gino

Premium Subscriber
Sanding and wiping down. If it needs grinding, I trust your using a disc sander or something.
 

Texas_Signmaker

Very Active Signmaker
Sanding and wiping down. If it needs grinding, I trust your using a disc sander or something.

Yes.

I figured the heat was making the paint all drippy... just seems really tough to get a smooth finish but I guess I'll get the skill down.
 
Yes.

I figured the heat was making the paint all drippy... just seems really tough to get a smooth finish but I guess I'll get the skill down.

Tough to get a good finish using a brush or a roller? A roller should be no problem.

EDIT: What I mean by that is Rustoleum Professional self levels pretty smooth when applied with a roller from my experience, maybe not so much with a brush. But I'm not painting in Texas heat, either.
 
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Texas_Signmaker

Very Active Signmaker
I'll have to check in the morning but it's pretty thick and nappy. Should I switch to something more firm in the summer?
 

equippaint

Active Member
Try a high density foam roller. Youll need more than 1 coat but it should be smoother and carry less paint which will help the runs.
Get a couple, the solvent in the paint makes them swell up after a bit.
E27716DC-2E77-4F2F-B067-C2B99D26526E.jpeg
 

rossmosh

New Member
Latex DTM paint is a fantastic product. Think of it as a happy medium between a standard latex and an enamel.

It also sticks really well to just about anything.
 

Gino

Premium Subscriber
Basic rule is....... rough surfaces = heavier nap. Smooth surfaces = shorter nap. Also, oil based paints work well with about 1/8" nap. Roll the roller on something sticky to get the excess hair off, first. The foam rollers always leave bubbles behind which means you'll hafta to go over it while it's tacking up. Oils will naturally flow out and self level. Other than primers, I don't like latex anything...... other than solid olor stains.
 

henryz

New Member
I've use this before and worked great. I painted a steel bracket well over a year and left it outside to test out and still looks good rain and shine. Here is a directory that we painted with it and super smooth using a foam roller. We did about 30 of these.
 

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Texas_Signmaker

Very Active Signmaker
I'll say my guys get the 94 cent roller covers, pop to the top off of the 5 gallon bucket, and shove it in using the wire drop in tray to knock some paint off the roller, then spread the excess paint around the pole. It's like watching a 3yr old finger paint. The damned thing is, it always looks great afterwards. Compared to rustoleum, it's night and day. Usually rustoleum would look like a shiney, goopy pile of nap because it's so thick it seems to rip about half the roller off. Yes they are cheap rollers, yes I could get superior ones, but between the need to go flat on the majority of my polecovers/poles and the superior cleanup of the latex acrylic, I'll stick with the latex. Plus it stores for longer than the rustoleum.
DTM is a must if you're painting metal. Last thing you want is a shell of paint covering a nice solid piece of rust.


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This is what I was thinking. They do work great if you're painting a new piece of pipe. We got heavy duty casters and welded them to 6" c channel. I'll have to look into your pipe roller...

What's the type of paint you use?


I dont like how gloppy Rustoleum goes on, but that is some really tough stuff. I painted my truck bed with it and its indestructible.
 
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