The AM Forum

Does anyone know a source to purchase the two shades of gray wrinkle finish paint like is used on a DX-100? I've only been able to find black or red doing the usual google search.

Thanks,
Dan
WD4LUR

I've not been able to find any shade of gray wrinkle either. i know of one solution, but many don't like to hear it.

Phil

Powder coating can do wrinkle in thousands of colors now, big strides have been made.

Carl

The problem is that powder coating costs more than the rig is worth, quite often.  Once upon a time GC sold spray cans of gray wrinkle that worked just great.  Now, other than powder coating, it seems you will need to spray two coats of gray with different timed reducers and make lots of messes in the process, or overspray black wrinkle.  I keep checking to see whether some kind firm has started selling cans again, but so far no joy.

I know you won't want to hear this but I paint everything black wrinkle and bake it in an oven. I can take a cabinet from paint booth to cured in under 30 minutes. The oven is homemade and uses a T-stat & element form a scrapped kitchen oven. It is big enough for a DX-100 cabinet. I then dust it with whatever color I need. St James Grey, etc. One extra step but it gets the job done.
Skip

Did anyone check Harley Davidson for black wrinkle in the spray can? It has been years since I used it. Don't know if it is available anymore. We would heat the cylinders and heads in an oven and then hit it with the paint. Would leave a superb wrinkle.

OR.................. Paint it black wrinkle and allow it to cure till good and hard, then dust a few light goats of gray over top of the wrinkle. That way you can get the texture you want and the color as well. I have done it this way a few times and it works pretty OK-Fine......

That was what Skip was referring to and what I didn't want to say initially. I've mentioned it to several of the big time resto gurus and only got frowns. Well, average Joe only has limited resources to work with, so since I'm in that category, I overspray. It works really well as the others have said. If you want a nice texture other than wrinkle, try Rustoluem texture for a basecoat, then after it is well cured, put your color on top. I did a DX-100B cabinet this way and it looks really nice.

73, Phil 

Skip has a nice toybox with room that I dont have. So I have to use the hot summer sun for my wrinkling / curing oven. Turning often to cook thoroughly.
(I like my beef rare but my wrinkle paint well done) So Summertime is black wrinkle painting season...................

Hey Frank,
                 I use a heat gun for initial wrinkling and I have storage building that get really warm in the spring/summer for a week or two of curing. Usually, once the smell is gone, it's time! Have you ever considered a small curing enclosure with some 150W flood or spot lamps inside? I've been pondering that for several years, but haven't had the time to work on it. For small parts, I just use a toaster oven.

73, Phil

Phil,
      I kinda like Skip's idea of an old kitchen oven. Maybe out in the garage somewhere.

Yea, that stuff keeps an odor for a lllloooonnnnggg time. It also gets dry to the touch, but remains soft underneath for quite a while, It seems to "skin over" pretty quickly but takes quite some time for all of the solvents to leach out.

Baking it probably quickens that process tremendously.

Speaking of ovens.....When I was 14 (and grey wrinkle was available) I painted my novice KW (pr of 1625s) and baked it in my moms oven. My mom never used bad language, but my dad did. You know the rest of the story.
You can pick up used stoves for $0 all the time. Rip the burners out and use the top for a workbench. Keep the oven for paint. The other option is a big wooden box and a bunch of INCANDESCANT lite bulbs. It doesn't have to be hi-tek!!
Skip

I found Rustolium sells some nice textured metal furnature paint and self etching primer at home chepo. I used it to paint the front panel of the HPSDR power supply. I set it in the sun cause XYL doesn't let my put my toys in the oven.

You have that same problem too! ! !   ;D  ;D

I have to bake out transformers in a large toaster oven on the back porch.

One of these days I'm going to have to envoke Murphy's golden rule.............

(He who has the gold makes the rules)  ;D  ;D

I used the rustolium grey hammer on a radio with decent results. It had a bit more silverish tint to it than expected but close enuf for my needs. Their black hammer is very nice. At the price of one can try it on a scrap of steel and see ifn you like it.

"Gold" comes in many forms when refering to household relations! She may have more than you want to forfit!   :-*

XYL says never mess with the person who prepares your food.

AES used to sell gray wrinkle, though I haven't checked a catalog for a coupla years.

Powdercoating is fine if:

 - you have a bare cabinet and the dough

 - you never want to paint over it

 - you don't mind re-blasting holes for screws, etc

 - you don't have a hinged lid that can get bunged up by the thick coating

Glad to hear that they've added to the colors, for a long time it cost a lot to get custom colors made other than the basic black wrinkle. Custom = we don't have it.

Harley has their own name-branded wrinkle now for $7-$8 per can, maybe more. Wouldn't surprise me if it was relabeled VHT which is what they sold for years. The VHT is great, but curing is required. I have a National RAO-7 with a cabinet I repainted back in the 70s/early 80s that stuff still sticks to. Had it wrapped with a packing blanket during the move in late '08 and it came out fuzzy. While I did lay the paint on pretty heavy, you'd think it would be dry by now? Nope. It's on the 'strip and re-paint' list.

We have one of those built-into-the-wall Brady Bunch style ovens in this place, works quite well for curing but is limited for size. The last thing I did was the skirt for a SP-100 band switch knob, it came out great. As small as it was, it smelled up the house. Most of the stink was gone before the good wife got home. I've used the bulb-in-a-box approach but it's time consuming and clumsy compared to a heat gun or even hair dryer. Skip's approach is a good one: get a cheap electric oven for the garage/workshop. Beats the hell outta using a hair dryer and gets things set before over spraying.

Hmmmmmm..................
She must have made you those X-Lax chocolate chip cookies again........ ;D  ;D

Skip, I had the same problem.

When I was a kid, I was rebuilding the Briggs & Stratton engine for my go-kart, and decided to repaint the fan cooling shroud and bake the thing in my Mom's oven when no one was home.

Beside stinking up the house, I caught holy hell from both of my folks on that one. But that fan shroud came out beautifully, like it was done at the factory. No orange peel, practically a porcelain-like finish. When I showed it to my friend, he wanted to do the same thing to the motor on his Stellar mini-bike, except he put the entire motor, fan shroud, etc., in his Mom's oven after a complete repaint. That one went over really badly as I recall; his Mom was really pissed off, and the mini-bike and engine mysteriously disappeared immediately afterwards. No doubt his parents pitched the stuff in the next garbage pick-up.

73,

Bruce

In that case do it in latex with a brush ::)

Ive been experimenting with powdercoating and a BA cabinet can be well under $100 which includes bead blasting, phosphate coat and powder coat. A hungry shop might be less.

Ive also done the overspray for decades but it looks real hokey after the first knick or scratch. The problem with wrinkle is that just by its nature it doesnt adhere very well.


Say what? It does require a bit of prep work but painting over is fine.Sometimes thats the only way to get a good 2 tone finish.

Glad I am not real hung up on looks.  I don't like scratches.  That's about it.

Dim lights in the shack work wonders  ;D

And with some a few 6 packs make it ready to list on Fleabay as mint condition. ::)

I have used the kitchen oven for the purpose for decades.  Never had a problem with leaving behind any stinky residue in the stove, or causing any damage. I would recommend being careful with transformers or other heavy objects that might bend or warp the grille with all the weight.  The solution is to turn the oven to "high" for 15 minutes AFTER the painted object is taken out.  If the oven is one of those self-cleaning jobs, run it in cleaning mode afterwards.  But sometimes the stink is harder to get out of the rest of the house and sometimes has been known to impregnate everything inside the living space for a day or two afterwards.

My wife claims she can't smell cat piss when one of the pesticles misses the tray, but she can smell fumes from radio equipment a mile away even the next day.

OKay thanks guys. I like the idea of spraying a light color coat over the black wrinkle. Think I will give that a try.

Dan

Should turn out real nice, Dan. Since it's wrinkle basecoat, just make sure it's cured good before the overspray. A suggestion for the topcoat; either Rustoleum (not the 2x can) or Ace Hardware brand. Make sure the topcoat is shot wet and even, but not too heavy. It'll be FB.

73, Phil