[Shop-talk] Painting Plastic/Bakelite

[John T. Blair]

At 11:23 PM 3/11/2009, Jim Stone wrote:

 >I am trying to paint the Bakelite steering wheel surround on my 
1966 Alpine, but
 >not having much luck.....

 >Before I try again with a third brand, can anyone recommend either a good
 >technique for using the Universal or Valspar paint, or a paint that 
will produce a
 >nice smooth durable finish on Bakelite?

Jim,

I did a google search for painting bakelite and got some 142,000  hits.

The few I look at really didn't give any preferences for a paint.  But it might
be worth looking at several of them.

Also, if you used paint stripper, I assume that you really cleaned 
the wheel with
soap and water to get rid of the stripper.  Also did you spray or brush on the
paint.  Brushing it will not give the nice results of spraying it.

If you don't have a compressor, you can purchase a disposable spray system,
that consists of a can of air and a glass paint jar with an arisol 
button on the
top.  These work quite well.  For small items like a steering wheel, you can
also use an airbrush if you have one.

John


John T. Blair  WA4OHZ     email:  jblair1948 at cox.net
Va. Beach, Va
Phone:  (757) 495-8229

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