Re: Hammerite

[Ken Farmer <Ken.Farmer@domain.elided>]

Regarding Mike's Hammerite questions...

The colors on the can are extremely misleading.  Also, it doesn't look
'hammered', as much as it looks almost, semi, psychidelic - with dark
thin swirles that show thru the base color.  Hmmm, unless I didn't
mix it well enough! ;-)

Anyway, I painted it with a brush - it is thick, self-leveling and
forgiving, but kind of like painting with colored super-glue. I don't
know what it is like on vertical surfaces. Obviously, you will want to
do this out of direct sunlight, otherwise it becomes tacky in just a
minute or so.

The non-hammered finish looks pretty much like normal paint.  They
are both extremely scratch resistant.

The manufacturer claims that it sticks to non-primered surfaces well
(but not brand new, oily steel), so putting it over rust should work
well.  I think that it is a good moisture seal, but I don't think that
it would resist rust bubbling underneath via a chip the way that POR-15
would.

As far as toxic fumes go, I'd be very careful about spraying it.  I
got a headache and an irritated throat from the fumes while spray-canning
my scout seat bases.  I was using a good mask, but my bear prevents
a good seal.  I didn't have those problems brushing it on.

Ken Farmer