Curing paint on a brewstand/General Paint discussion

Im getting down to the last step of my stand...paint. From what I've seen around here, the general concesus is the Rustoleum High Temp paint. There are a couple of versions of this:

1. BBQ Paint which is stable to 1200 degress and requires no curing
2. High Heat Paint which is stable to 2000 degrees. This requires a primer (which also has to be cured), and curing in certain increments (200, 400, 600 deg F or close to that).

The BBQ is said to be hit or miss for most. I've seen some say they had great results and some said it flaked off after one use.

Im thinking of two options:

1. Do the bottom part in 1200 deg black. Then, where the keggles sit, use the 2000 degree primer, cure it, then use the 2000 degree black paint. I have no access to a huge oven/kiln, so Im thinking about getting a piece of metal to sit on top, where the keggles go. It would be 1/8-1/4 inch thick. Then fire up all three burners, and use a laser temp gun to get the surface temps of the stand and adjust the burners as needed to hit the curing temps.

2. Do the same thing as 1, except do the whole stand in 2000 degree primer/paint. Go through the whole curing process, and whatever needs to be cured, will, and what doesnt get to the right temps doesnt matter. In short, the bottom wont be cured, but it doesnt have to be since its not taking a direct flame, but the top portion will.

Looking for some insight as to opinions/recomendations/experience/etc.




I also looked around for some type of industrial option. Sherwin williams had a high temp paint, but that division was sold to someone. I found a gallon of it at a local store, but it was 300 dollars. I also believe it was 1200 degree paint, but required curing.

Another one is FireFree. They have an interesting paint that acts as a fire barrier for your house and is stable up to 2000 deg, can be rolled, and is water based. They said it could be used on sheet metal, but didnt recomend it for my application.

I work in environmental and have contact with several facilities, but nothing promising looks to be available. One guy is still looking, so Ill update if he finds something.

I used the BBQ paint on the grate, and automotive caliper paint on the frame. The caliper paint is only good to 500F, but it works well, didn't need cure temps, and hasn't discolored except on the inner edge that the flame licks. I really like the gloss red with black grate and then finished off with galvanized sheet metal for the wind screen and controls panel.
http://www.duplicolor.com/products/caliperPaint/

You could try automotive header paint.

^ That VHT paint is likely what the OP referred to as "2000 degree primer/paint", as it requires a curing process (250°F for 30 minutes, cool for 30 minutes, 400°F for 30 minutes, cool for 30 minutes, and finally 650°F for 30 minutes).

In short, it's an ordeal, unless one has access to a friendly powder-coating company's oven or something similar, and even then their ovens may not make it as high as 650°F unless they do specialty coatings.

Here's the real problem with VHT: if you don't cure it, it stays soft - soft enough that if you bump into the frame you'll have a stripe on your jeans. Unless you can line up a facility to take it through a substantial part of the "by the book" curing process, it'll never harden enough to stop rubbing off. I've done some testing with VHT and if you can get it to 500°F it hardens enough to stay put, though it's not likely at its peak thermal "strength", as I'm sure the folks that manufacture it know best how to fully cure it...

Cheers!

I imagine the issue that the person had with chipping or flaking was because a.) they didn't prep the material or b.) didn't sand it to get the paint a surface to bond to. I've never used a high temp paint but have painted a motorcycle and the issue I saw with any flaking was because the surface wasn't prepped for application. I can imagine that anywhere the flame directly contacts will get scorned so focusing on keeping that part shiny and new is difficult. I would use the 1200 degree paint first and see if that doesn't meet your needs.

ParanoidAndroid said:

I also looked around for some type of industrial option. Sherwin williams had a high temp paint, but that division was sold to someone. I found a gallon of it at a local store, but it was 300 dollars. I also believe it was 1200 degree paint, but required curing.

Click to expand...

I work for Sherwin Williams. If you pm me your email address I can send you the data pages on a hi temp coating that we carry in my store. I'm not sure which product they looked at for you but if your interested there could be other options.

day_trippr said:

^ That VHT paint is likely what the OP referred to as "2000 degree primer/paint", as it requires a curing process (250°F for 30 minutes, cool for 30 minutes, 400°F for 30 minutes, cool for 30 minutes, and finally 650°F for 30 minutes).

In short, it's an ordeal, unless one has access to a friendly powder-coating company's oven or something similar, and even then their ovens may not make it as high as 650°F unless they do specialty coatings.

Here's the real problem with VHT: if you don't cure it, it stays soft - soft enough that if you bump into the frame you'll have a stripe on your jeans. Unless you can line up a facility to take it through a substantial part of the "by the book" curing process, it'll never harden enough to stop rubbing off. I've done some testing with VHT and if you can get it to 500°F it hardens enough to stay put, though it's not likely at its peak thermal "strength", as I'm sure the folks that manufacture it know best how to fully cure it...

Cheers!

Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up on the VHT/2000 deg paint. Im sure that some curing could be accomplished with a heat gun, at least to the point of just staying on the stand. That would be a major PIA to try and heat gun the whole thing. Ill stay away from that option 2.

Pomylka22 said:

I work for Sherwin Williams. If you pm me your email address I can send you the data pages on a hi temp coating that we carry in my store. I'm not sure which product they looked at for you but if your interested there could be other options.

Click to expand...

Awesome, PM sent. Ill look it over.

With the BBQ paint, get the Rustoleum "Ultra." This is the gloss finish. The flat finish of that paint rubs off. The gloss finish does not. No problem other than minor touch ups for several years with mine.