Good afternoon,
I am restoring a very old Delta Crescent jointer. When I was telling a friend
about this project he told me of a type of paint that he thought would be
perfect for repainting the old cast iron on this machine. I understand that it
leaves a textured surface. He said he saw the product in a recent issue of Fine
Woodworking. I have read through all of my recent issues but cannot find what
he was talking about. Does anyone have any ideas?
Thank you
Replies
In the UK we often use a metal paint called Hammerite which leaves a slightly "hammered" effect on the finished surface. It was used by many machinery makers in the 1930s to 1990s because it has good wear characteristics. These days Hammerite is made by ICI, although I don't know who their manufacturing arm in the USA is
Scrit
Hammerite is available in the US.
http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/siteMap.do?action=map2&catId=372
Rust-Oleum also has a similar product that is sold in Lowe's and Home Depot. I comes in spray cans and quarts. I use it all the time as I like the Hammered finish. It takes some practice to get an even nice hammered texture. You need to apply the last coat wet and heavy. The wetness allows the paint to develope a nice hammered texture before it dries.
Life is what happens to you when you're making other plans .
Hammerite is available in most decent hardware stores and Home Depot.The original color is black. The Delta/Crescent isn't what I would consider old by any means. Maybe the 50's.
The Crescent is a great jointer and the inclined atables are far superior to the parallogram jointer tables. Also the Crescent head is superb. I typically pull the tables apart and have a special indicator base to straddle the head to set the knives.
http://www.northfieldwoodworking.com/gauges/gauges.htm
Thank you for the information. I'll get going on it this weekend.
If your doing a restoration and want to put something on the cast iron that will basically never come off and is available in many colors and textures, try looking at powder coating. I restored the metal work of an old treddle Singer sewing machine with an antique flat black with a slight "hammered" texture and it looks great. Won't come off very easy either.
Thank you,
I looked into powder coating but it didn't fit my budget. You wouldn't believe how much they want to do that here. I went with the hammered paint and it looks pretty good but is not of course anything like the origional finish. It's not as durable but it should at least keep the rust away for a few years. Perhaps when I win the lottery...
Dan
Are you restoring or re-painting. If you are restoring, you want to use the same type of finish that was originally on it. I don't think tool mfrs used hammer paints on stationary tools. Most used just an alkyd paint in some shade or green or gray or blue.
You should be able to find out the correct type and color paint to use over on the old woodworking machines website, at http://www.owwm.com/
Thank you for the information. eventually I would like to get this sandblasted. When I do, I'll go back to the origional paint or as close to it as I can get.
Dan
I'll second the OWWM recommendation. Delta used lots of grays over the years. A good durable spray can choice that's close for early Deltas is Benjamin Moore Iron Clad Medium Gray.Pete
OK. I'll look into the grey paint. Does anyone know a good source for a switch for this old tool? The one I have may or may not be origional to the unit. However it is made for a three phase motor which I cannot use. I have a 2HP 1 PH motor that I plan to use. I would like one with a large stop button. Any help would be apreciated.
Dan
Your three phase switch will work fine. You just use two poles. If it's a starter, I'd keep it.
Pete
Hammerite is more durable than powder coating. I think you can consider it a done deal and stop planning your next finish ... when are you gonna start using this thing, anyway?
The base has been rebuilt, the top and most of the tables have been stripped down to bare metal. I need new blades and a belt and I can beging tuning this critter in. After all this it had better run...
Dan
Sherwyn Williams makes the best Hammertone paint I have used, better than the stuff at Home Depot. It's a spray only application, and you can't thin it if you want the hammer finish, but the stuff is like iron after it dries. I've wacked some equipment painted with this stuff VERY hard several times, and it doesn't even mark.
Jeff
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