paint for a sculpture?

[slanted & enchanted]

right now i have orange engine spraypaint with a primer underneath. it's pretty much burnt off close to the burners. i'm welding uo the new system this weekend and wanted to explore my options

what kind of paint to do you guys use and how has it held up?

maybe i should just use black and then the burns won't show as much. i don;t think you can get something that's going to stand up to a propane flame but that seems like the best way to at least make it look decent.

i considered just using a blueing agent on the steel and then using some sort of clear coating, like polyurethane, but i don't know if you can find poly with any sort of heat rating. i don't want the stuff blistering immediately, or worse, melting clear off.

[Lars]

I used BBQ black paint. I'm thinking about going for some high temp engine paint. The bbq paint doesn't hold up as well as I thought it would.

[hotrod38]

Your best bet is to have it powder coated. I looked into having mine done. They quoted me less than $100.00 I'm sure if your not in a rush, and tell them to do it when they are shooting the color you chose, you may save a couple of bucks. having it prepped and ready to paint is a plus too. Offering a hand full of home brew may even sweeten the deal.

I have not found a paint that will withstand the heat and abuse that a sculpture endures.

[Whitebeard_Brewer]

I had mine powdercoated, cost me $40. I already had it blasted and ready to go tho. It will still scorch right around where the burners are....unless you use a high temp powder coat. Some places don't have an oven that will get that high, so ask them first.

[yabodie]

I used black rustolium for everything except near the burners. Then high temp black around the burners. No issues yet...

[Henning1966]

Reading up on some high temp paint for engines. I found a guy that recommended scuffing the metal then getting the metal to be painted up to or above the normal operating temp. Then spraying the hot metal and allowing it to cool completely thus getting a baked on paint as if it had been heat cured in an oven.

[Henway]

I used the 1200F black flat paint and it works well for the majority of the stand. Immediately above the burner it seems to have flaked away a bit, but there is soot (or paint?) covering it, so no rust.

Scuffing is a good idea, and it should run you only two cans of paint anyway. It doesn't take scraping things across it well, so if you're pushing your pots/kegs across the top it will peel off pretty soon. Also, all boil-overs will attach themselves to the top of the paint and WILL NOT come off. I tried lacquer thinner and thought about MEK, but figured WTH, it adds a bit of "used" look to it.

[Bugeater]

I remember seanhagerty talking about his choice of paint for his sculpture. He realized too late that white was probably not the best choice of color.

Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company