painting old farm wagon

DB-MT · Jan 21, 2013

I have an old wooden farm wagon. it has wooden axles, bolsters, reach, some metal braces, and wooden hubs and spokes with steel rims and rubber tires. I want to replace some rotted wood pieces and then paint it and build new bed for it. I"m wondering what kind of paint to use - I am not set up to spray paint, so was thinking of brushing on the paint. Any suggestions or tips are appreciated. This wagon will not see heavy use - it is for hobby use. It will be stored inside out of the weather.

Stephen Newell · Jan 21, 2013

If it were me I would prime it with exterior oil based wood primer and all surface enamel from Sherwin Williams if it is going to be any color but red or orange. If it is going to be painted with a paint with red I would topcoat it with Sher-Kem enamel also from Sherwin Williams.

SweetFeet · Jan 22, 2013

Had the thought that I would use oil based too.

Before doing that, I'd let the new wood cure/dry at least 6 months to a year.

I would also ask the paint store if it is a good idea to apply a coat of linseed oil to all the wood before the paint (might need to be thinned out some...I think with mineral spirits) to soak-into/adhere better to the wood. Then paint it after all that is done. And a clear hard coat would be a good idea as a finishing touch.

Stephen Newell · Jan 22, 2013

That’s a good point about letting the wood dry. The thought about treated wood hadn't occurred to me. The outcome of spraying oil based paint would be better but there is no reason you can't brush it. When brushing it use a very soft natural brush and apply thin coats without over brushing it. Most people think when you brush paint if you keep brushing it, it will make it better. What happens is the more you brush it the more air gets into the paint and it starts to set up faster making brush marks show up more. If you use a minimum of brush strokes and apply it and move on the paint will flow out as it dries and lessen the brush marks. The Sher-Kem paint wouldn't be a good candidate for brushing. It dries too fast. It would be counterproductive to coat the wood with linseed oil prior to painting. The primer needs to soak into the wood to become effective and if you seal the wood with linseed oil the primer can't get as good a bite.

DB-MT · Jan 22, 2013

Thank you for your comments and suggestions. you mentioned that Sher-Kem dries too fast for brushing - is there another oil based paint that you recommend?

Stephen Newell · Jan 22, 2013

The oil based enamel I recommended was first priming the wood with Exterior Oil Based Primer from Sherwin Williams and topcoating with All Surface Enamel also from Sherwin Williams. The inherit problem with all oil based paints is the color red is bad to fade so any color that the red pigment is bad to fade.

Kirk Affeldt · Jan 23, 2013

I have prepped, primed, and painted a few wooden barge box wagons in the past few years. I did my research on primer and paint. What I found is use a good oil based exterior primer on wood that is to be painted. On top of primer I use implement paint. It is a good enamel paint that will "wear" a long time. If you are able to take the sides off and put it on saw horses to paint, you can do a better job of priming and painting the wooden surfaces, at least I could. I used a wire brush on the wooden surfaces to remove any dirt or other particles. I didn't need to sand any areas since I wasn't too aggressive with the wire brush, but you can sand the wood. Take your time and it will look good when you are done! Please share some pictures of it!!

painting old farm wagon

DB-MT

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Stephen Newell

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SweetFeet

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Stephen Newell

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DB-MT

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Stephen Newell

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Kirk Affeldt

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