Paint - brush and rattle! Hardener?

Let my start by saying:
- I?m not doing show equipment
- no, I don?t want to ?do it right?
- yes, cost matters.

So, with those things said, I?m looking for advice on a few things.
I?m refurbishing several implements which will get some field use. I want them protected, and to generally look good. I?ve settled on rustoleom
smoke gray. I plan to prime with rustoleom, brush on the first coat, lightly sand, then use rattle can for top coat. Should I use a hardener with
the first brush coat? I I feel like ill get better coverage going this route than completely rattle can application. But I also want the spray look to
the finish. Which is why I want to rattle can the top coat. Any reason that won?t work?

I started to go down that same road last week with lots of irregular shaped planter parts to paint. 'That will a bear to brush paint as I don't do spray gun' was my thinking. After 1 1/2 cans of aerosol primer I brush painted the rest as well as the finish coat. For what I had to paint the spray cans were going to break the bank. For the final two coats of finish paint I used less than 8 ounces from a gallon can. Based on the 1 1/2 cans of primer that would have taken AT LEAST 5 cans of aerosol at $12.50 per can versus $65 per gallon from the gallon can. You do the math. I certainly would do something prior to the primer appliction regarding cleaning so you at least get the worst scale off. Wire cup brushes on a 4 1/2 inch grinder work well. Flap disc work even better. My preference is the 40 grit ones. I would not be without them on any cleaning, paint preparation project.

Thanks. I should have been clear - in this case, prep is complete. All parts have been sandblasted etc... I?m just dealing with the paint part of things.

Painting a tractor is unlike painting most things. They are usually covered in oil from one end to the other. You must do a thorough cleaning of the tractor or the paint will peal off. Start with a mild cleaner such as purple power and a power washer. Clean as much as you can get off. You might need to do this two or three times. If there is some stubborn places where oil is caked up you might need to then use oven cleaner to cut it. When you think you have it clean then clean it again with a wax and grease remover before doing any sanding or prep work. From there any places where there is rust take it down to bare metal. Small places are easier sandblasted. Then the places with bare metal showing will need primer. I would go over it with the wax and grease remover again first. The sheetmetal should be sanded with 180 to 220 grit paper before recoating. Paints need a mechanical bond and the scratches created by sanding provides this. When you brush the paint use as soft a paint brush as you can find and apply the paint as thin as possible with as few strokes as possible. The more you brush paint the more the brush marks show. The brush creates a texture in the paint and it needs to be wet enough to flow together before it sets up. Overbrushing introduces air in the paint causing it to set up prematurely.

I really think you are better off getting a cheap HF gun versus using rattle cans, and prep, prep, prep.

Not that your plan wont work but if your going to brush on the primer then you may as well brush on the paint too. Anything you do in the prep process or painting will show through the finished paint so brushing on primer will show brush strokes in the final that rattle can will not cover. If you brush on your paint you will have a much better thicker coat of paint that will last longer anyways.

A bad sprayed paint job is still better than a good rattle can job.

I rattle canned a couple tractors with smoke gray to have them in a parade yesterday. Owner of the model C Case may or may not elect to have my son put a expensive paint job on it. The 35 CC Case is mine and good enough for me....

I painted my 2N Ford here about a month ago with a paint brush, put 3 coats of gray and red on it with an inexpensive brush, have had lots of compliments

These two tractors have been rattle caned painted. There is a lot of work getting every thing clean. The 450 was done in 2011 and the WD45 was done 3 years ago.

Excellent job!!

If you are going to brush the paint on get as high of quality of brush as you can get. You can do a pretty nice job with brush as long as you take your time. On my 350 I sprayed the sheet metal but brush painted all the castings (wheel centers, engine & transmission etc...) and it looked good.