Why do I suck at painting?

Hi all,

I'm trying to improve the reliability of my painting. I love taking an old piece and cleaning it up and putting on new paint. The problem I have is that the paint never holds up well. It may look fine, but it scratches off down to the bare metal really easily. As an example, I'm putting a new coat on some spots on my truck frame and even after it's dried for two weeks, I could scratch it off with my fingernails. Here's the process I normally follow when I paint:

1. Clean surface to bare metal (or as close as I can) with an angle grinder with a wire wheel
2. Wipe down surface with paint thinner to clean off any residue
3. Apply a coat of Rust-Oleum paint (1qt can, using a foam brush to apply. I dip the brush in the paint, then dab the paint onto the surface and smooth it out)
4. Wait 48 hrs. Apply second coat.
5. Continue with top coat.

I'm not looking for a job that looks great...I'm looking for protection from rust. Unfortunately the opposite seems to happen because in my eyes the paint looks great but it holds up terribly. I know there are folks who argue that Rust-Oleum is bad, and if you're one of those, what brand do you think I should use?

I've attached a picture of the most recent section I painted that scratched off. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

A couple of things. You should give the base some teeth by sanding or sandblasting the old paint and metal (sometimes a wire wheel will shine up the surface too smooth). The best work
includes a coat or two of self-etching primer. Then go on with a high quality alkyd enamel which can be Rust-Oleum and something like John Deere paint, both of which I've found will
stick to almost anything well-prepped. I'm not fond of water-based paints.

Step 2 in your process raises some red flags. Paint thinner,
is not a great surface prep for bare metal; actually pretty
lousy as it tends to leave an oily residue. There also seems to
be some incorrectly assumed ambiguity to the phrase, paint
thinner. Often people consider paint thinner, varsol, lacquer
thinner, mineral spirits, &c. to all be the same, but that's not
necessarily so.

Some people claim to use paint thinner with good results, but
I'm a little dubious of this. Switch to acetone instead.

There is a lot of things that can cause adhesion problems with paint. One is car wax. If you take a wire wheel to a painted surface that has wax on it, it will rub the wax into the metal. You would be better off by cleaning the surface with a wax and grease remover
first and then use the wire wheel. Paint thinner is a solvent for paint, not one for wax. If you have taken the paint off to bare metal then it should be primed first.

I wouldn't use a foam brush. If you have to brush the paint then use a soft bristle brush and use as few brush stokes as possible. Paint sets up very quickly and the more you brush it or work it the more it's going to show brush strokes. Any paint would be better off
being sprayed. If you have compressed air you could get a sprayer from Harbor Freight that would spray Rustoleum enamel very well for around 25 bucks.

I don't think rustoleum paint is bad. In fact their farm and implement paint with a hardener is nearly as good as automotive paint.

Further to my last comment and as JD Dave pointed out: you don't mention primer:

Rust-Oleum as a company makes several paint products, and I'm not sure what you're using. Around where I am, however, when people say, Rust-Oleum, they're referring to their most popular product: their generic rust paints (known here in Canada as Tremclad).

These generic rust paints are pretty good stuff for the price and very under-rated. They can also give a decent finish if applied right (an old trick was to mix about 2/3 Tremclad with 1/3 high-gloss old-based varnish/varathane and thin down a lite for a really smooth, glossy, durable finish. One thing these rust paints certainly are NOT good for, however, is application directly to bare metal without a primer.

When talking about body painting, you can get very in-depth into primer types, surface prep, best blast media for different primers, automotive enamels, clear coats, wet sanding, etc. etc., but if all you're trying to do is protect some equipment with a reasonably durable finish that doesn't look too bad, I'd say do everything you're doing and just switch to acetone instead of paint thinner, and use any primer type compatible with your paint type; you'll probably notice a World of difference.

Thank y'all for the feedback. I should've been more clear...the paint I'm having issues with is the primer. In the picture I included I'm using the rust oleum rusty metal primer, hence the brown color. I've had similar issues in the past with the top coat, but I have always used some form of primer.

I have been using generic "paint thinner" to prep the surface but acetone is a good point.

Unfortunately air and rattle cans are not an option for me right now. I'm in the military on a temporary assignment so I'm extremely limited on tools and am painting much of this project on the vehicle. Long term it seemed as though painting with a brush was more cost effective but I have no experience with air brushing. Obviously this isn't an ideal situation for painting, but again I'm just trying to get the paint to stick well to protect the metal.

If I were to switch to a brush, what is the best way to clean the sucker? Part of the reason I'm using a foam brush is because I can never seem to get a regular brush cleaned before the paint dries and the bristles stick together.

Appreciate any help!

Whenever I paint anything I want to last i sand it then take a
white rag and paint thinner and whip the piece until the rag
stays white then primer then paint .

For small parts and sheet metal I use Rustoleum self-etching primer and apply paint within an hour or so. Maybe the 48 hour wait is too long. I'm no expert but
this has worked for me.

I may be wrong but the sufaces appear that the primer was not sanded . I use wet dry paper with 120 to 400 grit depending on the job.
In the water , I use maguiers car was h to clean alway grit and flush grit with hose ,and not have it dry out on surfaces ,can use lava soap
just depends . Surface must be clean rinse off all grit.
I dont use paint thinner on surfaces it has to flash off from primer surface ,I cant say how long it takes , thats why I wash rinse and dry .I
would use a prep sol .
Just some times I do .but
Like Sherman Williams sayes 90 percent of a paint job is in preparation.
I

Sounds like your base coat is not
sticking to the metal. Your base coat
should be a primer, and it should be
applied at a recommended temperature.
You say your doing this with lack of
resources. Are you perhaps doing this
in your driveway, in a cold climent,
at winter temps actually to cold to be
painting??
On another note, you mention wire
brush and truck frame. Are you working
on a vehicle that has been under
coated for road salt rust prevention.
These coatings are often waxy,
rubbery, tarry, and oily type
coatings. When wire brushing this off,
these substances are going to get all
over your wire brush, and leave a
small film of it on your metal when
done. The affect is kind of like
applying soap to a tooth brush, and
continuing to use the tooth brush
without cleaning it.
Also, a wire wheel, is going to leave
a very polished non pores surface to
paint. Kind of like painting the
surface of glass. Nothing for the
paint to grab on to. Need to sand and
rough up that surface after wire
wheeling it.

Another thought is what is the temperature there? If it's below 50 it might take weeks for the primer to dry completely. If it's not dry all the way through and you topcoat over it then it will pretty much stop drying and make it easy to scrape off with your
fingernails.

the alkyd enamel you are using takes a long time to dry and even dry will scratch like you experienced. for your final cleaning before painting, use mineral spirits. mineral spirits can also be used to thin your paint. the other thing i would recommend is you add some valspar 4625 hardener to the paint. you are brushing it on, so you dont need to be too critical on the vapors, but wear a disposable respirator any way.disposable nitrile gloves are a good idea too, most places that sell the rustoleum will have the hardener, it comes in 8 ounce cans. farm and fleet has it too.

There is no spec for how far the gun stays from the work You must look where it is atomized the most coming out of the gun .Some guys use water . That is your distance . I would recommend an auto paint
made to hold up on a car. Rustoleum has little UV protection.

If you want the paint to stick, use Dupont 615+ 620 self etching primer mixed 50:50. If you are going to brush it on, you can mix
it a little thicker. It will be watery but eventually cover. The only downside, it is very expensive but you can get paint to
stick really good.

I am of the opinion that wire wheels don't leave the surface ready for any paint. It seems polished and slick to the touch. Flap wheels, paint rust removal disks or sanding provide some tooth for the paint or primer to adhere.

I paint a lot of metal with brush but prefer a bristle brush . Thinning paint a little bit helps to flow it out better. If the brush gets to gummed up you can sook it in brush Cleaner.

After you use the wire wheel, take a piece of sand paper to the metal. It will show you that the rust is still there.