What Paint for Farm Signs?

[awemawson]

I've cut a pair of farm signs for either side of our farm gateway. They are 9 mm mild steel - two parts, a backing, and the lettering that will be raised off the backing 25 mm by delrin pillars and held together by M6 stainless hardware. They will each be fitted to a pair of standard scaffold tube set vertically in the manner of urban road name signs.

The background will be white, and the lettering black.

As these will be placed in my verge at the side of a busy trunk road they take a bit of blasting from muck and grit as lorries go past.

My first thought was to have them hot dip galvanised before painting, but I suspect that the zinc will web across the gaps in the lettering.

Then I thought perhaps electro-zinc plated, but can't find a local place to do it.

So back to paint - perhaps a heavy zinc rich primer followed by an epoxy - but I've never used the stuff, so I would really welcome suggestions from the knowledgeable members.

BTW these weigh A LOT so sending them afar is not easy - that's a metre rule below one of them.

[John Rudd]

Andrew,
What about 2 pack based paint? Isnt there a car body repairers nearby that could flash over your signs with a bit of paint? Or what about a commercial vehicle builders using coach paint? That is fairly hard wearing and durable....

Alternatively, Hammerite?

[awemawson]

Good thinking John, I'll make some calls 

[MetalMagus]

Try talking with Craig at Buzzweld. He has some gloss black finishes and rust preventing primers that get used on the underside of vehicles.

Can be sprayed, brushed, rollered, or comes in aerosols.

www.buzzweld.co.uk

Cheers

Sean

[j1312v]

I have a quick glance at the subject first and I though you were asking  "what paint for farm pigs?" 

[awemawson]

Apple sauce colour obviously !

[hermetic]

 How about Hot dip galv, and or powder coating, outside in all weathers, and dust and grit blasting followed by rain and then more dust and grit is going to tear up rough on ordinary paint, lovely sign!

[jb3cx]

As John Rudd suggested Hammerite would be a good alternative to apoxy,a few years ago we needed to stretch one of our hgv's by adding a 4 ft section of chassis.welded ,blasted .no primer .2 coats of smooth finish black hammerite ,that vehicle has now done over 200.000 k and not a spot of rust through the  paint,pity we didn't paint the rest of the chassis as its all rusted to hell now.
Peter w 

[sparky961]

Lots of people around here pay a lot for that "antique, rusted look".  Just clean it and shine it up and apply some salt water when the weather is mild to moderate.  Apparently this does the job evenly and quickly.

No matter what coating you put on, eventually the base metal will start to rust and will bleed through or the coating will flake off, or both.  If you go with a coating, it's only a matter of time.

[mattinker]

Hi Andrew,

If you really want it to last, glaze or have it glazed, a large potters kiln should be sufficient! Lots of really permanent colours.

All the best, Matthew.

[awemawson]

Well a big step forwards this morning 

I rang a chap who has done car bodywork for me in the past, and it turns out that he has previously worked at a place not too far away that grit blasts and hot zinc sprays. So I've received a very reasonable price for the blasting / zinc spraying (mates rates!) from his previous employer, and the painting he will do in two pack on the premises of the blaster so that the zinc is still fresh.

He's just been and collected them - so progress 

[John Rudd]

So on its return and once erected, it should be easy to spot your place when I come with my caravan.....

Good to hear that your local resources are interested in helping you..... A lot of the places here in Hull just aren't....makes getting things done difficult... 

[awemawson]

John, you the family and the caravan would be most welcome. When things dry up a bit later in the year so you can get on a field, I have even equipped four points with water and electricity as friends and family do the same. If out of season wetness wise there is always room in one of the farm yards to keep you out of the claggy stuff 

[Joules]

Just tell him to over inflate his tyres...

[mattinker]

Hi Andrew,

If you really want it to last, glaze or have it glazed, a large potters kiln should be sufficient! Lots of really permanent colours.

All the best, Matthew.

Hi Andrew,
I think I was to cryptic in my post, I know it's no longer relevant, but I was thinking about the enamelled signs that were actually glazed steel plates, before all the modern finishes! They were glazed on both sides so that they wouldn't warp.
Anyway, it doesn't matter, you got a paint solution!

All the best, Matthew
PS, Warco still underway! Stumbling blocks slowing me down!

[awemawson]

At long last the signs are not only painted but erected 

The fellow was supposed to be taking them to be hot zinc sprayed, then painting them in 2K black and white and delivering them back to me. Well they got zinced ok, but he ended up using my welding shop for the painting and was a right menace - hardly 'turnkey' but after a few false starts, and three days of mucking about with paint, I eventually got him off site 

So this morning I judged that all was hard enough to handle, and assembled them and planted them in the ground. Ended up having to use the forklift truck to get them to site - they are amazingly heavy and too wide to go in the tailgate of my Discovery, as I had hoped. Anyway they are in, and bedded with 'dry mix' which I have subsequently watered.

It'll be interesting to see how long before they appear on Google Streetview !

[Spurry]

They've turned out very well, Andrew. Spot the pig.
Pete

[John Rudd]

Looks very good Andrew 

[seadog]

Very nice job as always Andrew.

[spuddevans]

Looking very nice Andrew 

Tim

[NormanV]

They are excellent. Could you make me one saying "Lazy Bastard" for my house?

[DICKEYBIRD]

They are excellent. Could you make me one saying "Lazy Bastard" for my house?

You guys that live close to John Stevenson's Bridgeport Specialties® can drop by & get your free Clumsy Bastard signs.  They're only 20 quid apiece.