Painting lettering on handlebar controls

[ptourin]

Has anybody rebuilt old hand control pieces? I have powdercoated a set and now need to re-letter them. The lettering is incised into the metal, so that I should be able to use white paint and clean off the excess - maybe....

I just tried using white automobile touch-up, but it's not a very cooperative medium. I'm brushing it into the incised letters, then rubbing it off the surface with a buckskin pad with some solvent on it. The solvent is a problem - laquer thinner does touch the surface of the powder coating, and I can't find any milder solvent that will gently cut the touch-up.

Does anybody have experience with paint and solvent media that are easier to use?

[brian91cfr]

Humbrol enamel paint works good you can thin it down with turps if its to thick
plus use the turps on a rag to remove the excess .
used this on a few switches etc works good but for me i used to let the piant go off a little before wiping the excess off.
The humbrol paint was available from model shops still is i think, i wouldn't use thinners
to harsh for the small area you are doing.
if they are bare aluminium switches let the paint dry and just t-cut the excess off but
no good on plastic or painted parts.

brian.

[ptourin]

Thanks - model enamel is a great idea, didn't think of it. I agree that it'd be good to let it tack up a bit before wiping. In a past incarnation I used to do gold leaf work, and we used to use buckskin to wipe with - relatively flat, didn't dig into the paint, held thinner nicely. I spend a half hour last night looking through the shop but couldn't find any - but I know I've still got some tucked away somewhere...

[pgeller]

Restockit.com | Lacquer-stik White Fill-in Paint for Engravi (SKU: 434-51120) sold at Restockit.com. (Category: Permanent Markers and Marker Pens)

Bowling shops have these to fill engravings in balls. Many hobby shops as well.

pg
DD

[ptourin]

Paul - how is it applied? I'm guessing it's a rub-on stick - it fills the depressions and cures somewhat hard but a bit flexy - do I have it right? Do you then use lacquer thinner on the painted/powdercoated surface to clean off the excess around the letters?

[Artistimo]

You can't use solvents to clean powdercoated parts at all. It will smear the coating. I learned this the hard way when I spilled some yellow paint on the floor and the spatter got on a frame I had ready for a new build. No problem, I thought. With urethane clears you can just wipe something like that off with a little thinner. But it smeared the frame and it had to be redone. Powders are not solvent resistant. As far as painting these, I do that kind of thing all the time but I use 1-Shot and a lettering brush and take my time.

[ptourin]

That's why my test with car touch-up lacquer was very short-lived - I did a test wiping lacquer thinner on a small area and could see that it touched the surface of the powder coat. I did one set of lettering that's pretty much out of sight and decided not to continue. Now that lettering and thinner have all dried, the surface no longer shows anything, but I wouldn't want to risk going any farther. I didn't notice that paint thinner or denatured alc touched the powder coating, but of course, they didn't cut the touch-up lacquer either. So I may also end up with 1Shot and a tiny brush - it's slow, but I can build up the lettering carefully almost up to the surface.

[wdietz186]

I've found that cloth and probably leather too is too "hairy" to remove only the paint on the surface above the etched areas. The fibers of the material tend to wick solvent into the wet paint and they pull the paint out of the depressed area as you wipe it. I've used paper toweling that is sort of stiff and slick with good effect,the bad part is I can't recall who made it. It was in the washroom at work,light brown,and knowing the management, was cheap. Letting the paint set up a bit and not applying much pressure so as to avoid squeezing the solvent out of the paper did a pretty good job.

[ptourin]

Yep, that's why we used to use buckskin - it was a bit more than 1/8" thick, soft surface, not hairy but rather smooth, and you could cut a piece about 1" square with very clean edges - it was perfect. You can soak it in solvent or put on just a little and pad it against your pants until it's just a tiny bit moist.

I did a test with mineral oil and car touch-up lacquer awhile ago. N.G. - the mineral oil won't dissolve the lacquer at all. So off tomorrow to buy some 1Shot...

[vinylengraver]

The guys on my firearms-related forums use wax crayons to customize the "engraved" pieces by filling in the lettering. Just rub it in to fill the grooves and clean up with cloth or paper. You can use a heatgun to let the crayon melt and fill the groves nice and evenly after. It will set as it cools and stay put (if the surface was clean and grease-free before aplication).