Paints to use for old vintage or government tools and cabinets

[drivesitfar]

ALL: i don't know of a thread that has any or all the best paint choices for old vintage tools so thought maybe a thread just about them maybe even showing what the tools, cabinets or other items look like might be helpful.

today i'm thinking about what color to paint some old Army cabinets. is there a certain type of green to use and best way to prep these old metal cabinets? Killinger bought a truck load of them in this picture and now i own one that i'm going to put my old Cannedy Otto drill press on in my shop. of course it would have been easier to paint during the summer and i might still wait until then, but i'd like to know if there is a specific type, brand and color of paint i should use when I'm ready to.

anybody want to post either Army colors or specific colors and brands of paints of some of our favorite tools and cabinets please do.

thanks all

 

[MShaw]

They probably have been olive drab or OD. Check this site for more about the color. http://www.colorhexa.com/6b8e23

 

[drivesitfar]

MShaw: thanks for your help.

ALL: i'm hoping to see something painted with Army green and a member's spray or paint can of the color and brand of paint if possible.

Hammered Verde green seems to be the most popular color for Wilton Bullet vises stamped after 1960. of course some of the members are painting them a bright almost florescent Snap On green and i'll check and post that color or maybe they can with pictures of their vises.

thanks

 

[Thumper68]

While sometimes it is nice to restore a tool or cabinet to the original color I saw a post here that recommended keeping everything in the shop (or as much as you can) in a color scheme both for looks and to help things look more organized.

This is something that I am doing in my shop, most of the storage and equipment will be one color, and it won't be equipment gray or OD green.

 

[four.cycle]

you've got lots of time to figure it out- you can't spray paint anything outside when it's this cold and damp - you'll get a lousy finish on the piece.
I've had fairly good luck with Rustoleum's "hammer finish" rattle cans on small stuff, but I haven't tried it on anything of any size.

 

[drivesitfar]

FC: exactly, but i could heat the shop and spray if i had to. or i could get one of those smokers some of the guys are buying to bake the paint on. no painting outside probably until June now unless we have a spring like last year that was abnormally warm.

Thumper: i usually say your tool or cabinet your color or leave original patina if you like and just wanted to start a thread for a resource since i (we) get asked several times daily what was the original color of this vise, toolbox, cabinet or whatever. some guys want original and i wouldn't mind a few off color things in my shop since it's far from a Man Cave and sort of looks like an Army storage facility now.

 

[d42jeep]

Here is a link to my favorite spray can color of WW2 Olive drab. You might give it a try. It also comes in gallons at a reasonable price.
-Don
It's the color I sprayed the attached air pump.
http://www.vintagejeeps.com/p-335-33070-paint-rattle-can-33070-r.aspx

 

[Cypherian]

Hey,

Try Here http://www.nelsonpaint.com/Q17-GAL.html a lot of the military paint at least for the Airforce was made by Deft, Crown, Desoto in gallon and qt kits the epoxy polyimide primers varied but are nasty to deal with if you do not have the right PPE and booth set up. You also might find it here http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/colorcharts/stuff_eng_colorcharts_us.htm

Cypher

 

[MShaw]

Be careful if you go after original paint. Many military objects and all combat vehicles were painted with CARC (chemical agent resisting coating) which makes decontamination easier but is not particularly desirable otherwise.

Better to get a good enamel or lacquer matched to a color formula or chip.

 

[36truck]

Keep in mind if you spray any paint you really need to use a paint respirator. Most all new paints & even most old ones have some NASTY chemicals in them. Painting outside in a VERY well vented space will help to remove the vapors easier. I lived 10 miles from the Nelson Paint factory. They make a good product just takes a long time to dry. Any of the industrial enamel's would be a good choice for shop equipment. The farm & fleet type of stores are good places to buy paint.

 

[dewalt378g]

Those links you guys posted above are fantastic. Though I don't have much to offer in comparison, over the years I have been really pleased with Rust-Oleum Dark Machine Gray.
It's not as dark as some older stuff like your camel back drill press, but it works pretty well for things from the 50's and later. And since it's readily available almost anywhere, it's my go-to paint for my industrial gray related stuff.

Here is an old SB cabinet I cleaned up. This pic is just after I painted the bottom and side cabinets and flipped it right side up. The color on the tray top and center shelf below are original, everything else freshly painted (dry).

 

[countryroad82]

To answer your question on prep it depends on what you are looking for. I have had success in both halfa$$ing it and awesome results with great prep work. I mean I'm a paint/body guy so yeah I have the know how to prep things to perfection, yes lots of sanding, priming, sanding required.

But where I was getting to with halfa$$ing is my shop equipment that I have refurbished I know is not going to get the utmost of care taken of it. Its going to get used, abused, and not wiped down constantly. So with my cabinets I first cleaned them, then wiped them down with lacquer thinner, and sprayed them. That was in 2006 or 07. They still look great for the 'awesome' prep work that went into them. Same went for a vise I recently acquired. I'll never go out of my way to not beat and bash on it because it's too nice, it's a tool. I spent about 30 minutes total on it hitting it with a flap wheel and painting it. It looks good, not perfect by any means but it suits my needs.

Then there's a high chair I'm refurbishing for my unborn daughter. I tore it apart, sandblasted it, etch primed, sealed, and painted it. It looks better than the day it was made. But it's not going to get beat on like my shop equipment lol.

As for paints and such, I'm a fan of oil base, synthetic enamel, acrylic enamel, urethanes for refurbish projects. But I will admit I like Rustoleum for most my projects, heck the high chair I mentioned was finished with it. My cabinets were done with it with a wipe down and spray and they still look great!

 

[ZRX61]

They probably have been olive drab or OD. Check this site for more about the color. http://www.colorhexa.com/6b8e23

There are light & dark OD's. The one in that link doesn't look close to either of them.

 

[Carla]

ALL: i don't know of a thread that has any or all the best paint choices for old vintage tools so thought maybe a thread just about them maybe even showing what the tools, cabinets or other items look like might be helpful.

today i'm thinking about what color to paint some old Army cabinets. is there a certain type of green to use and best way to prep these old metal cabinets? Killinger bought a truck load of them in this picture and now i own one that i'm going to put my old Cannedy Otto drill press on in my shop. of course it would have been easier to paint during the summer and i might still wait until then, but i'd like to know if there is a specific type, brand and color of paint i should use when I'm ready to.

anybody want to post either Army colors or specific colors and brands of paints of some of our favorite tools and cabinets please do.

thanks all

Hi, DIF,

The really 'right' way to refinish is to use a 'high solids' catalysed polyurethane paint. In times past, I've gotten paint mixed to various colours as needed by the 'industrial' Sherwin-Williams dealer here locally, and the 'Cardinal' paint works. Both are good paints, but 'not cheap', and have to be shot carefully, which does take a bit of care. For all practical purposes, this class of paint work is a bit 'over-kill' for such things as shop storage bins, kit boxes, etc.

Now, we've so-called 'environmental' laws here, and have to get paint elsewhere.

For the generality of 'minor items', I've used the allegedly 'mil-spec' paint supplied in spray cans from 'Rapco' (Mark Dodd, of Bowie, Texas, do a search for his web-site) He carries the 24052 green,which is a match for the old Plomb tool box green, the 24533 light 'interior green', aka 'cockpit green', the 16081 Navy-spec medium grey, and the 111 red primer,all of which are suitable for general shop use.

(the 24052 green matches Plomb tool kit boxes near-perfectly for colour, but most of the Plomb boxes were finished with a 'wrinkle' paint, so its not a 'perfect' restoration.)

That same green is a pretty close match for the generality of 'Lyon' and 'Hallowell' bench legs and 'shop furniture', such as parts cabinets and 'foremans' desks' from the 1930's-'50's.

cheers

Carla

`

 

[smokeyburb]

You might look into Aervo brand paint which is a very close match to current US specs (aervo.com ). It's available in spray cans. You might need to cover with a clear semi-gloss if you want the finished product to look like the original, otherwise the top coat dries flat.

 

[dittle fart around]

Worked for our Government for 30 years. Used to have Olive Drab available in my garage, you know from those "it's not going to hurt to take the occasional can home days" at work. At one point they checked your lunch box going in but not going out.

 

[Shiftless]

Worked for our Government for 30 years. Used to have Olive Drab available in my garage, you know from those "it's not going to hurt to take the occasional can home days" at work. At one point they checked your lunch box going in but not going out.

My FIL used to tell a story of long ago working at a plant that checked lunch boxes. There was a guy who occasionally pushed a wheelbarrow full of sand out the gate late in the afternoon right past the guard. Nobody would steal sand, right?
.
.
.
He was stealing wheelbarrows!

 

[Jcrapola]

I will say, I am FAR to lazy to do all the prep work for most of my garage projects. So, I paint almost everything with a spray bomb. Rustoleum was my go-to product for years. My buddy that does paint work, turned me on to using Duplicolor (enamels or engine enamel) spray paint. Wow! Big difference in durability. It holds up better to both wear and solvents (I have painted gas tanks on my minibikes with it, with good long term results). Plus, the nozzle on the can has a very nice vertical fan pattern. More like a proper spray gun, less like a cone of paint. It helps a hack like me get better results than I ever achieved with other brands

I buy it at the auto parts store (the kind with professional parts guys, not pimply teenagers), and you pay a bit of a premium for it. Well worth the money for me.

Color selection is somewhat limited. But, I am not really a "rainbow of colors" kind of guy....

 

[BMB]

I (spray can) painted an old cabinet with Krylon Italian Olive Satin.

I though was a nice shade, may or may not match some of the military olive/green colors. It did match the original color of the cabinet pretty well.