36” Rigid Pipe Wrench

[elliottruss]

My brother gave me a 36” Rigid pipe wrench before he passed. I can’t imagine what I would ever use it for but I told him I would clean it up and hang it on the wall. I was thinking about wire wheeling it and shooting it with some red/orange paint. Ive seen where other have used black oxide, powder coating, or rubbing it down with oil. Do I need to used a primer? Would an epoxy paint work well?

 

[The Cobbler]

for wall art I would just clean it up & use alkyd based paint . no sense powder coating or epoxy, in my opinion anyway

 

[rlitman]

Aluminum or cast iron? If it's cast iron, then, just about anything should be fine for wall hanging. Aluminum can get a bit tricky with needing the right primer.

 

[toolmiser]

Isn't "chevy orange" about the same as the original color? Correct me if I am wrong.

 

[The Cobbler]

it's not that orange. it's an orange ish red but chevy orange it aint

 

[Dakotadadv8]

May be useful for unwanted visitors at night.

 

[BreeStephany]

I use Eastwood 2k epoxy primer and Eastwood 2k 'universal' gloss red for steel wrenches and 2k rally wheel silver for aluminum handles. It isn't like modern Ridgid Red which is much more orange than red, but is pretty close to the older ~ 1940's Ridgid Red, which is the majority of what I do resto work on.

For the hook jaw and adjustment nut, I would suggest just removing the rust, letting them soak in oil for a bit and calling them good. You can cold blue the heel jaw, heel jaw pin and spring clip, which is how I have seen most of the NOS & replacements from the factory.

I do like powder coating, but with the cost of powder coating seeming to ever increase, its not really something I opt for on hand tool and most small power tool restorations anymore. Eastwood's 2k epoxy automotive paint provides a pretty durable and oil resistant finish. Its also nice because its available as a 2 component both in rattle can and for HVLP application.

 

[Dagny]

I would hang it as is.