Type of paint for (wooden) lockbar

[Felsir]

I made the lockbar out of a piece of MDF- rounded the edges and grooved it so it fits tight on my cabinet. The shape works well and I'm happy how it turned out. To finish it off I painted the lockbar in a clean black finish.

The paint I used is an acryllic lacquer, several coats- sanding between each coat of paint. However after a few weeks, my hand palms seem to "stick" more on the surface and the paint starts to show "crackle" where my hands touch the surface. 
Anyone have a similar experience? What paint is commonly used for this (should I use a type of varnish?) 

 

[DBrown67]

Don't paint it! I did this and then laquered it as well using auto spray cans. It just rubbed off where your hand sit over time, and quite quickly.

I then decided to wrap it in Fablon. That was bollocks as well. The coloured surface again wearing off. The vinyl itself was very up to the task, just the colour coating.

I fianlly tried proper car wrapping material (in gloss black) and that's been great. No sign of wearing at all so far. Still lovely and shiny.

 

I noticed this is a very old thread now and you've probably gone one way or another. But just my advice to anyone else using wood for the lockbar.

Edited January 13, 2022 by DBrown67

[Felsir]

 

On 1/13/2022 at 7:59 PM, DBrown67 said:

I noticed this is a very old thread now and you've probably gone one way or another. But just my advice to anyone else using wood for the lockbar.

 

I'm still around! I just didn't flag the topic for notification and totally forgot that I posted this. Thanks for your reply 🙂

 

I wrapped my cabinet in Car Wrap vinyl- I've struggled to get a smooth wrap on the lockbar. How did you manage to wrap it nicely around edges?

[LegoYoda]

I fixed the issue you had by using:

 

Primer x 2 coats

BMW Metallic Black Spray x 2 coats

Auto Grade Clear coat x 5 coats (Very thin)

 

Left to dry for a day and it's rock solid... no crackle, no fade etc.... Trick is lots of VERY thin clear coat layers with time to dry inbetween, then you get a hard surface that isnt sticky or antyhing...

[Felsir]

Thanks for the advise. I'm going try that. I already sanded it down so it's smooth and any leftover varnish of previous attempts are gone. Worst case I will route a new piece.

[DBrown67]

14 hours ago, Felsir said:

 

 

I'm still around! I just didn't flag the topic for notification and totally forgot that I posted this. Thanks for your reply 🙂

 

I wrapped my cabinet in Car Wrap vinyl- I've struggled to get a smooth wrap on the lockbar. How did you manage to wrap it nicely around edges?

 

I did use a heater (like a powerful hair dryer) to soften it a bit round the corners. Don't go mad though if you do this. I do have some wrinkles round the bottom edges. But because it's black they are hardly noticeable. On the chrome I had you could see the wrinkles easily.

I just concentrated on getting it totally smooth on top and on the curved edges at the front. I rreally should have bunged the guy I got the wrap from to do it for me. He gave me the wrap for nothing, so paying £20 to get it perfect would have been worth it I suppose. 

But I wanted to have a go myself.

[robertwallace]

(old thread; not much traffic here, it seems)

 

Have you considered UV-cured resin?   I don't have a lockbar - my mini-cab's corners ended in a sharp point so I 3D-printed some custom rounded corners - about palm-sized - out of PLA and then painted and cured several coats of clear 3D-printer resin.  A little sanding and some polish and they're slick as glass and very comfortable.  It's been about two years of daily playing and they're still in excellent condition with no wear.    So perhaps a few layers on your painted lockbar would work for you.

 

In retrospect, I should have just done the corners completely in my resin printer instead of PLA/resin coat.  Next time.

 

Edited August 5, 2022 by robertwallace
non-matching tense in a multiply-edited sentence. OK?

[LegoYoda]

Thats a really neat solution.. like that!