Finish needed for outdoor metal workbench

[Dengue]

Can anyone please recommend a tough finish for an outdoor metal table covered in 3mm bare shiny metal, originally zincalume? Spray gun, aerosol can or hand brushed, doesn't matter

This table is used as a workbench for everything, metal work and woodwork, mostly the latter

[petersemple]

Killrust paint?

[Dengue]

thanks for this suggestion, petersemple. I looked up and found that Killrust epoxy gloss enamel was more suited to fences, gutters, downpipes, railings, and structural steelwork - all items that did not actually have anything in contact with them normally, like a workbench would have i.e where there would be constant wearing on the painted surface.
Not sure about that one, but it sounded good, esp the "epoxy" part of it.

[petersemple]

Oh, could be true. I have had great results in the past with it, but only on structural stuff.

[Gaza]

wat about a bees wax

[Wizened of Oz]

H Jill
I doubt that there is any coating you could put on that would not wear through, especially when doing metalwork.
When my only workbench was one I had built for welding I had a sheet of formply, with solid wood edges, which I dropped on for woodwork. The dark colour was a drawback. If I did it again I would use a natural ply and give it a clear oil finish.
Suggest you might just accept the zincalume top for metalwork and make up a drop-on top for your woodwork. Trying to use the one top for both is almost certain at some time to contaminate your woodwork.
And don't put on wax or anything else that will have your work sliding around.

[Dengue]

Thanks Brian, that makes sense. the bulk of my work is woodwork, so it will have the timber sheeting on 95% of the time. Any suggestions for an outdoor coating for this ?

[Wizened of Oz]

Outdoors? In Townsville. I don't think there is any coating that's really durable in that climate.
How outdoors? Under cover at least?
Use exterior grade ply. Coat with boiled linseed oil/turps mix (about 50/50). Give the underside a coat as well, maybe 2 or 3 coats on top. Recoat the top a couple of times a year, after scraping off the glue and finish spills.
And throw a tarp over the bench when it's not in use.
Any help?

[soundman]

Any metal work surface ( well any work surface) is going to require cleaning & recoating from time to time.

I realy like Galmet Duragal, it is a silver zinc rich paint designed for spraying to touch up galvanised and duragal coated metalwork.

It is not a cold gal and gives a good quality silver/grey finish with a high zinc and resin content almost as good as wheel silver.

Thinners bassed.

I've done a couple of boat trailers in it and it stands up very well.

I'd be inclined to clean the bench down well then give a coat of wattyl super etch as a primer undercoat and then a coat or two of duragal.

cheers

[Dengue]

I contacted Dulux, and here is their advice:

Durebild STE would be our best product. It is a 2 pack solvent based epoxy so is very durable. The most important thing for this system is your prep. All existing paint needs to be removed completely and the steel will need to be hand or power tool cleaned.

Pay particular attention to the drying times, keeping in mind they are at 25 degrees and 50% humidity. This time of year in most areas is quite cold so drying time may double or triple, or if it is too cold may not dry/cure at all.

2 coats is necessary straight onto the bare steel. This can be purchased from your local Dulux Trade Centre.

If your after something a little less involved and a fair bit cheaper, we have our industrial enamel range called Metalshield. Its the same prep. The primer is called Metalshield Etch Primer, and the finish is called Metalshield UV resistant enamel. This is still a decent system but won't be as durable. The Durebild is a much thicker film and more scratch resistant.

I then asked about a topcoat for the Durebild STE, and got this response:

Weathermax HBR is a good topcoat for it.

[Dengue]

Thanks for everyone's ideas and suggestions above

I contacted our local paint distributor who has been there for ages, well before Bunnies ever started. This shop specialises in automotive finishes.

They recommended the Valspar Lic40 product. It is an epoxy enamel , glossy finish, that you can apply with brush, roller, HVLP and air spray without any problems. It comes with a hardener you add in the ratio of 4:1, and if spraying you also add 10% thinners. I have attached the datasheet below

The shop had two 500mm iron pipes that had been sandblasted and sprayed with this. The paint shop guy whacked these pipes together quite hard, and there was no impact on the paint finish

I rolled the first coat, but did it incorrectly - you are only supposed to use a loaded foam roller with light pressure, but I pressed too hard leaving roller marks and sticky finish everywhere.

Next morning I sanded back the roughness, and sprayed with my Earlex 1900 HVLP spray outfit - gave a lot neater finish, just two coats 15 minutes apart. Unfortunately, the final finish after it dried had an orange peel finish, not a smooth finish. Can anyone please advise on the cause of this? I was using a 2.0mm tip on the gun.

If you look carefully at the last picture, in the bottom RH corner you will see a gouge from my router spiral bit. The depth control had vibrated loose and I plunged right through the workpiece. Couldn't work out why I was getting iron filings instead of sawdust

Be interesting to see how it cures, will keep you informed