Posted by gene on September 17, 1997 at 09:21:07:

In Reply to: colored finishes on welded steel posted by Cyrus Mejia on September 16, 1997 at 14:02:00:

: ... but I am looking for more ideas.

Cyrus,

this is the place to bounce them around.

:Is there a way, for example to make enamals stick to metal heated with a torch and not in a kiln.

Enamel like this is actually a glass fused to the surface of the metal. Because glass and metal expand at different rates, using a torch on it will cause the finish to shatter. The oven version has time to cool and stretch slowy so as to disapate the stresses.

One possibilty might be powdercoating. This is fairly cheap to have done and there are a lot of colors available. The downside of it is that the baked powder finish may not like your favorite paints. I know I tried to use some acrylic enamel to add some character to a powdercoated piece once and the finish curdled. The powdercoater said I had to use epoxy paints instead.

Another possibility would be to finish with automotive primers and paints.

Gene

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