Best way to finish enclosures

[the Life Aquatic]

What is an easy and great looking way to finish an enclosure. I have found a two methods but they each require a toaster oven to bake the enclosure. Is there a way to get a nice smooth glossy finish without the toaster oven. I just want a nice solid color smooth, shiny, and quality looking; nothing fancy. Any suggestions?

[Jero]

Any suggestions?

...a toaster oven

For real though, i got one for $5 at goodwill, works great.
BUT if you don't want to get one, you could spray them with primer, then flat colors. Should work alright. You could always hand paint them too.

[ifeellikeatourist]

Many layers of clear acrylic on top of your color? Krylon makes some kind of triple-thick glaze stuff that would probably be good for that. Also, I think that sanding lightly between coats is supposed to help too, but I have no experience with that. I definitely recommend a toaster oven. Even if you have to drop $18 for a new one at wal-mart, but really, $5-10 at a thrift store will do it, I just saw a few of them yesterday. And it's not that time consuming.

[cloudscapes]

I like clear epoxy resin. in bottles, not in the double-syringe thing.

no oven necissary, one single coat. takes forever to harden though, and it can't be disturbed. thankfully you have almost an hour after you apply to play around with it, even it out. just as long as it's kept cool.

24-48 hours at room temperature, or 2-4 hours with a warm fan softly blowing on it (not strong enough to make ripples)

[Jero]

I like clear epoxy resin. in bottles, not in the double-syringe thing.
no oven necissary, one single coat. takes forever to harden though, and it can't be disturbed. thankfully you have almost an hour after you apply to play around with it, even it out. just as long as it's kept cool.
24-48 hours at room temperature, or 2-4 hours with a warm fan softly blowing on it (not strong enough to make ripples)

I've been wanting to try this method of yours out myself. I've got a pedal I painted, then had a friend hand paint, that I think would look excellent with the epoxy.

[dune2k]

I like clear epoxy resin. in bottles, not in the double-syringe thing.

no oven necissary, one single coat. takes forever to harden though, and it can't be disturbed. thankfully you have almost an hour after you apply to play around with it, even it out. just as long as it's kept cool.

24-48 hours at room temperature, or 2-4 hours with a warm fan softly blowing on it (not strong enough to make ripples)

How durable is it? Right now it's on my todo list (esp. since I'm moving soon and will have a basement to use for it ).

[tuffteef]

speaking of finishing enclosures

whats the best clear coat/ easiest way to use on pedlulz that i just stuck a matte sticker label on

like spray lacquer is there any specific type?

im pretty remedial at these things

[Jero]

speaking of finishing enclosures
whats the best clear coat/ easiest way to use on pedlulz that i just stuck a matte sticker label on
like spray lacquer is there any specific type?
im pretty remedial at these things

I'm still trying to find the best spray coat. Used brush on and a couple diff sprays, I just can't get them quite solid enough.

[culturejam]

I just want a nice solid color smooth, shiny, and quality looking; nothing fancy.

A nice glossy, smooth finish is the hardest kind to do. It requires a lot of time and effort, good paint, a dust-free place to paint and dry. And to do it right, you really do need to spring for an old toaster or some other kind of low-heat source.

The easiest to do, in my opinion, is the "relic" or "distressed" look. If you fuck it up you can just start over, no biggie. You don't have to worry about bumps in the fish, dust, or any of that crap. You have to experiment with sanding technique and play around with paint color layering, but this is by far the easiest way to paint a box.

[tuffteef]

speaking of finishing enclosures
whats the best clear coat/ easiest way to use on pedlulz that i just stuck a matte sticker label on
like spray lacquer is there any specific type?
im pretty remedial at these things

I'm still trying to find the best spray coat. Use brush on and a couple diff sprays, I just can't get them quite solid enough.

i just wanna get it to a waterproof esq point so the ink doesnt run
nothing to hardcore

just like a light mist coat

[ifeellikeatourist]

speaking of finishing enclosures
whats the best clear coat/ easiest way to use on pedlulz that i just stuck a matte sticker label on
like spray lacquer is there any specific type?
im pretty remedial at these things

I'm still trying to find the best spray coat. Use brush on and a couple diff sprays, I just can't get them quite solid enough.

i just wanna get it to a waterproof esq point so the ink doesnt run
nothing to hardcore

just like a light mist coat

From my experience, I would recommend the aforementioned Krylon triple thick gloss stuff, or shellac, as far as spray goes. Really any kind of clear gloss spraypaint would do it if all you want is for it to protect your sticker.

[tuffteef]

thank you kindly tourist

[nbabmf]

It's like 90 degrees here in the summer. I just let that shit bake in the sun for a day between coats.

[culturejam]

I use Duplicolor automotive spray paint for all my stuff. Most of those colors have a small amount of clear mixed in, so even if you don't do a dedicated coat or two of clear, it still retains some gloss and some extra protection.

Duplicolor also tried to the touch really quickly (like in 20 minutes). It still needs additional curing time after that, but at least you can move it without leaving finger prints.

[McSpunckle]

I've got a process kinda down now... I wanted a nice, thick, glossy coat over the graphics and enclosure...

Tried polyurethane, but anything oil based will yellow. There is water based poly, so you could try it.

My process is:

Print graphics on waterproof Vinyl paper, let the ink dry, then rinse in the sink (avoid getting the back of the paper wet if you can).

Spray the paper with clear coat (I'm using Rustolium Crystal Clear Enamel-- anything hard will work). This makes the graphic more like a harder plastic and helps really seal in the ink and top coat on the paper.

Cut the label out and stick it on the pedal. The plasticy feel also makes it easier to get the sticker down flat.

Seal it all with a few coats of acrylic floor sealer (Johnson Wax Over and Under, in my case). This will dry sorta milky and would take a bazillion coats to get thick enough, but it's GREAT to use at first to really seal things in.

Finally, finish with a coat (or two, if it doesn't level) with an acrylic clear coat like Minwax Polycrylic. This stuff seems to have a pretty intense solvent in it. Using it right over the graphic really messes it up. It cures into a hard, glossy plastic, though.

Be sure not to put ANY Coats on too thick. Never want anything staying wet too long.
Don't do this when it's hot. Just trust me.