Originally Posted by
Darkmatter73
Hi Skywalker.
First, you need to remove the part to be painted if at all possible. If it's just a clamp lever, should be no problem. Unless you are good at masking and have the right materials, it can leak or soak through.
If you can isolate the clamp, mask off the threaded part and tape it to something, I attach parts to wooden paint stir sticks. That way after painting, you can shove it into a bookcase or something to dry.
Prep the part: if you don't have access to acetone to clean the part ( best ) just use some alcohol, but don't touch it again.
In your case I would not sand raw aluminum, I would use a primer or adhesion promoter, preferably clear. You didn't specify if your paint was brush on or spray, only that you didn't want to spray.
I would not use a brush on paint myself, can't stand brush strokes in the finish. Spraying it on will give you far more consistent and even results.
Either way you do it, let it dry overnight. Don't bake the part, it will not help the finish. You can then use a nice gloss clear over that and get the nice shiny part you were looking for.
Keep in mind that rattle can paints, in my experience, will become tacky when heated up ( playing with the saber ). If you don't have access to better paints, make sure your clear goes on in nice thin coats, letting dry a bit in between.
Let it set up good before you handle it too much. Minimum overnight. I hope this helps at least a bit. I've been wanting to do a video series on metal finishing in general, but lack a video camera =)
I'll help you however I can, and happy painting.
-Darkmatter73
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