Repainting a metal stand.

[Sundance]

I tend to over think things, but...

I need to repaint a couple of iron? metal tank stands. They are used and have rust patches on them.

Is it as simple as sanding and spray painting?

Thanks,

[fishbait]

pretty much. sand, prime, paint

[HiroPro]

Might take a look at Krylon spray paint. They make some especially for metal.

[pinkrblu]

I did this a few years ago and it worked great. Just sand well, make sure you get all the debris off (I used a vac and tack cloth), and then spray with a good quality rust-proof paint (I agree, Krylon is great) and there ya go...good as new. Just watch the temperature and if you're inside, wear a mask. Don't want your lungs coated

[Sundance]

Thanks, all. I may end up brush painting one stand. It may be more trouble than it's worth to try and move it.

[Airbrusher]

As you can tell by my screen name painting is something i'm familier with....Everyones input is pretty much spot on....start by washing the stand to remove any dirt or debris because you don't want to sand the dirt into the metal...that will only cause more trouble....once its clean then you can sand, prime and paint using most any brand of rattlecan paint...Krylon and Rustolium are a couple of really good ones that are easy to come by....don't paint in cold conditions...warm up the metal frame and even the cans of paint if nessasary using a blow dryer....a warm rattlecan atomizes the paint better, and warm metal will accept the paint better.....apply light even coats and build up slowly...don't try and cover it all in one pass.....several coats with a little drying time in between, is far better then one or two heavy coats....besides applying thinner coats will keep ya from getting runs in the paint as well.

If your going to use a brush i'd still follow the same prep....clean and sand, then prime and paint....using a foam brush or foam roller can sometimes help get good results without any brush marks in the final product....Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

[Sundance]

Thanks, Airbrusher. I should have posted that I ended up painting with a brush. The stand is 6 ft long and over 30 years old with a running 130 gallon on it.

I painted without sanding out the rust.

It looks fine. I just hope it doesn't eat it away in a few years.

[Airbrusher]

I painted without sanding out the rust.

It looks fine. I just hope it doesn't eat it away in a few years.

Unfortunately thats what rust does....keep eating away at metal....even with paint over the top of it. Who knows it might outlast us all, but then again it could rust out and collapse in a year or so. We'll keep our fingers crossed that doesn't happen.