Slow but steady

[rryan1]

Started my Crack build.  I'm super happy with the hammered paint I went with for the bell and the top plate.  It is still kind of delicate, have to be very careful not to scratch it, even after a couple days dry time.  Still working on mechanicals, haven't even gotten the soldering station out yet!

Couple of pix attached.

 

[Strikkflypilot]

Looking great.
The hammerite takes a week or two to really cure.
Seating the amp on the bathroom floor might speed it up.

 

[Natural Sound]

I always wait a couple of weeks to assemble after painting. I use Rustoleum Hammered finishes and it takes that long to fully cure and harden. Temperature and humidity play a role in dry/cure time too. Make sure you follow the guideline on the can.
http://www.rustoleum.com/product-catalog/consumer-brands/stops-rust/hammered-spray/

Slow and steady is a great approach when building a Bottlehead kit. Make sure you double or even triple check your work along the way. And as always ask questions if you get stuck. That's one of the things that makes this forum great.

 

[Samsquatch]

That Hammered look is great. I was thinking of going with a powder coat for my projects but I may have changed my mind. Nice job!

 

[Grainger49]

I cooked my Eros top plate, transformer end bell and tube shields at 100 F for half an hour.  Don't do this to the transformer.

My wife was out of the house, I ran the exhaust fan then opened the house before she got home.  But it hardens the paint very well.

 

[rryan1]

Ah!  Great idea, Grainger!  I should have thought of that before assembling it.  And I really shouldn't have been playing with it yet, I just had to mask off and quickly reshoot a couple of spots that got scratched to heck just from touching the wood on the base for a few minutes.

Now I'm not touching it for like 2 weeks.

Rich

 

[rryan1]

Okay, I'm back on track.  The hammered paint finish is like a rock now, I really wish I had waited before messing with it.  I can see some damage to the underlying coats, my wife says she can't see it.  But I can....  :-\

I'm doing a few steps a night, nice and slow, maybe an hour tops.  I hope those little LEDs can take some heat, I got hot solder all over the side of one of them while trying to solder A3.

Thanks, Bottlehead!

 

[wullymc]

Looks great to me!

Keep up the good work!....dave

 

[4krow]

I have tried many finishes on many surfaces, and found out the hard way that some things are just not meant to be. Despite fine sanding, priming, and even cooking in the sun, the final results sometimes just didn't pan out. The Rustoleum products however, are some of the best that I have used.

 

[rryan1]

All done, and it works perfectly!  More in the appropriate forum.