It's been kind of quiet around here, so I thought I'd post a few recent photos from painting my FP2. The inspiration for this was a visit from Karl, who helped me to change the input bearing on the back of the machine and to do some other minor repairs. Since that required pulling off the sides and back, which in turn requires removal of the DRO and scales, I figured it was a good time to do some more painting.
As a starting point, here is the machine, seven years ago, when I first saw it. The old-timers here know that I've done a lot of repairs and fixes since then, but I've always put off painting, because I hate doing it.
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Four years ago, after doing some repairs to it, I painted the long reach vertical head: https://www.practicalmachinist.com/v...ml#post2769767 . Recently, after some on-line research, I bought a new spray gun for this (Devilbiss FLG5 with a 1.4mm tip) which I am very happy with.
Here is some of the painting work in progress. The goal was to get a finish as close as possible to factory, but with modern (2 component PU) paint. Most surfaces have 3 coats of 2k acrylic primer (wet sanded after the final coat) followed by 3-5 coats of MIPA 200-90 polyurethane, wet sanded 1500/2000/3000 and then polished.
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Here is how it now looks. I am still not finished putting everything back together, and am just now in the process of reinstalling the DRO, scales, and cabling. Each scale has soldered connections near the head in a sealed connection box, which connects the head to the cable that goes to the DRO.
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Having a tidy paint job does make maintenance more fun. I snapped this photo was I was doing the final adjustment of the two X-axis gibs, before installing the bellows.
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The worst part was prepping and painting the base. Biggest mistake was painting the base and support separately. I should have removed the vertical table and then done the base and support at the same time, requiring less masking, less paint mixing, and less gun-cleaning.
I still have some small parts to paint, such as the Y-axis feed stops. But I need to first find some suitable hammertone paint.
I am still putting it back together, using this as an opportunity to do some further little fixes. For example the cover of the X-axis scale (not visible in the photo) was about 0.5mm proud of the vertical table. I've moved the scale and head so that the cover is now 1mm behind the plane of the table. The Y-axis gib lock screw did not work correctly (an internal part was missing). Now it does. I've installed a new bearing behind the bottom bevel gear that drives the vertical power feed shaft into the support. And so on.
With practice, my spraying is getting better -- I can now get a thick finish which is smooth enough that any remaining orange peel or overspray comes off with a few swipes of 1500 or 2000 grit paper.
Cheers,
Bruce
As a starting point, here is the machine, seven years ago, when I first saw it. The old-timers here know that I've done a lot of repairs and fixes since then, but I've always put off painting, because I hate doing it.
Four years ago, after doing some repairs to it, I painted the long reach vertical head: https://www.practicalmachinist.com/v...ml#post2769767 . Recently, after some on-line research, I bought a new spray gun for this (Devilbiss FLG5 with a 1.4mm tip) which I am very happy with.
Here is some of the painting work in progress. The goal was to get a finish as close as possible to factory, but with modern (2 component PU) paint. Most surfaces have 3 coats of 2k acrylic primer (wet sanded after the final coat) followed by 3-5 coats of MIPA 200-90 polyurethane, wet sanded 1500/2000/3000 and then polished.
Here is how it now looks. I am still not finished putting everything back together, and am just now in the process of reinstalling the DRO, scales, and cabling. Each scale has soldered connections near the head in a sealed connection box, which connects the head to the cable that goes to the DRO.
Having a tidy paint job does make maintenance more fun. I snapped this photo was I was doing the final adjustment of the two X-axis gibs, before installing the bellows.
The worst part was prepping and painting the base. Biggest mistake was painting the base and support separately. I should have removed the vertical table and then done the base and support at the same time, requiring less masking, less paint mixing, and less gun-cleaning.
I still have some small parts to paint, such as the Y-axis feed stops. But I need to first find some suitable hammertone paint.
I am still putting it back together, using this as an opportunity to do some further little fixes. For example the cover of the X-axis scale (not visible in the photo) was about 0.5mm proud of the vertical table. I've moved the scale and head so that the cover is now 1mm behind the plane of the table. The Y-axis gib lock screw did not work correctly (an internal part was missing). Now it does. I've installed a new bearing behind the bottom bevel gear that drives the vertical power feed shaft into the support. And so on.
With practice, my spraying is getting better -- I can now get a thick finish which is smooth enough that any remaining orange peel or overspray comes off with a few swipes of 1500 or 2000 grit paper.
Cheers,
Bruce