Hammerite

[Tomska]

Anybody ever painted a boat with it? This stuff claims to be primer, undercoat and gloss in one. If something seems too good to be true it usually is. Any thoughts?

 

[Old Son]

I am told it chips easily. Never used it so don't know for sure.

[Chalky]

I use it on the Gunwales. Can take 2 coats to fully cover however it does what it says. Not suitable for highly cosmetic applications but more than ideal for a wear zone.

[RLWP]

Try doing a forum search on Hammerite, you should find several threads on it

 

Richard

[Tomska]

Ah thanks. Will do.

[p6rob]

It's very brittle and chips easily, but that seems to be true of boat paints too (or is that because of the way I scraped through the locks)

IIRC Hammerite starts curing after 4 hours, so, depending on the area you're covering, it might have started curing before you have chance to put on the second coat, in which case you have to wait 6 weeks before over painting.

[bottle]

Hammerite is ideal for metal objects that do not move and will not be hit.

[NB Lola]

Works fine gunwhales and below, how you apply determines how much it chips. I occasionally repair marks ( not on rubbing strakes) never had a problem, so far. I only coated once.

[RickH]

At around 9 quid for a small tin and ( according to them ) not to be thinned , it seems like an expensive way to paint a boat . Just used it on small parts on my engine , covers OK but I'd put on 2-3 coats on panels as you'll need to cut it back .

[RLWP]

Have you tried cutting back Hammerite?

 

Richard

[NB Lola]

I paid £55 for 5 litres

[bizzard]

I think you'll have a job getting a good finish brush painting large topside areas with it, its very viscous and dries too quickly to flow out properly, unless there's an additive retarder drops for it. I wouldn't use it for that purpose at all, if I did I would spray it.

[RickH]

Have you tried cutting back Hammerite?

 

Richard

I have on a very small area , it worked but you do need 3 coats

[RLWP]

I have on a very small area , it worked but you do need 3 coats

 

I'm impressed! Do you know if this is the current stuff or the old formula?

 

Richard

[bizzard]

Hammerite garage door paint brushes normally and dries at the slower rate which I've used and it smells like oil paint and thins with white spirit or turps and gave a good gloss finish and was tough. Limited colours though, I used Chestnut brown, I think there's a white. green and red too.

[RLWP]

The original stuff had to be thinned with it's own thinners (xylene, I think - it certainly smelled like xylene). The current stuff is different, and seems gloopier

 

I haven't tried the garage door paint

 

Richard

[luctor et emergo]

I find it best to ignore the instructions on the tin.

[NB Lola]

There were instructions?

[RLWP]

Hammerite is one of the few products I have tried where you had to use the right thinners. If not, it would separate out into lumps

 

Dunno about the new stuff

 

Richard

[PhilR]

Hammerite is one of the few products I have tried where you had to use the right thinners. If not, it would separate out into lumps

 

Dunno about the new stuff

 

Richard

IME Owatrol oil works well with Hammerite Direct to Rust, despite the instructions on the can.

[bizzard]

Hammerite is one of the few products I have tried where you had to use the right thinners. If not, it would separate out into lumps

 

Dunno about the new stuff

 

Richard

It did, I have an old 250ml tin of smooth dark green with a £3.75 label still on it in front of me. Any paint including fast drying will give a good brush finish on curvy rounded surfaces it seems to stretch and flow out nicely. Its when you try to brush paint large or vertical surfaces with that old Hammerite or any fast drying paint that you run into trouble with viscous brush drag and ruin the job. A bit like trying to brush the old cellulose paint, another brush stroke immediately upon the first and ruined.

[RLWP]

Cellulose is Real Man's paint

 

Richard

[Patrick Vale]

I've used rustoleum on engine bay and that worked quite well - bit sticky but not so much as hammerite. Claims to be thinnable with white spirit. I got it cos it was silver!

 

It's not cheap either - same as hammerite at my local trade paint place.

 

Some people have told me dulux weathershield is a really good top coat - and there is a boat done in it locally (not moves about much) which does look 'as new' 8 years on.

 

Wouldn't think it'd stand up to much wear though. Cheap mind: )

[jake_crew]

Hammerite is NOT good for petrol applications as it softens / melts.

 

Not that should worry the oil-burners amongst us.

[Chalky]

The original stuff had to be thinned with it's own thinners (xylene, I think - it certainly smelled like xylene). The current stuff is different, and seems gloopier

 

I haven't tried the garage door paint

 

Richard

 

It was xylene although you could clean the paint using cellulose thinners. Yellow smoothrite was an exact match for BL/MG Inca yellow and was great for floor and boot areas.