bluehills5
Active Member
I don't want to bore you all with another 1200 restore as there are a ton of them about and most of them have done a better job than me but I wanted to share the paint job which came out quite well for a $4 rattle can.
By the way, the tt was bought off craiglist for $150 but was missing feet, tonearm rest,power knob, most screws, mat and the headshell/cartridge. I also replaced the illegible pitch display, tonearm wires replaced with KAB litz, new RCA cables and finally new decals. This added another $150 or so but I had the head/cartridge already so it starts to look less like the bargain it appeared.
For the paint, I sanded the base down to the bare metal using an orbital sander and simply sprayed with multiple coats of "Rust-Oleum 7887830 Appliance Enamel 12-Ounce Spray, Stainless" which can be bought for a few $ a can but this color is hard to find - my local home depot does not stock it so I bought online. Primer was not used and not recommended.
This is a "stainless" color but comes out very like the standard Technics finish and does not look metallic or sparkly at all - in fact, if I painted my stainless appliance I be pretty disappointed as I'd call it "grey".
I sprayed about 5 coats about 24 hrs apart and let it dry for a week, as the instructions recommend. It sprays on quite rough so I smoothed it out with a worn scotch pad very lightly. My first attempts using 1500 sandpaper wore though the paint at the edges so I had to repaint it all again. The whole exercise took about 3 weeks so this is not a weekend job as it needs to dry - I even dried it in my basement boiler room which feels about 90 deg so it needs time to cure.
I did this a couple months ago and it has survived OK with no scratches or wearing but it is a home tt so I'm not sure how durable it would be in a harsh environment. Other people who have used rustoleum appliance paint vouch for its durability but curse its drying time. From what I researched, it is the most durable rattle can paint bar the 2 pack urethane cans which sell for $25 up in limited colors.
My only gripe is loosing the Technics logos. I used reproduction stickers from ebay but they look kinda amateurish. If anyone wants a business idea, make logos like this using dry transfer process or perhaps a diy screen print? They would sell like very easily.
Here are the pics..
By the way, the tt was bought off craiglist for $150 but was missing feet, tonearm rest,power knob, most screws, mat and the headshell/cartridge. I also replaced the illegible pitch display, tonearm wires replaced with KAB litz, new RCA cables and finally new decals. This added another $150 or so but I had the head/cartridge already so it starts to look less like the bargain it appeared.
For the paint, I sanded the base down to the bare metal using an orbital sander and simply sprayed with multiple coats of "Rust-Oleum 7887830 Appliance Enamel 12-Ounce Spray, Stainless" which can be bought for a few $ a can but this color is hard to find - my local home depot does not stock it so I bought online. Primer was not used and not recommended.
This is a "stainless" color but comes out very like the standard Technics finish and does not look metallic or sparkly at all - in fact, if I painted my stainless appliance I be pretty disappointed as I'd call it "grey".
I sprayed about 5 coats about 24 hrs apart and let it dry for a week, as the instructions recommend. It sprays on quite rough so I smoothed it out with a worn scotch pad very lightly. My first attempts using 1500 sandpaper wore though the paint at the edges so I had to repaint it all again. The whole exercise took about 3 weeks so this is not a weekend job as it needs to dry - I even dried it in my basement boiler room which feels about 90 deg so it needs time to cure.
I did this a couple months ago and it has survived OK with no scratches or wearing but it is a home tt so I'm not sure how durable it would be in a harsh environment. Other people who have used rustoleum appliance paint vouch for its durability but curse its drying time. From what I researched, it is the most durable rattle can paint bar the 2 pack urethane cans which sell for $25 up in limited colors.
My only gripe is loosing the Technics logos. I used reproduction stickers from ebay but they look kinda amateurish. If anyone wants a business idea, make logos like this using dry transfer process or perhaps a diy screen print? They would sell like very easily.
Here are the pics..
