Thread: Painting aluminium checker plate

Will need to be cleaned of any weathering (oxidisation) and then Etch Primer applied before a top coat, Regards Frank.

undercoat with zinc chromate, works on planes.

Same as for any aluminium - remove any loose oxide or other corrosion products, degrease and start with etch primer. Depending on the desired finish you can simply apply a good quality acrylic over this, or you can go the whole hog, but if you apply too thick a paint layer, it will not improve the appearance of the tread plate, as it will fill up the angles to a noticeable extent.

However, while aluminium does not require painting for protection (I have an unpainted alloy dinghy that has survived for thirty years in a saltwater environment!), tread plate in particular, because of the raised lumps, is very prone to having the paint rubbed off the tops, and while this won't hurt, it does not look real flash. My attitude is to leave it unpainted unless you can cover it with something a bit more resistant to rubbing, such as powder coating.

John

Originally Posted by JDNSW

<snip>

However, while aluminium does not require painting for protection <snip>

John

oooh, that's a bit of a generalisation for you John

Some of the high tensile grades, depending on the metallurgy aren't very corrosion resistant at all, hence why the 12'x 4' sheet of 2024 T4 I have sitting in my shed is Alclad (anodised)

OK, OK, common old checker plate (chequer ?) is plain Jane dead soft relatively pure but I couldn't resist

Zinc Chromate is the best undercoat for Al. but it's really not good for you, only use with really good ventilation, overalls and high-quality respirator!!!

Also, it pays to spray chequer-plate with lots of light coats from many angles so that the paint doesn't build up too much on any particular side of the bumps.

Andrew

Originally Posted by rick130

oooh, that's a bit of a generalisation for you John

Some of the high tensile grades, depending on the metallurgy aren't very corrosion resistant at all, hence why the 12'x 4' sheet of 2024 T4 I have sitting in my shed is Alclad (anodised)

OK, OK, common old checker plate (chequer ?) is plain Jane dead soft relatively pure but I couldn't resist

You are right of course - but the copper containing alloys you mention are rarely described as "aluminium", and the alloy used in Landrovers, as well as any checkerplate you are likely to come across are close enough to pure aluminium (or at least don't contain metals a long way off electrochemically) that paint is not needed for protection.

Note: Alclad is not the same as anodised, although alclad may be anodised as well. Alclad is the proprietary name for corrodible aluminium alloy coated with a thin layer of pure aluminium. Anodising is the process of forming a hard, durable layer of aluminium oxide electrochemically to protect aluminium. It is much thicker and more cohesive than the layer that forms naturally when aluminium is exposed to air, which normally prevents further oxidation, but the anodised layer, being thicker, is less easily damaged.

John

Pedro don't you hate it wqhen you post a simple question and get a complex answer ?!

Happens to me all the time.

just sitting here with a large box of popcorn,,,