Challenge: Painting Galvanized Rigging

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by crazyhorse

A paint compressor works well. Split a CONDUIT tube in half with a hole mid-way through it (for the nossel) and tape it around the shroud etc. Insert foam at each end then fire in the paint (or "formula" ) whilts running the tube up and down the wire. WORKS!!

What size (∅) of conduit, relative to the rigging wire?

[Live to Dive]

Disguise your boat as a radio tower and let them do it. LOL.

Had to put that in sorry.

[Vasco]

This is going back a ways but we used to use white lead and tallow ( I think this was the mixture). Just used some cotton waste dipped in the can, the bosun's chair shackled on the shroud and slide down slowly. The hard part was that your arms were always above your head. I guess the days of white lead are long gone.

[Jace]

Hey Boden. I was a painting contractor for many years and we had something like what was mentioned already. Ours was called a painter's mitt. It is a mitt with a cloth liner and a 3/4" nap outer fur skin. You had to wear a rubber glove or the paint would get all over your hand as the paint would soak through the cloth liner. You might also try what is called a wienie (spelling?) roller. It's a roller that is only about an 1" thick that slips onto a 1/4" thick roller rod - thus name weiner, or weinie cause that's what it resembles.

I would suggest a 3" long (they have 6" and longer), 1/2" nap lambskin with a short - 6" or so - arm (the short arms are easier to control). The lambskin is important as it holds much more paint and doesn't 'spit' as you're rolling like a polyester or nylon roller skin. But be careful, it can hold a LOT of paint. You have to play with it to get used to its capacity.

After we were done, if we were using oil based paint, we just threw the roller away as it would cost more in paint thinner to wash it that the roller was worth.

If you go with the mitt, make sure it's lambskin too for the same reasons as above.

www.joekeck.com

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by Blue Stocking

I have seen radio tower painters use a glove with an rubber interior bonded to a velvet like cover. They pressed their flat hand onto a paint filled foam in a tray and wiped the paint on.

Actually I think the glove is available with a fur or similar type surface in the palm area. Foam would tear easier than fur or wool as you "wipe" down the wire/whatever. However, dripping maybe a serious problem as compared to brushing especially if you have recesses like inside a chain link. It might just consume too much paint to be cost effective.