Milwaukee tool chest finish

[rocky100370]

Hi All,

I want to paint my metal Milwaukee tool chest in Festool colors. The chest is in excellent condition with no rust or paint chipping and the sides have a rough textured paint. Can someone suggest what type of paint I need and how to go about painting it please?

Thanks

 

[Packard]

It might seem a bit pedestrian because it is so easy to obtain, but Rustoleum makes oil-based enamel designed to go over steel. They have primers that are designed for already rusted surfaces and they have primers that are sandable. 

They have a limited array of colors, so for the topcoats you might want to go with a custom mix of enamel.

Do note that Rustoleum's products for steel are all oil-based.  Water-based products are problematic for the primer because the water can initiate rust.  And water-based topcoats don't always adhere well to oil-based primers.

Most paint stores will custom mix oil-based paints in any color.  The Festool color specs are available online.  Just do a google search.

If you want a super-premium look, then go with Fine Paints of Europe.  They produce oil-based enamels with the highest gloss anywhere (98) whereas most gloss paints max out at 90.  Perfect reflectivity is 100. 

It is a pricey paint, but very highly regarded.  They will color match and ship from their headquarters. 

 

[Cheese]

If the Milwaukee paint is in good condition, I wouldn't even consider repainting it. If the tool box is of recent vintage, it's probably powder coated and thus the finish is baked on. That produces a nice tough, hard surface.

If you do decide to paint over the original Milwaukee paint, then every surface will need to be thoroughly sanded to promote the new paint to adhere to the original Milwaukee paint. However, the new paint will scratch easily compared to the original finish.

Another problem area will be if there are piano hinges on the tool box. It's just about impossible to paint those things short of removing them, grit blasting them and then primer and paint. If you just try to paint over the original finish, you'll soon see that every time you open & close the hinge, small flecks of the new paint will come off. You'll just not be happy with the overall results.