I have questions about acrylic enamel? Is it true that if you dont use hardener then you can never paint over the top of it again and must strip to bare metal and start all over? Where is the cheapest place to buy acrylic enamel and what is a good price for 1 quart? 1 gallon? I am painting some cast iron weight plates and a steel frame. Both will have old paint remaining on them. Also. What is the base of acrylic enamel. Latex is water based, oil based etc... what is acrylic enamel? What is the chemical name of the reducer? and is it the same as urethane reducer? Thanks Gary
What I can tell you is that without hardener, enamel will take days to dry. Also be advised that hardener has isocyanides in it. Very deadly stuff. You need a good resperator. Im sure others will chime in to answer your other questions
Depends on what brand you buy. I'm not familiar with other brands but Dupont's acrylic emamel (Centari) has a drier in it already and will cure up just like any other paint. If you want a little better durability and a better shine then you can add hardener to it. With Dupont's cheaper line of Nason paints, the acrylic enamel (Ful-Cryl) does not have a drier in it so it has to be activated in order to dry. The paint itself is cheaper but since you have no choice but to add the hardener you're not really saving any money. You should be able to recoat either of these paints anytime. Price depends a lot on the color. Reds and blues are considerably cheaper than black or white. Reducer is called reducer just as laquer thinner is called thinner, just be sure you buy the reducer for the brand and type of paint you plan to use. Some brands use the same reducer for both acrylic enamel and urethane enamel but not all of them so ask the paint store what you need when you buy the paint. Hardener is called hardener in some cases and activator in others, but they generally have the same function. Where to buy the cheapest? That's probably a crap shoot.
The reducers come in different ranges to match flash drying time to humidity/temperature conditions. I've always seen the opposite to be true more or less. Around here, any shade of red or anything with more red tint in the mix are usually the most expensive.
