I have been cleaning up some brackets with wire wheel and die grinder. Came clean but should of used the sandblaster at work for time savings. Then my buddie comes over and says after painting them he bakes them in the oven at 350 degrees for about an hour to harden the paint. Is this BS or is there a trick here I dont know about? A little seasoning for flavor?

 

Heat will help the paint to cure more quickly, however I've never used that intense of a heat before (never bothered to try though)
Just don't bake anything plastic.

 

Depends on the paint...

Obviously anything on an engine has to be able to withstand at least 250° in normal operation, and will certainly see that kind of temp soon after install. So it's probably OK to bake it like that as soon as it has dried enough not to burst into flame in the oven, or suffocate people in the house with fumes. Some kinds of paint, like VHT, need temps like that to cure completely; they'll never completely set up at room temp.

I wouldn't use the oven I eat out of for that sort of thing though.

 

<b>I wouldn't use the oven I eat out of for that sort of thing though.</b>


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
cannot emphasize that enough!!!!!!!!!

DONT ask me how i know! everything tasted like paint for almost a year afterwards!!! mom made me buy a new oven......

 

lol!!!!!!!

 

Almost all enamels and high-solids water based paints can be baked to improve the surface. Lacquers should almost never be baked, since they tend to develop surface cracks from curing too quickly.

I must be the odd one. I normally eat from a plate, not directly from the oven, ala Elizabeth Taylor.