What's a fair price to spray a cabinet?

[andtan]

I've started to get some quotes on getting my WH20 cabinet sprayed and I was interested in what prices others have gotten. Due to colour matching issues I'm restricted to 2-pack automotive for the blue - so I've had to look at panel shops to get it done.

I'm wanting the head box sprayed inside and out, plus the left & right, and front of the main cabinet - which works out to be about 4 sq. metres. With the main cabinet I was just going to get the two front corners done, but I thought it probably wouldn't save me much. The cabinet is already primed and ready to go, and I've said that I will drop it off already masked up. All they have to do is supply and colour match the paint, and spray it on.

Seeing I have no idea what spray painting is worth (set-up, clean up, booth time, hourly rate etc) is $500 a fair price? 

So far two places - on the opposite side of town have quoted the same amount. If that's pretty much the going rate I'd rather get it done now and stop wasting time with more quotes.

Cheers,

Andy

[Marty Machine]

just be aware that auto-shop painters are great at painting METAL panels....when it comes to a wooden box it can potentially look crap unless you put a lot of time bogging/sanding the outer cabinet to perfection.....THEN their spraying techniques will show nicely.

Otherwise consider some form of furniture sprayer which knows how to treat/paint wood products better than auto-shop guys would...there might be a bunch of preps & pre-coats by the furniture guy that the auto-guy might not consider...

my 2c.

[howzat]

Hi Andy
If you have got it to primmer and are happy with the finish I think you could probally finish it.
You  could get the blue mixed in spray cans aprox 25.00 ea  I know labour rates are high, but you masking  it 500.00 may be a bit much.    What do you think??   imo you should do it your self   

Practice on card board first and save some $.  The     Satisfaction will be all yours        Howzat       

[andtan]

Hi Andy
If you have got it to primmer and are happy with the finish I think you could probally finish it.
You  could get the blue mixed in spray cans aprox 25.00 ea  I know labour rates are high, but you masking  it 500.00 may be a bit much.    What do you think??   imo you should do it your self  

Practice on card board first and save some $.  The     Satisfaction will be all yours        Howzat      

Can I get a 2-pack paint in spray cans?

I am happy with my spraying so far, and had WH20 been a black cab / head box I would be doing it myself - the WH20 blue is a nightmare to match and I can't get it in anything other than 2-pack. I was under the impression that I couldn't spray 2-pack due to it being toxic when sprayed, and having to have a booth / ventilated mask etc.

[Retropin]

Well ideally you should have a booth for any spraying.. but at $500 you could buy a gun, compressor and paint .. do it yourself and have change at the end of the day.

2 Pac isn't hard to use, you just need to mix what you need. Buy yourself a good mask, seal off the garage with plastic sheet and away you go. With 2 Pac.. you mix a small amount and do a light spray.. allow to go off ( about 30 mins) then do your heavier top coat.
IMO 2 Pac is overkill though.. why don't you just use acrylic lacquer? its cheaper, easier to use and your 2 pac supplier SHOULD be pointing you down this path first.. they both come as the same colour ranges ( any bloody colour!)
Original cab isn't  2 pac.. why is the respray?

[studley67]

sounds expensive to me.beware

[Strangeways]

Considering the external cabinet will have decals over most of it, except the headbox, I'd be inclined to finish the job myself. If you have already prepped the cabinet and laid down the primer, and masked it, then you are 90% done. It should not take longer than 20 minutes to repaint the cabinet in the base coat. You have done the hard work already. You don't need a booth for this kind of work. Do it outside and in the shade.

[andtan]

Well ideally you should have a booth for any spraying.. but at $500 you could buy a gun, compressor and paint .. do it yourself and have change at the end of the day.

.. why don't you just use acrylic lacquer? its cheaper, easier to use and your 2 pac supplier SHOULD be pointing you down this path first.. they both come as the same colour ranges ( any bloody colour!)
Original cab isn't  2 pac.. why is the respray?

I'll have a look at the acrylic lacquer option - the supplier I went to didn't mention it, but I'll specifically ask this time. The $500 quotes were a bit hard to swallow as I have primed everything myself, plus painted the inside, and rear of the cabinet. It was the paint type that was now stopping me.

Thanks to everyone for the advice.

Cheers,

Andy

[pinnies4me]

My brother runs an automotive paint shop. While I haven't done it yet, he told me he can make up spray cans using automotive acrylic for the blue I'll need for black hole. No idea why you'd be put onto two pack, really unnecessary for this type of work.

[swinks]

paint manufacturers / distributors can make cans to any colour at around $25 a can and for about $15-20 per can if you get about 20 cans.

[andtan]

Spoke to a paint supplier this afternoon and asked about acrylic lacquer and the first thing he said was "Why would you want to use that, you'd be better using two pack"

When I asked about the requirements for a booth, PPE etc, for two-pack he said, "Nah mate, you just need a carbon-activated respirator, you can spray it outside"

Maybe I'll try another supplier........

[Mr Pinbologist]

Spoke to a paint supplier this afternoon and asked about acrylic lacquer and the first thing he said was "Why would you want to use that, you'd be better using two pack"

When I asked about the requirements for a booth, PPE etc, for two-pack he said, "Nah mate, you just need a carbon-activated respirator, you can spray it outside"

Maybe I'll try another supplier........

Definitely find another supplier if they can't/won't sell you what you want 

[Strangeways]

Spoke to a paint supplier this afternoon and asked about acrylic lacquer and the first thing he said was "Why would you want to use that, you'd be better using two pack"

When I asked about the requirements for a booth, PPE etc, for two-pack he said, "Nah mate, you just need a carbon-activated respirator, you can spray it outside"

Maybe I'll try another supplier........

No pinball cabinets were painted using two pack. As mentioned earlier, it is overkill. If you have primed the cabinet with acrylic primer, then it might react with the two pack. Automotive Acrylics is the way to go.

[dealers choice]

Like everyone else has said. do it yourself with acrylic. if you need to buy a spray gun a star s-770 is a good one for around $120 ive had mine for just over 20 years. and it still sprays well . just clean it properly after you finish spraying and itll last forever. they cant be too bad a gun as they still sell them and the new ones are the same as mine.

[andtan]

Thanks for the advice guys.

As I actually have all the spray equipment - I only need to source the paint. I am a little miffed that I got bum steered to 2-pack in the first instance as I would have sprayed the cabinet in December / January while I was on holidays if I'd been told Acrylic lacquer was a better option.

S'pose I should have asked here first