The paint expert at work says that Rust-Oleum makes a spray paint in HAMMERED finish!

Wow! Thanks! I'll check to see if I can get a can ordered, or drive to the big town to look The more I look at this Graflok, the more I want to find a paint that comes close to matching. After all, it's the side of the camera that _I_ see...

THE PAINT EXPERT WAS RIGHT!!
http://www.rustoleum.com/category.asp?SubCatID=47&MainCatID=1

(what a find)
_________________
While a picture may be worth a thousand words, a photograph is worth a million.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: 45PSS on 2002-03-23 21:36 ]</font>

Wow again! Thanks for that link ( who would have thought to look on the internet? ). Not only a part number, but it looks like it comes in quart cans! I have to visit the local hardware store now!

Some painting tips.
For paint to stick well to the surface the surface must be free of dirt and more importantly oil. Camera surfaces accumulate the lanolin in our hands. Use whatever solvent is noted on the spray can to clean the surface before you paint it. Q-tips dipped in solvent are good for cleaning out corners. Caution: that solvent might also remove existing paint.

Many worn areas are edges and corners. Sprayed paint tends to go on thinner on edges. I don't know the physics of this, but it does. Building up the paint thickness on edges is therefore difficult.

Commercially painted metal objects usually have the paint baked. This causes it to harden and toughen. Unbaked paint will come off more easily, exactly what we don't want to happen to our retouched spots. If your old camera is to be used, rather than to sit on the shelf, this will be a greater concern.

If the part you are retouching is removable, get in off the camera, remove parts that you don't want oversprayed or that would be damaged by heat or by spray paint chemistry. You can also mask surfaces to protect them. Lay the part flat and build up thickness on the horizontal surface where you can apply the paint thicker without it running. You can turn the part 90 degrees for the next coat.

To control where the paint goes on the part, cut a hole in the shape of the area to be painted and hold it an inch or so from the area you are painting, then spray through the hole. If you're good at dodging, this technique will seem very natural.


After you've finished coating, put the painted part under a reflector spot or a regular bulb in a refector and bake it overnight. 200-300 degrees is about right and shouldn't hurt any purely metal part. You could bake your part in an oven set very low, about 200 degrees, but your next chocolate cake may have an unpleasant flavor.

OK...here is my prior post. Anyone have some new recommendations?