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Does anyone know the best way to go about preping and painting these 'black steel' angle irons? I'm painting with black rustguard epoxy enamel topcoat, it's says no primer needed but do I need to prime first?
They are very dirty, I'm getting black all over my hands from handling them.
Do I just wipe clean with turps or should I be using something abrasive to make the surface a shinny silver ready to paint?
Hi @beebee,
A very warm welcome to Workshop. We're pleased to have you join the community. What's the project you are using these for?
Let me tag some members with plenty of experience who might like to assist you. @Simon, @Mathy, @r23on and @tony-treehouse.
Please feel free to post anytime you need a hand. We have loads of members sharing helpful advice and inspiration every day. It's great that you could join us.
Jason
Hi @beebee , sorry for the delayed response. The Rustguard product doesn’t need a primer, however, you’re right, the surface needs to be clean, otherwise nothing is going to stick.
The question is, what’s causing the black on your hands? I’d try Turps first, as new steel products sometimes have a greasy/oily substance on them. If that doesn’t work, then hot soapy water next.
Once clean, make sure you follow the directions on the can for painting, make sure the metal is clean and dry etc.,, cheers Deb 
Thanks for your help mathy.
I have tried wiping it with turps & soapy water, but it still has some kind of black coating on the steel. I have tried sanding them and they come up a shiny silver, should i be doing this before applying the paint?
The angle irons were just bought from bunnings.
Hi @beebee - hmm, are these star droppers? Because they come with a black coating. Never mind, if it’s coming off easily with sanding, It’d be better to remove it. As @Brad says, it’s likely to cause your top coat to fail, eventually. Once you’re down to the metal, have a look at the cleaning directions on your can of spray paint and follow them. You’ll need more than one coat, as the first acts as a “primer coat”. Make sure you let the first coat dry properly (preferably overnight) so it get’s good adhesion to the metal. Then apply your second coat, and for a really top job, apply a third, allowing drying time between coats.
By the way, what are you doing with these? Cheers Deb
