The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Making a Stovebolt Bed Painting pine/Mar-K

I am painting my new pine bed slats black. Mar-K used POR15 as a base coat(s). I know from experience POR15 can be a pain to apply as it can quickly gum up an applicator or a brush. Has anyone tried Mar-K's method?

Tried and am very happy 5 years later. I think I used a regular brush with no adverse reactions. I will use process again.

Okay, thanks. I think I will test it on a scrap piece too.

If you are referring to the Mar-K instructions/experiment for applying POR to pine bed-boards, I think they put on 2 coats of POR and then a final coat of quality exterior house paint (Behr, I think). I did that two years ago and so far so good.

We rolled-on the POR, waited until it "tack-up", and then rolled-on the next coat of POR and waited for it to "tack-up", and then rolled on the Behr (semigloss exterior black).

Added later:
We probably applied three coats of POR - we followed what was described on Mar-K's website.
We used short-nap rollers and plastic trays that got thrown away after each coat.
We also used brushes on the edges and seams before rolling on a coat, where possible.
This was on unpainted old wood on a 19+ foot flatbed that had lived in a high desert for most of its life. The under-side of the wood looked like new wood and was not checked. The upper-side of the wood was checked a little.

I'll let you know in 10 years how it holds up. I hope to hear from someone else how their paint held up over 10 years.

We too would be interested in some 'real world' results. The test boards still look good after nearly 10 years in the weather.

As noted, it is important to observe the recoat window for POR 15, If you wait to long, the next coats do not adhere as well.

On my personal truck under construction, I used oak boards and sprayed POR15 base coats then sprayed 2 coats of FLEXCOTE, a POR product. I had a lot of tiny bubbles in the POR15 and had to sand them down between coats. Bubbles possibly caused by using Oak which is porous and because it was hot/humid that day. This may have caused POR15 to dry quickly so the bubbles skinned over before they had a chance to pop. It was a frustrating experience. I would use pine and brush or roller it if I did it again. The truck has yet to see the light of day so the durability will be determined.

Mar-Ktech

Thanks for all this advice.
Tim, Do you recall if you used a tight nap roller? Seems that would be the choice. And, yes, your recollection of the Mar-K system is correct except Mar-K applied 3 coats of POR15. I still have to cut(round) by sanding the board edges and the weather may not cooperate for POR15 application, but I'll post how I made out when done.

How'd you make out Drew?...

Brad

Did my bed the MAR-K way and am very satisfied in the outcome. 2012 Did POR15 3 coats and then 3 coats of a Marine Black to match original look.

Has anyone por15'ed the bottom side of their boards but did the top side in a clear?
Tough and durable on the under and shiny and showy up top?
I won't be using mine for hauling but hope to drive it a lot.

Yes, kind of.

I used a nice stain and clear on the top. On the sides and bottom used a nice oiled based paint.

Tight nap rollers.
POR-15 Black Rust Preventative Paint and BEHR Gloss Black exterior paint

"POR-15 Rust Preventative Paint dries to a very hard waterproof finish but it is UV sensitive. We applied three coats of black POR-15 Rust Preventative Paint paint to the boards and topcoated with the same BEHR gloss black [three coats] paint that was used in the first test series. The POR-15 Rust Preventative Paint will provide the strength and adhesion and the BEHR gloss black will provide the resistance to sunlight."

Has anyone added Al powder to POR-15 to protect it from UV light like we do in aircraft fabric painting?

Ed

POR15 makes both a semi gloss black and gloss black that has ultra violet protection, I painted my side boards in it. Wonder if anyone has topcoated with it instead of the latex?