Painting your Spigen Apple Watch stand!

[Glene]

Well, I was on the fence about it. Just talked with Glene about it (who paints all the time) - the problem with a textured surface like that is that your polishing won't work (you'll get build-up of residue in the crannies, thin spots in your clear coat on the highs. So, I'm going to have to do what I thought in the first place and take it back down to the aluminum.
Heh. On my way out to grab some airplane paint remover. Thanks Glene!

Excellent - so here's the paint schedule
1. Aircraft paint remover and scotch brite pad,
2. Sand with 3000 , optional
3. Wipe down with rubbing alcohol or acetone, or both
4. Metal primer, light dusting coat, not heavy, wait 30 min
5. Two light coats of base color, use spritzes, not locking the spray valve open, 10 min apart, then 30 min before step 6
6. 3 light coats clear 10 min apart
7. Wait 48 hours and start polishing with finishing polish or cleaner wax

All my aerosol paints come from automotivetouchup.com

Before, a steering wheel alum bezel:

After , using the above process:

 

[fischersd]

That's gorgeous. No pressure though, right Glen?

Ok, now that Glen's shown what an expert can do, I'll finish this Spigen stand of mine...everyone ignore how good his results are.

Today was stripping the stand back down to the metal, then re-priming and following the instructions Glen gave for applying the paint and clear coat. I ran into a couple of snags due to my environment (I do my painting outside), but I think the end result's very good and will be quite nice once I polish up the finish in a couple of days (min 48 hours to cure).

Here's the new paint I'm using (re-using the self-etching primer noted before):


Yes, we're using automotive paint now, for the best possible results / quality.

This is the stand with all work completed, just the first coat of clear applied. Took a few pics - didn't seem to really photograph well (maybe the camera on my 5s is simply having trouble focusing on it).



Next pics (in 2-3 days) should be of the stand after polishing, then the installation of the charging cord.

 

[x-evil-x]

ill just pay 15 bucks and have it powder coated lol

 

[Glene]

ill just pay 15 bucks and have it powder coated lol

Good for you....this is a hobby, not a financial decision...oh yeah .....LOL

 

[iVegas]

I've always had better luck with automotive spray paint vs Rustoleum and Krylon. It goes on smoother and has a nicer finish. It dries super quick, too. I usually wet sand with high grit sand paper between coats, too.

 

[x-evil-x]

Good for you....this is a hobby, not a financial decision...oh yeah .....LOL

trust me i change almost everything i own. i understand the hobby part.

 

[fischersd]

I've always had better luck with automotive spray paint vs Rustoleum and Krylon. It goes on smoother and has a nicer finish. It dries super quick, too. I usually wet sand with high grit sand paper between coats, too.

Initially I was planning on going with a cheaper look - you know, like powder coating? That's what that hammered texture paint would have achieved.

After Glen suggested the whole piano finish thing, I wanted to have a much sleeker result.
I'm thinking after I do the polishing with the Maguire's, I may also give it a coat of the Rejex sealant I use on my BMW, to give it even more luster. (also, as it adds a polymer coating, this will provide more protection for my link bracelet rubbing against the base). I'll just tape off where I plan on using adhesive to hide the charging cable.

Per the wet sanding between coats - yeah, I have to get to the city and get some supplies. Best sandpaper I can get out here is only 600 grit. Nowhere near good enough for painting work!!! (closest town is like 3500 people)

But the scenery is nice:

 

[Glene]

Assuming you are not painting outside anymore, You don't need to sand between coats… Just thin coats and then polishing at the end… Trust me ......also no rejex or any type of sealant for 30 days, the whole thing needs to outgas…

 

[fischersd]

Yep, I'll hold off on the Rejex - just means the finish won't be as lustrous as it can be for awhile yet. Hell, it may be another 30 days before I get my damn watch!

Bit of a delay in getting the polishing done - life's what happens when you're making plans.

 

[fischersd]

Ok, so I've polished it with Meguiar's Ultimate Polish (which is really for pre-wax prep on automotive paint) - it will remove any swirl marks and give you a nice, shiny finish.

Here's one pic with it showing how it catches the light:



And here's another one showing the stand in neutral light (living room) - note, the cable really blends in well.



In fact, the cable blends in so well, that I'm not going to bother with gluing it to the back, left edge of the stand. I think it looks fantastic just the way it is!

I'll reserve the "after" shot that I'm going to post on the first post for tomorrow - that's when my Space Black watch is arriving. These should complement each other very well indeed!!

 

[Glene]

Ok, so I've polished it with Meguiar's Ultimate Polish (which is really for pre-wax prep on automotive paint) - it will remove any swirl marks and give you a nice, shiny finish.

Here's one pic with it showing how it catches the light:

View attachment 562036

And here's another one showing the stand in neutral light (living room) - note, the cable really blends in well.

View attachment 562037

In fact, the cable blends in so well, that I'm not going to bother with gluing it to the back, left edge of the stand. I think it looks fantastic just the way it is!

I'll reserve the "after" shot that I'm going to post on the first post for tomorrow - that's when my Space Black watch is arriving. These should complement each other very well indeed!!

Excellent!

 

[fischersd]

Excellent!

Thanks! Really appreciate all of your help! This is a much better result than the original finish I had planned!!

Hopefully the link bracelet doesn't rub against the base when I cradle it. Provided it doesn't, I'll leave it as is.

I'll still likely give it a coat of Rejex in a month, once it's fully cured. Just to give it a bit more luster as well as helping to protect the finish.

For those wanting to secure the stand - just use carpet (double-sided) tape. Don't use any of the super-strong tapes that you can buy (that are rated for 25-50kg of weight bearing!) - you'll never be able to remove the stand without harming the finish on your table!

 

[fischersd]

And one more from the open side, so you get a good appreciation for how the cable doesn't stand out against the stand.

 

[fischersd]

A few pics with the watch that I finally received yesterday!



For those that are in the "Nice, but way too much effort" camp, it really isn't. If you want to completely minimize the effort involved, you could go with the self-etching primer, then a light coat or two of a good semi-gloss paint and still get a very good result. It doesn't have to be automotive paint like this is - automotive is simply the highest quality and most durable. (maybe a little overkill for a watch stand)

 

[IllusionEntity]

A few pics with the watch that I finally received yesterday!

View attachment 562390 View attachment 562391 View attachment 562392

For those that are in the "Nice, but way too much effort" camp, it really isn't. If you want to completely minimize the effort involved, you could go with the self-etching primer, then a light coat or two of a good semi-gloss paint and still get a very good result. It doesn't have to be automotive paint like this is - automotive is simply the highest quality and most durable. (maybe a little overkill for a watch stand)

In the last picture it looks like a pretty flat finish to me. I'm going to give this a go soon I think.

 

[Glene]

You can't get super gloss without automtive clear and polish....

 

[frifra]

@fischersd

That looks amazing. Well done and thank you for all the pictures and trouble posting it here .

Thanks as well to Glene and all his good input!