PAINTING UMPIRE MASK

[aiber]

I performed a search both on google and on this site and was not able to find anything on painting masks.  Any help you could provide would be appreciated.  

[Thunderheads]

you'd have to be more specific .........

[aiber]

Some areas of my mask has paint that has chipped off and I would like to spray paint it.  I would like to know procedures, type of paint to use, etc.  Thank you

[Umpire in Chief]

Our friend at Tony at Mask It does a really good job from what I've been told. 

http://www.maskitsports.com/about.php

[Thunderheads]

Warren beat me to it!!  

 

Also, ... @aiber .... go to the equipment forum and look for the thread "Mask Porn" ...it's discussed quite a bit there also

Edited May 1, 2015 by Thunderheads

[MadMax]

Because paint is a surface addition, and not a true infusion, you will forever experience paint peeling, chipping, or wearing off your mask. Masks take a pounding, and just simple tossing into a bag is enough to constitute wear-and-tear. Then there are the ball impacts...

So, your best bet is to treat it to an infusion. Dying it, anodizing it, or – which most of us here favor – powder-coating it. Powder coating is beyond paint... It is chemically treating the skin of the metal, then electrically charging the metal while the powder, charged to an opposite charge, is blown onto the metal. The powder clings and infuses, and then, by baking the object, the coating cures. Voíla!

As UIC and Jeff both said, and many many many here will concur, the best resource to us is Tony at Mask-It. He does a proper job of powder coating, and will even repair bad welds.

[Majordave]

If you are cheap. (Like me)  And a bit of a do-it-yourselfer.  (again, like me) Then you can refinish your mask with simple spray paint.  If the rubber/vinyl coating is still on the mask you will have to remove it.  The easiest way (and most fun) although not the safest, is to burn it off with a butane torch. (butane bottle with a fire nozzle screwed on top (Not sure if that is like a douchenozzle or not. I will defer to some other members who know more about what that looks like. Haha).  I used some long handled channel lock pliers and a pizza hut box to catch the drippings and just burned away for an hour or two.  Then let it cool.  Sanded it with extra fine grit sandpaper, rubbed it with steel wool then a coat of primer, let dry, two coats of semi-gloss black Rustoleum and a coat of clear coat.   Voila!  Looked great.  I re-did a coat this winter.  I wrote about it on here in this forum and posted pics.  Last April I think it was.  

The cool thing about this is that I can change the color and touch up any time I like and don't have to send my mask anywhere.  

[umptwo]

Oooh...the burn-off scares me...especially if it's an aluminum alloy, and less likely but possibly if it's steel, it's likely been heat treated to achieve a certain combination of hardness/strength/ductility/brittleness, that you could very well be undoing by heating like that.  Most likely the change will be to make it less strong and more ductile.  i.e., it may permanently bend more easily.  (would be curious to know if you've ever noticed something like that after treatment).

[Majordave]

Cro-moly frame. Doesn't get that hot. Vinyl melts off rather quickly and easily. Takes a lot of weight off too  

Been plunked in mask about 8 to 10 times since I've done this. No bending or denting to date. Loose harness.

All good.  Do what works for you. 

[clasonater]

sorry to dig up an old post, but i am going to "re-treat" my wilson Ti to black.  i think that heat treating a mask with a butane torch is nothing but the heat that a baseball creates with energy on impact.  We are not talking about a cast iron engine block.  When they heat treat carbon steal, that SH*# is like 3000 degrees.

[MadMax]

sorry to dig up an old post, but i am going to "re-treat" my wilson Ti to black.  i think that heat treating a mask with a butane torch is nothing but the heat that a baseball creates with energy on impact.  We are not talking about a cast iron engine block.  When they heat treat carbon steal, that SH*# is like 3000 degrees.

Uhm, for what purpose or end result, @clasonater? Titanium is used in the fan blades and compression turbine blades of turbojet engines because of the tremendously high heat and pressure vs. weight. I think it will resist most "common" heat you throw at it.

If you want to color it, you might need to anodize it. I believe it behaves like aluminum in that regard, creating an otherwise clear oxidation layer within a few moments of the outer layer being stripped off or exposed.

[clasonater]

I thought i had read somewhere on this topic that somebody was sketched out about heating up a mask because of possible failures after heat treating.  Thats what I meant, hitting any mask with a simple propane or butane torch won't do crap.  If I re did it, i would have it powder coated, or what ever the metal guy suggests for titanium.  I have two silver masks, and I want a black one.  I might just buy the wilson with tan doeskings though