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I bought a quantity of unpainted reproduction 14" brass belled cylinder horns. Here's what I did for painting them:

1- I wiped down the inside and outside of the horn with a clean rag and denatured alcohol.

2- I masked the area between the brass bell and steel body on the inside of the horn. On my first horn I used masking tape but found it hard to work so I switched to electrical tape for the rest. I liked the way the electrical tape stretched. An industrial one sided blade was used to cut the tape in the groove between the brass bell and steel body.

3- By dumb luck I traced the inside of my masking tape, cut out the circle, and stretched my paper towel gently over and just past the steel body of the horn. The towels I used are blend of cloth and paper so they don't tear easily. The outside of the horn is now well protected.

4- The excess portion of the paper towel was rolled to the inside of the brass bell. Using the excess plus some masking tape I protected the inside of the bell.

5- Since I did a fair amount of handling, I wiped the outside of the steel body again.

6- Using a good brand of rattle can black I painted keeping the spray moving and not directed at one spot.

7- Once dry I removed the paper and masking tape and finally the electrical tape.

8- On several horns there was traces of black paint that working through to the brass bell. That was easily removed with lacquer thinner and a clean rag or a Q-tip for fine work close to the new black paint. I always wear thin rubber protective gloves when working with lacquer thinner.

Thanks, Jerry Blais

They look great...

Nice work, Jerry!

1. Masking is an art. It takes a lot of effort to get it right. Even then, some clean up and repair can be required. Nice tip about the electrical tape. Some masking tapes tend to let paint seep past them, so you have avoid too heavy of a coat of paint.

2. Oil & grease, including body oils from your hands can be a real bugaboo. It can cause what is know as "fisheyes." I try to avoid touching items with my bare skin. I often use nitrile gloves to avoid transferring skin oils to the item I am painting.

3. Denatured alcohol is a good cleaner. However, I usually use a product specifically intended for paint preparation work like PreKleano, Prep-All or a cheaper store brand available at auto body paint stores. There is a wide variation in price. The name brands can be expensive.

Nice Job Jerry.

Very interesting tip with the cloth/paper towel which stretches

Bruce

A++

James.

They look very nice. You have done a good job.

For masking tape, try "painter's tape" - it's like the buff masking tape, but blue or green in colour, low-tack, and will give cleaner edges compared to regular masking tape. I'm reluctant to use electrical/plastic tape, because it stretches when it comes off the roll and retracts with time as it shrinks to it's original length on the job.

I would also suggest using a metal undercoat before the colour coat, it will provide superior adhesion of your topcoat to the metal and a better long-term finish.

I used to visit Ron Sitko occasionally when he wasn't really busy and one time I visited him just before he went to the Union show. When I walked into his garage I noticed at least 30 or more 14" reproduction brass bell horns drying in a home made rack he made. The horns were all lined up in the rack with brass bell up and cone end down and the smell of fresh paint filled the garage. I said, "Wow, Ron, that's a lot of horns. You just painted them?" "Yeah...yesterday...pretty simple...I just dip them and the excess drains right off them into this bin. It's a special black paint that I found and it leaves the horns just right after they're dipped...the excess paint goes right into the bins so no waste." Ron was a wealth of phonograph information and repair. I wish that I visited more often to soak up some more useful stuff but both of us were regularly pretty busy.

Doug

I used to visit Ron Sitko occasionally when he wasn't really busy and one time I visited him just before he went to the Union show. When I walked into his garage I noticed at least 30 or more 14" reproduction brass bell horns drying in a home made rack he made. The horns were all lined up in the rack with brass bell up and cone end down and the smell of fresh paint filled the garage. I said, "Wow, Ron, that's a lot of horns. You just painted them?" "Yeah...yesterday...pretty simple...I just dip them and the excess drains right off them into this bin. It's a special black paint that I found and it leaves the horns just right after they're dipped...the excess paint goes right into the bins so no waste." Ron was a wealth of phonograph information and repair. I wish that I visited more often to soak up some more useful stuff but both of us were regularly pretty busy.

Thanks Doug, I wondered how Ron painted the horns. I know he purchased 200 at a pop. I bought 40 recently and am spending a good deal of time painting them. I like the idea of dipping them. I wonder how many he typically sold at Union.

Jerry B.