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Weatherproofing steel

I'm a do-it-yourself-er and I just make a project from 1/8" sheet steel (it's an ornate mailbox) I want to paint it (or coat it?) so that it will hold up well to the elements (after all, it will be exposed to rain, sun, snow, etc) What would work best for this?

Bill Artemik
hobbyist - Auburn, New Hampshire, USA
2007

If you read a bunch of our industrial letters here you will see that there is no beating zinc phosphatization as a pretreatment, Bill. While you can't do that at home, applying naval jelly ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil link] after cleaning and before priming and painting would probably be second best. Good luck.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
Need quick confidential answers? $25
Need project assistance? $100/hr.
2007

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