Need All your bright Ideas......
 

[B]Ok here is the situation i work for a painting company (mainly industrial) and they have constant orders to paint 'Bollards'.

For those of you who have know idea what these are (like me until today)[/B]

[URL=http://imageshack.us][IMG]http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/714/dsc00007wf1.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
[URL=http://imageshack.us][IMG]http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/1531/dsc00008uj3.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

[B]The problem is that in order to make the striped parts it is too time consuming masking up every single bollard with the stripes in the right place.

Considering on most days there are approx. 300 of these to do per day.

I was hoping that all you smarties out there might be able to help with a different method of painting two tone bollards with stripes perfect every time, that is obviously less time consuming than masking every single one up!!!

The Bollards are cylindrical and square and of various sizes.

All the material which is to be painted is metal...

The process now basically is:
1) Paint steel column black
2) Mask where the black stripes are to be left
3) Paint column in safety yellow

Precision is very important in this process....

Ideas that have been previously tested and have failed include:

1) Sleeves with prevent painting over the designated areas for the stripes.
2) Magnetic sleeves with the same purpose.

Any ideas greatly appreciated........[/B]


Thanks in advance................


john..............

Do you want to create a machine, or just a quicker way to do it?

If you dont mind building a jig, hows about two clamps on two posts, that are adjustable and mounted on a bearing, enabling you to spin the bollard around.

Above that, a moveable bracket with fixed position and width paint brushes on them.

Lower the brushes, spin the bollard, done.

[QUOTE=BALISTC]Do you want to create a machine, or just a quicker way to do it?

If you dont mind building a jig, hows about two clamps on two posts, that are adjustable and mounted on a bearing, enabling you to spin the bollard around.

Above that, a moveable bracket with fixed position and width paint brushes on them.

Lower the brushes, spin the bollard, done.[/QUOTE]

Most likely just a quicker way to do......but i am looking further into your contraption above.....Thanks Joe........

I didnt think...is it painted with a brush, or sprayed on??

Easier if its sprayed. Instead of a brush jig, use a template in the same position and just spray through it as the bollard spins.

Device wouldnt cost you more than $100 to build and would probably save you HEAPS of time :)

Do they have to be painted in tiger stripes? Why not go a single colour - like fluorescent yellow or orange?

I saw something similar to what Joe is mentioning on dirty jobs, however they were putting striped onto golf balls. They had a jig which rotated automatically and a paint brush that auto engaged. It would work with a cylindrical device perfectly but I am not so sure about a square (would work for a human but not for something automated... as easily)

[QUOTE=BLUES]Do they have to be painted in tiger stripes? Why not go a single colour - like fluorescent yellow or orange?[/QUOTE]

I'd say that the yellow and black is for contrast purposes...easier to see alternating colours than one colour.

[QUOTE=DAN682]I saw something similar to what Joe is mentioning on dirty jobs, however they were putting striped onto golf balls. They had a jig which rotated automatically and a paint brush that auto engaged. It would work with a cylindrical device perfectly but I am not so sure about a square (would work for a human but not for something automated... as easily)[/QUOTE]

Square would be just fine, I'd imagine a paint brush is fairly flexible and could work around the edges of a square shape :)

By the looks of the first pic, the cylinder has the paint sprayed on (can see the overspray on part of the cylinder). A spray gun with a template mounted on top of the rotating jig, would work even easier than paint brushes :)

For the square cylinders, the template could be mounted on pins with springs, so it moves up and down with the contours of the square shape.

A few small rollers mounted in slots cut in the template could keep the template off the work surface by a few mm, preventing the paint from being smudged as it rolls past it.

hire a 15yr old
cheap labour :)

yeh they have to be yellow and black as Joe said...


Currently Not hand painted use of a spray gun and pump, but any quicker and better alternatives will be looked at.