Tips for Painting - JP enthusiasts but adaptable for other manufacturers

Having restored a number of mowers, I thought I would share a couple of tips on painting which seem to work quite well.

Yes - we have all done it, got paint runs when we are putting on the final coats of paint!  This got me thinking....if the part to be painted was held flat then the paint couldn't run anywhere.  So I came up with this jig.

On JP mowers quite a few of the models share common parts between the models, particularly the side frames on the chassis and cutter units. By sourcing some 5/16th" wooden dowel rods, I was able to make these jigs which seem to work and are transportable.  A couple of considerations though.

a) I don't possess a bench top drill stand, but the verticality of the dowels is important.

b) Blow back from painting affecting the underside is reduced by having long enough dowels, plus it allows you to slightly bend the dowels into the holes of the side frame if you do not drill exactly vertical

c) when laying out the dowel position, have one set positioned for one side frame with the outside face upwards and the other set of dowels for the outside face downwards.  This allows you to turn the part over after you have painted it to paint the reverse side.

d) The dowel lengths are all the same and levelled when pushed into the base board.  I haven't glued them in.

Notice I have blanked off the bearings using cardboard cut into circles and bolted either side of the bearings.  This stops paint ingress.  Bearings were thoroughly cleaned before painting, not afterwards.  Some JP's can be troublesome to re-assemble if the bearings are not exactly positioned correctly in the bearing housing, plus if the bearings are good, why beat the hell out of them with a socket to knock them out of the housing?  I found it better to leave well alone, blank off and paint around.

If the idea is interesting, feel free to adapt to your own mower model

regards,

Tony