New to painting, advice please?

[longrod]

Hi there.
I am wondering if anyone could give me some advice on basic painting?

I need a matt black finish on mild steel box section and would prefer to spray it as it needs an even, quality finish and there could be quite a lot of it to do, (Making my own large sized cages and their frameworks) It will need to be tough too (bash/scratch proof, but we'll say no more about that).

Knowing next to nothing about paint, I would be grateful if anyone could recommend any easy to learn / easy to use / matt finish / compressor driven sprayable / lower cost option(s)...?
Someone suggested two part epoxy paint, will this spray? I would have guessed it would be too thick?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 

[500e]

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/paint-safety.htm

Read this first it is important especially for 2 part paints.
We use semi mat 2k in a very erosive atmosphere, it has outlasted all gloss & mat finishes we have tried, If you are painting a lot of bars or tubes you rely need to look at electrostatic spray set up, cuts over spray & volume of paint used with better cover.
http://www.spraytechsys.com/

 

[ajlelectronics]

Otherwise POR-15 would seem to fit the bill. If the items were transportable, I might look into powder coating.

 

[langy]

No paint is gonna stand knocks and bangs really, I would of thought powder coat a bit more resilient

 

[steveo3002]

Otherwise POR-15 would seem to fit the bill. If the items were transportable, I might look into powder coating.

think very much before you go for por15 , its very picky on the prep and when its not 100% it peels off easily

epoxy paint would be as tough as things get i guess