Best paint for CNC cabinet

[Karl_T]

I should finish welding up a control cabinet for my Hardinge CHNC in a day or so.

What is the best paint and primer to use? Extact color match isn't critical to me, but I'd hate to see the paint job peal off. I'm sure some coolant will splash on it.

FWIW, I'll brush it on.

Karl

[sol]

Long answer:
I dunno, I've tried all kinds of paint for metals, from automotive to some of the new industrial coatings, then back to household yard furniture paint. I've found that for small jobs it is hard to beat the quality and ease of application that brand name spray-can paints offer. Buy the same brand's primer and spray away.
If it has to be brushed the same companies sell decent oil based paints by the quart. I've even had good luck priming the metal with shellac and then painting it with latex exterior house paint. In those cases the appearance was not intended to be enamel-glossy.

I've reached the point of just choosing a color and surface texture that I like and going with whatever company and product matches. Except for extreme conditions (like salt air) the recommendations on the cans are relatively honest, except they consistently underestimate the number of coats it will require.

Short answer: Krylon or Rustoleum