So, I've been redesigning my garageshop and I've come to a crossroads.
These cabinets I've had for years. Hand me downs from my fathers factory eons ago.
They've always been primer gray and rust since I've owned them, but I've decided to grow up, cleanup and try to keep an organized shop (Feel free to laugh out loud)
So far I've build one long workbench across the back wall and currently installing all my steel cabinets into it.
Here lies the question. I was going to just do a quick rustoleum rattlecan refresh until I took a wirebrush to the drawer faces.
Do I polish and clear or paint black? Up until I hit these with a wire brush, it was going to be red cabinet, black drawers.
But...shiny?
Before I started screwing with them:
Once you go black you never go back, at least when it comes to painting drawers. I think the shiny/clear coat would wear quicker and show greasy fingerprints worse than black.
My lathe sits on a Sam's workbench that is satin stainless. It does look pretty.
I'm going to have to vote for Polished.
Shiny drawer fronts with black cabinet base and handles.
I think shiny looks better, but I instantly think of all the bicycle framebuilding stuff I've seen which for some reason draws in a high proportion of folks who want to see the bare metal in the finished product, then have their hopes dashed when the paint doesn't remain perfect and rust starts working its way across the metal underneath. Damaged clear I think can look worse than damaged color.
I'm worried about how clear will look in five years. I'd almost be inclined to wipe them down with WD40 regularly (would I do this, realistically? Would you?) and burnish the slowly-developing patina, rather than having chipping, leaking, scuffing clear with rust underneath.
