Paint my palm

[Pepper]

I have a palm 105 and I want to paint it. I don’t want to buy any old paint and slap it on there; I want it to look good. Do I need to apply a primer that kind of melts the plastic so that the second coat will take? I think this happens when you paint a model you just put together.:)

[redaudi]

Hi,what follows is a webpage i downloaded some time ago.Sorry i don't know it's web address .So i have had to paste the text into this reply.If you do this and mess up your palm don't blame me. Proceed with caution. Best wishes, redaudi.

Color Your Palm!

1) Go to your local hardware/paint/Walmart-type store, and look for Plasti-kote Fast Dry Enamel Spray Paint. Pick the color you want your Palm to look like. I happened to choose Harbor Blue.

2) Take your Palm apart. There are 3 screws on the Pilot and PalmPilot. On the Pilot units, one of the screws is under the serial number label, approximately between the US Robotics text and the CE logo. You can make a small hole around the screw if you don't want to destroy or remove the whole label. Just feel for the indent, and use an Exacto knife to make the hole. There are 3 tabs on top, so pull it apart carefully. Although these instructions only refer to the top piece of the unit, if you want to see your Palm naked, be careful for the speaker attached to the back piece. It is held on by adhesive, and pulls off easily.

3) That done, make sure that the front piece is CLEAN. Oils from your hand will make the paint not hold very well.

4) Lay out newspaper, and place your Palm on it, outside surface up. Use a good amount of newspaper. Spray paint is notorious for flying all over the place. I have a section of sidewalk that is colored gold from a previous attempt, when I didn't use enough newspaper. Oh, use day-old or older paper. Believe it or not, when you get your paper for the day, the ink isn't quite dry!

5) Shake the can well, and apply a thin coat of paint onto your Palm. Multiple thin coats are better than one thick coat, in terms of overall appearance! Make sure to get the sides as well. Follow the instructions on the can as to when you can re-spray (usually at least an hour) your Palm, to make sure it is well-covered. Mine took 2 coats to look nice to me. Enamel is thicker than most spray paint, so you may not need more than one or two coats.

6) Allow at least 2 days to completely dry (more if you are in a humid environment).

7) Put your Palm back together! Voila! Colored Palm!


Hint: If your buttons are sticking, use a little sandpaper in the holes to remove the paint in that area.

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Now, you may ask, "Why not paint the back also?" You can. You need to take the battery door off, and the memory door off. Mask the areas where the plastic pieces come together, and paint as I mentioned above. If you don't mask it, the doors will stick horribly (Trust me on this one)! If your memory door has an IR port, remember to mask that too (Mask both sides, just to be sure no paint gets on it). Use masking tape!

You may also want to apply a clear coat to the finished product. I don't see the need to with enamel, but this one hasn't been painted that long. Mine survived Central Valley heat in the case that the Palm came with originally, with no paint coming off, so I think the enamel is better than standard spray paint. The enamel I chose had a nice shine to it also!

[utahjazz85]

I really don't see how painting your palm makes it any better. If anything, it makes it worse, because, now it's just harder to sell your palm when you get sick of it, and with an m105, that might be soon.

[Pepper]

LOL I think the only thing that my 105 will be good for in a couple more months is a “Tire Chuck” to keep your car from rolling backwards. Thanxs for that Text bro!

LOL oh ya I’m also checking out the theory that if I paint my PDA a different color, that it might make it faster!! Kind of like when you got new shoes when you were a kid, you always seamed to be able to run faster!:D

[TheSpies]

Originally posted by Pepper
LOL oh ya I’m also checking out the theory that if I paint my PDA a different color, that it might make it faster!!

it will! if you make sure to paint flames on the sides :)

[Pepper]

hhmmmmm...........flames.......... if I do that I will post a pic hr on this thread, and a short list of how the paint job improved my 105s speed!:cool:

[little-man]

another thing you could do is paint it with nail polish. My sister did this with her calculator, and it worked fine. (well, ,kinda stupid looking with a bunch of pig faces on it, but oh well) It turned out a little gloppy, but it's a cool effect. just don't use nail polish remover, it corrodes the plastic. Have fun!!!:D

[kiemberlee]

Everyone wants to personalize in more ways than the market makes possible. THESE are the creative people of the world. I sallute you! I'm a creative inventor and I know first hand that creative people can do stupid things sometimes. I don't know about you but I don't have money to burn and depending on where you live, you could ruin the Palm's reception if you bury it in paint. Some paints (my husband the painter sais) have metals in them. I wouldn't do it.
Vinyl wrap it. This also adds just a small amount of protection to the treo.
Most craft stores have a paper punch that fits the treo keys exactly. For the bigger keys, use an exacto knife and a steady hand. You can cover the Palm in as many layers of vinyl as you want and the back of the vinyl is sticky so mistakes are easily pulled of and retaped, over and over again. Another alternative is to by a white rubber skin and color any design you want on it with Sharpies or even hand dye the skin with a bottle of clothing dye from your local grocery store. Easier, cheaper, safer, and interchangable ideas.
Have fun.
Kie:rolleyes:

[Telyx]

The posts you replied to were nearly 5 years old... the plastic M-series (m100, m105, m125, and m130) had detachable face plates that were available in different colors and patterns for a short while, and those were easily painted.