Painting with a gun -2 The results

[SmilinSam 4,245]

Quite frankly gentlemen, I stand impressed! I mixed up the paint and tried a test run. Had to put a few more onuces of thinner in it, and perfect. Set the gun up, fiddled with the pressure a little and "went to town" painting. The gun beats the cans in painting large pieces hands down. I only had one run and that was on the underside of the hood up in th corner-so I forgive myself for that one. Cleanup was the worst part, but not all that bad. A pair of rubber gloves and a paper towels soaked in thinner did wonders. Completely satisfied. Thanks to all for the expertise passed on in your previous replies. I now have more options to choose from when painting. Pictures of the now dubbed "HB-116" will be about 10 days away. SmilinSam

[Sandy 0]

I can see you liked your work. Now you'll want to do it all the time I bet. Replace that cheapy Walmart gun with a nice professional model and you'll be light years ahead. I used a Craftsman model for a few years then found a nice Binks #7 at a auction for about $50. Had it cleaned at a place that sells paint for about $25 and WHAT a difference. The first car I painted with it was stunning, I found out right then and there why professionals use the best guns. The job I would say was a major improvement over anything I'd painted before. I don't even know if they make that model gun any more because of all the EPA regulations and such but I like a good gun when I'm painting now. Even if it is just a beater tractor. Sandy

[powermax_paul 1]

Sandy, How do you keep the overspray off ajacent areas? Every time I paint a car, I get rough areas from overspray that dries befor it hits the surface. Even when I use the slowest reducer in the West! Paul

[Sandy 0]

I think what your problem is is that you've got to much pressure and your getting airborn particles coming down in adjacent areas.?? I'm not sure exactly what you're talking about but it sounds like you've got over spray coming down on your surface and it's already half hardened from being in the air and then when it hits the surface it's hardened to a point, right? Maybe? The technique I use is to make sure at the end of your painting that you have full wet coats that blend the solvents together and smooths things out. You may not be getting enough reducer in your thinning process either and that tends to harden the paint up before it has a chance to smooth out also. You'll also want to minimize your spray pattern to stop it from sprayig excess material where you don't want it. Example: Say you're painting a hood and you are spraying across toward the middle and your gun is angled so any overspray is going towards the opposite side. In this case you've got overspray that is hardening on its way down and falls on the opposite side and is going to form like a dusty area that when you finally get to that area to paint wll be half hardened in place already and no amount of thinner in your gun will help. What you want to do is have the gun angled right towards the surface you are working on and hope it doesn't drip out of your vent hole. This can be overcome easily enough by gettng some of the paint sprayed out and getting the paint down to a lower level where you don't worry about it coming out your vent. I know this is getting off the subject a lttle and with years of practice with trial and error on my part will never be conveyed here, I'm just trying to explain an example and I get sidetracked. Anyway, I think your biggest problem is "orange peel" where it looks and feels like an orange peel oddly enough. This can happen because the material is applied to heavily. You want to make sure to read the directions on your can and follow them to a T. You may also have the wrong reducer for that particular day, (humidity and temperature play vital roles in your selection of a reducer. Check that your spray pattern isn't helping to cause the effect. Another thing is to make sure your reducer is adequate. Again follow your label directons and your air pressure has to be correct. There are many variables involved that you don't realize when you are mainly a weekend warrior with a spray can from Walmart and it makes a big difference when you know what you're doing. I'm by no means the "expert" that I hope to be and I've been practicing for years having got my interest in it while working with a guy that had been into it for 35 years or more. He had a one man shop and I really liked doing bodywork so I worked days with him and worked my regular night job for years. It was a good mix for me. I'm not really a trained painter per se, although I've been "practicing" off and on for 20 years or more and have painted countless different objects to perfect my techniques along the way. Like I said in an earlier posting, it kind of comes natural to me after 20 years. Sandy

[powermax_paul 1]

Sandy, I think you hit on the problem. Perhaps I didn't use enough reducer. My paint always dries in the air too quick and like you say dusts the ajacent areas to the point that it ends up like sandpaper. I can be sprating a coat on the front quarter panel and when I'm done, the hood ends up rough as #80 grit paper. I've avoided thinning more cuz I thought it was the reducer that caused it to dry so quickly. For the above reasons, I always use an industrial or plain alkyd enamel on my tractor (rather than automotive paint)cuz it don't dry so quick and levels out to a nice gloss. Paul

[Sandy 0]

Paul, I get alot of help from the guys at the paint store I buy at. I haven't worked with my old buddy for close to ten years now and he used to take all the guess work out of things. One thing I've always relied on is just before I get ready to paint is to check humidity and temperature considerations and then go buy a can of the reducer I need just before painting. I know some guys can't do that but my paint store is only a 1/2 mile down the street. There's a big difference in the quality of the finish if you use the right reduce and followthe directions on the can exactly. Slow, fast and medium reducer gives your paints that extra edge with the right conditions and techniques that they are specifically made for. Like I said painting takes time to figure out the variables and it's nice to have somebody around that knows what they're doing too!! I've had very good results out of a rattle can too and that comes with experience and proper techniques. One of my favorite brands is Krylon Rust Tough, it has a spray nozzle that comes out like a real spray gun and is adjustable in case you are painting up/down or sideways. It has the nice fan spray like you were doing it with a gun so you don't wind up with under overlapped lines like you would with a regular straight spray can. To bad it doesn't come in AC orange though. You have to use common sense too, like don't paint on cold days or during a rain storm, usually about the best time is when it's very nice out (65-70 degrees) with no wind and about 50% humidity. I plan days in advance for the proper weather because I haven't got a booth either and it makes a big difference when you've got optimal weather. Also, a fan to pull the overspray away from your work area works wonders for that overspray problem too. One other point, because I know I'm rambling on here. If you are painting and get painting dust on an area you didn't want to (and you didn't cover with newspapers) is to let it thouroughly dry and just rub it out with rubbing compound and then another rub out with polishing compound. They are essentially the same thing only rubbing compound is much more abrasive, but it'll clean most anything including those fender bender scrapes you pick up in parking lots. I know, I gotta go. Sandy

[Sandy 0]

Paul, I get alot of help from the guys at the paint store I buy at. I haven't worked with my old buddy for close to ten years now and he used to take all the guess work out of things. One thing I've always relied on is just before I get ready to paint is to check humidity and temperature considerations and then go buy a can of the reducer I need just before painting. I know some guys can't do that but my paint store is only a 1/2 mile down the street. There's a big difference in the quality of the finish if you use the right reducer and follow the directions on the can exactly. Slow, fast and medium reducer gives your paints that extra edge with the right conditions and techniques that they are specifically made for. Like I said painting takes time to figure out the variables and it's nice to have somebody around that knows what they're doing too!! I've had very good results out of a rattle can too and that comes with experience and proper techniques. One of my favorite brands is Krylon Rust Tough, it has a spray nozzle that comes out like a real spray gun and is adjustable in case you are painting up/down or sideways. It has the nice fan spray like you were doing it with a gun so you don't wind up with under overlapped lines like you would with a regular straight spray can. To bad it doesn't come in AC orange though. You have to use common sense too, like don't paint on cold days or during a rain storm, usually about the best time is when it's very nice out (65-70 degrees) with no wind and about 50% humidity. I plan days in advance for the proper weather because I haven't got a booth either and it makes a big difference when you've got optimal weather. Also, a fan to pull the overspray away from your work area works wonders for that overspray problem too. One other point, because I know I'm rambling on here. If you are painting and get painting dust on an area you didn't want to (and you didn't cover with newspapers) is to let it thouroughly dry and just rub it out with rubbing compound and then another rub out with polishing compound. They are essentially the same thing only rubbing compound is much more abrasive, but it'll clean most anything including those fender bender scrapes you pick up in parking lots. I know, I gotta go. Sandy

[SmilinSam 4,245]

I used a 28" lakewood fan in the entry door and cracked the roll up door a few inches to move the overspray out. Worked real well, though I do have a yellow fan now.

[PatRarick 1]

Maybe you should pull the HB-212 decals off of e-bay, and put them on your fan. (High Blower 212?) Pat

[Sandy 0]

I didn't specify this but you bring up a good point. You want the fan down to low or medium speed to not create a "storm". Also it needs to be at floor level because the paint is heavy and will be heading in that direction anyway. Like I said I plan days in advance and want wind (hopefully none) outside to be blowing away from my garage doors. I'll put one of those 20" or so fans in the garage door, close the door down on it and put plywood on each side so I have no outside air blowing in. This IS my paint booth. It works for me.

[jpw 0]

made a small paint booth in my shop. got the info from a car craft mag. years ago. use plastic sheeting with 2x2 wood strips at the ends and roll them down from the ceiling on 3 sides use a small box fan with 3-4 cheap furnace filters on low to med. speed for ventilation wet down the floor area. it works fantastic and just roll sides up when done.