DIY Paint Spraying

[stewlewis]

I've now read mixed answers to the base requiring hardener or not. Seems to differ with brands.
I'll let it dry for a while and try a little sand to see if it's gone off.

Texture could be overspray drying back onto the wet, shouldn't spray in the wind!

I sprayed as wet as I dared without a run, I'm going to try spraying some bars or something to the point of runs, to get a feel for the mix and speed of movement.

Could I have 2k primer and clear and 1k base?

 

[kyle888]

hi ,

it depends what base you have I'm guessing its solvent based you are fine to thin with the solvent thinner its hard to give a thinning ratio as I would just do it by eye as I stir the base. Roughly you want a viscosity a little thicker than full fat milk!

I can't see much on my phone screen but I'm guessing the texture is from parts drying before you coat other parts which is causing over spray to land on the already dry parts.

give it a light flat with 1000 wet should be fine. scotch will be good for the hard to reach areas but won't really remove any texture from primer.

give it another two or three coats of base but try and keep it all wet start one end to the other. I wouldn't bother moving the nozzle just tilt the gun 45deg or slightly more it'll save faffing while the base is drying.

a regulator is a good idea don't buy a cheapo one from machine mart they are useless!

hope this helps
Kyle

I just need to make a start on my marin f & f now

 

[stewlewis]

Part 7:

I tried sanding the 'orange peel' from yesterdays bars and forks. It was only very slight, I had an idea to use some t-cut type stuff I had which smoothed them just enough. After cleaning them throughly with the panel wipe I gave them another coat, as wet as I could without runs.

The bars are acceptable now.

Some pics:

The forks, still very very slight texture under the halogens, to the touch they're pretty smooth. I can see on the flat parts where the paint is thicker and smoother, around the tubes not so much. I think these can have another coat without any sanding or cutting.

The t-cut smoothing did make them a little matt, so I won't be doing that again on these. I had 1 run this time.

The frame, I gave this a blow over and then 2 coats. I had a couple of runs, had a (wrong!) brainwave to spray some thinner over the run and smooth it it. The paint dried too much before that and it then blew all over and left it with a matt peel kind of finish. This will have a sand/cut tomorrow and then another couple of colour.

Things to do:
Tidy out the garage and build a spray area, outside doen't help in the slightest.
Practice, Practice, Practice. Mixture, speed of movement, time between coats.

This is my practice frame after all, I'm enjoying it so far.

 

[stewlewis]

I decided against masking decals, I'll learn to walk first.

I'm using up what I had with the compressor off ebay, wet n dry is gone, thinners are nearly gone, as is the red paint, tomorrow's will be the last coats of that.

This frame has about every angle I can find! Flat sections, box sections, tube sections. It's all practice hey!

Shopping list, paint filters, gun stand, thinners for the clear coat.

 

[unkleGsif]

You were close with your idea for runs....

Instead of spraying thinners, get a fine, soft brush soaked in thinners, and "pull" the paint back where it came from with the brush

Other tips include turning the frame around so the paint runs back the other way, and sometimes you can get away with blowing some more paint into the tube, over and below the run, so it thickens the layer. Then, control the paint as above if it looks like it'll run again

Sags are different kettle of nightmares....

Also, if you are getting a new gun, get a smallish one that'll be better for frames

G

 

[stewlewis]

Nice one. Tip noted!

 

[stewlewis]

hi ,

Roughly you want a viscosity a little thicker than full fat milk!

Kyle

I just need to make a start on my marin f & f now

I mixed my base 2:1, and it looked more like water, perhaps that's my issue it's drying off too fast.

This is my test frameset, I bought the kit to spray a more modern Marin Point Reyes, my urban hybrid type whatever bike.

Looking forward to seeing your Marin progress Kyle, and nicking tips n tricks.

 

[kyle888]

hi,
yeah could be drying to fast possibly!
but your also making life more difficult for yourself as the thinner you mix the easier it will run. give it a go with it a bit thicker.

I use waterbased base coat these days havnt used solvent for a long time apart from once.

I admire your effort to learn to do it yourself.

might be a bit of a wait for mine to be done. going to aim to be done before next summer.
need to get motivated when its something that you do all week.
plus having two small children around time is also difficult.

I was going to replicate the original Matt met grey. but now was thinking just doing it 2k solid red just to be quicker and easier!

 

[integerspin]

Try dusting the base on.
Try some clear without any thinners.

 

[stewlewis]

Part 8:

I cleared an area of the garage, wind free spraying

I sprayed the colour base onto the frame 2nd and 3rd coat, and onto the forks 3rd coat.
The paint went on so much better without wind screwing it up.

The base went on smoother, not perfectly glass but as it dried it dried to a more matt and even finish.

I let this dry off for about 30 mins. I tried touching up slight runs with thinners on a paintbrush, I was a little heavy handed for that. This was the best I could get as I've run out of red. So onto the clear coat...

I mixed the clear 2:1 as on the tin, with 10% thinners.
The gun didn't like clear much, I sprayed the base at 30psi, I had to up the gun input to 40psi for the clear and reduced the material flow a bit. This was better but still pulsed from the gun.

I dusted the first clear on, and let it flash off for about 10 mins.

I then wet coated the clear on. Twice, 3 coats in total.

Lessons learned today:
No sanding of base coat required.
I sanded the bars as a tester and polished them with a t-cut restorer before the final colour coat, this went on very smooth (time will tell if it peels off...)
I need to work on the correct mix and settings for the gun for spraying clear.
I need lights for the spray area. I made the mistake of taking the forks to the door to see in the light after the 1st clear, and it was spitting, they got spat on.
I could do with some kind of extraction of the overspray.
Clear coat is sticky.

I have a few runs in the clear coat, I think I didn't wait long enough between coats 2 and 3.

The finish looks thick, whether that's the clear or not we'll see after a colour sand and buffing.
I have no idea if I've put too much colour on.

I'm hoping I can sort out the runs and the rain spots with a colour sanding once dried off.