Clear coat. A little more air pressure?

B

big stinkie

Guest
I've usually had reasonable success with clear coats, but often had very slight orange peel that required sanding to remove. Not bad, but annoying and time consuming.

Just today I tried kicking up the air pressure at the gun by about 10 lbs. It atomized the clear much better. I put on a light tack coat, then hit it with a second wet coat...both with more air, a little less fluid and moving the gun a little slower. Much better results! The stuff flowed out quite smooth. I seemed to have more control with that setup.

I love it when something works!

FWIW, YMMV,

Andy
 
F

funkyFly

Guest
So what kind of pressure are you talkingabout total? 40-45psi?

what type of gun are you using? gravity feed, hvlp?

Thanks
 
B

big stinkie

Guest
It's a generic knock-off HVLP. Pumped it up to about 40 lbs. Forgot what size the tip is, but I can get it later.

Andy
 

BDsbigZRX

New member
It seems to me that reducing the clear a little extra also never seems to hurt! Makes it lay down flatter, just have to be a little more careful of drips!
 

rex

New member
Not a problem.You can overreduce it but I'd stay within the amount the maker says.I find it easier to just slow down my reducer but I don't think HOK likes this approach.
 
U

upinflames

Guest
I'm new to this base clear is a whole new world for me. I have done nothing but fiberglass and gel-coat on boats. I painted a tank and fender set for a friend the other day and it was awesome but I have a lot to learn. I was wondering your technique for applying your clear a light coverage coat then a wet coat is that what is usually done? I wet coated 2 coats and ended up with some orange peel and a couple of small runs. I used a cheapie hvlp with a 1.2 tip. I'm wanting to do more bikes so I will probably invest in a nicer one like a sata mini or something???
 

dmack

New member
Yeah, when I started learning base clear, I ran through two gallons of $225 Chroma clear before I sprayed a nice coat. I used the right amount of reducer and cut the final mix about 50% with lacquer thinner. I sprayed at 30psi and cut back on the flow a bit. Because of the thinner material, I sprayed more coats. Turned out wonderful and needed very little color sanding.
 

Burnt

New member
dmack..I am doing the same thing by reducing my clear but I use reducer. Why are you using lacquer thinner?
 

dmack

New member
dmack..I am doing the same thing by reducing my clear but I use reducer. Why are you using lacquer thinner?

The first time I did it, I needed lower viscosity. The reducer for the Chromaclear is also the catalyst—and it is also pretty thick. I did not know if adding more would have an adverse effect, so I tried the lacquer thinner and it worked great. However, I don't know if this would be the case with all clears.
 

LudicrousSpeed

New member
Yeah, when I started learning base clear, I ran through two gallons of $225 Chroma clear before I sprayed a nice coat. I used the right amount of reducer and cut the final mix about 50% with lacquer thinner. I sprayed at 30psi and cut back on the flow a bit. Because of the thinner material, I sprayed more coats. Turned out wonderful and needed very little color sanding.


That is something I disagree with........ Mixing a component into your clear that is not recommended. IMO, they spend millions on R&D to come up with what works best LONG TERM. Who knows what happens years down the road.....

If it works for you, great, but I will stick to mixing per the MFG'rs recs.
 
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