First attempt at painting and screwed up!

[SIGNGUY]

Ok,
I tried my first attempt at Painting this weekend. Use Sherwin Williams Dimension singe stage base (coke red). I thought I followed directions ,but paint job came out with orange peel effect. I'm assuming I used too much paint and not enough pressure or combination of those two or something? I'm guess the paint didn't atomize enough and came out too fast? I haven't tried a second round yet, but wanted to hear some basic tips.. I'm shooting witha HVLP, Gravity fed gun with a 1.3 tip and a 30 gal compressor.. Any advice might make this weekend much more enjoyable....
Thanks
Signguy!

[loman4ec]

Usually paint does have orange peel. Now what you need to do is sand it with 1000 grit then 1500 grit wet sand paper and buff the machine. You can go to walmart and buy an electric buffer and go back to Sherwin Williams automotive paint store and tell them what you are doing and they will sell you some buffing compound and a bonnet for the buffer. It will shine great. You did use hardener correct? use the 1000 grit to "cut" through the orange peel and then finish it with the 1500 to reduce the sanding groves.  be carefull not to rub through the paint. Good luck

[SIGNGUY]

Ok, I'll try that ..Thanks. SO everyone who does paint has to go through this process... I'ts not just a matter of Spraying on??? Just curious as I thought they said the paint I bought should just be a spray on and enjoy!??

especially since it's a single stage and didn't require clear coat?/ will I have to clear coat after sanding/buffing?

Thanks for the help:D

[audiobeer]

Orange peel can be greatly reduced by having the paint at the right viscosity, air volume mix ect. Viscosity is easy to figure if you follow the manufacturers instructions with a strainer and time how long it takes to pass through. If it's to slow then use some reducer. That comes from years of experience getting around that if you learn from trial and error  using the same product. Then it's second nature. Until then Lomanec has the right answer. Sounds like you had to much material coming out of the gun.

[Jim]

Just add to the information presented...
It's always more difficult to get paint to flow out on vertical surfaces as opposed to horizontal. The reason is there is a fine line between the paint flowing out properly on the vertical surface and sagging/running.
As a beginner, I recommend mixing/reducing the paint exactly as the manufacturer states. Once you become comfortable, you can begin to experiment a little within reason... Make sure you are using the correct reducers for the temp range you're working in!

Additionally, the 30 gallon compressor may be a little under-sized for spray painting. Spray painting consumes a lot of air, more than most think and if your compressor is coming on during the spray painting, chances are the volume and pressure have dropped enough to cause fluctuations in your spray. This will cause your topcoat to less than satifactory...

Lastly, sanding and buffing, as mentioned above, will give you a great finish provided you don't burn through and reveal the primer! If you know the orange peel will be present and sanding/buffing is necessary, make sure you apply at least three good coats of paint according to the time schedule of the paint manufacturer.

[sodaworks]

A 1.3 tip is pretty small for single stage paint, this tip is usually used for basecoat/clearcoats. Are you using a air regulator? What pressure setting are you using? I usually use a 1.5 tip for single stage and 28-30 PSI. let paint tack up between coats to avoid runs.  '>

[SIGNGUY]

Thanks guys, I did go back to sherwin williams and they told me some of this same stuff too... As i figured I was not using enough pressure, as I didn't understand the difference between "cap Pressure" and "inlet pressure".  for now it' off to gett some Sand paper and buffing compuond...and I'll experiment on the next go around!

[Lulu]

I had a machine painted by a professional.  I had him use my paint gun.  He started out using it and then switched to one of his because he said that mine was putting the paint on "too dry".  When the machine was finished (3 coats), there was orange peel where he used my gun.  He had a $400 gun. . .  Any ideas for a solution to this??

[sodaworks]

A good gun makes a BIG difference. For example, I have been using a Sharpe "Finex" 1.3 gun for base coat/clearcoat with great results. My friend just picked up a SATA RP3000 digital gun for 600.00 bucks. I thought he was crazy until I seen a vette he recently painted with it. The paint looks like glass!! very little wet sanding!! With seeing that and as much as I dislike wet sanding, I'm buying one too.  '>

[rogerz]

As with all tools. You get what you pay for!

rz