At the moment i am starting to work on how i will manage to get a constant ‘’ professional ‘’ finish with clear coat on the carbon fiber prototype saddle i am alpha- testing. Because i plan to sell this my goal is to achieve the best finish possible which will be continues .
The biggest problem i have is orange skin .
It would be greatly appreciated any , but any advise any of you follow in order to avoid this ugly thing. What are your tricks ?
There will always be orange peal to some extent. I have found that practice makes perfect. The more you spray the better you will get. Since i am not sure what you use for the clear, or spray gun (nozzle size) I will just give you generic ideas.
One thing we learned and I still go by is that you want to stay about 10-12" away from the part when spraying. Or a quick check is to spread your thumb and pinky finger apart as far as you can. This is a good quick measurement from the part to the tip of the gun.
Also, Look both at what you have sprayed and where you are going to. If you only look in front the your path you wont actually see how you are spraying. If you are spraying and looking you may see that it is very course. This means a few things but a place to start is that you are moving to fast or are too far away. So go slower or get closer and see if that helps is lay down smoother. This is also a catch 22, in that you may slow down and cause runs in the clear. This is where practice pays off.
The hardener you are using my be drying to fast for the clear to flow out.
Your air pressure my be to high and causing dry spray or too low and spitting the clear our in blobs.
I would work on all of these or check them out and see if that helps
Also, like i said everything has orange peal even new cars right off the factory floor. If it doesnt it has probably been sanded and buffed back. This is what I would recommend along with the practice to get that smooth smooth finish
It’s definitely possible to get an absolutely perfect finish with no orange peel what-so-ever off the gun, I’ve watched our spray painter do it many times. I’m not at that level myself, which is why if I need things done to perfection without any sanding then I give it to her.
Of course she has been spraying for 20 years and has a whole heap of experience. It also comes down to materials and equipment. Some guns are better than others, different brands of paint are better than others. Our painter even uses 2 different brands of paint depending on if it is summer or winter. You have to find the best ones that work for you, but obviously that is a lot easier when you have been doing it every day for 20 years…
Ok one question - What is the best method for applying the clear coat ?
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A lot of small passes (3-4 ) with interval of a few seconds until you feel the area is congested ?
or
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Do you try to get the right amount of clear in one pass ?
Well generally you would never do one pass, that would run for sure. However this is a question that depends on the material you are using, so you need to follow the data sheet.
If you are using a 2k polyurethane, then these flow extremely well but tend to run easily. You need to give them a lot of time between coats, normally 10-15 minutes. But it depends on ambient temperature and what hardener/reducer you are using, so always follow your technical data sheet.
Really this is part of the technique that you need to learn. Your data sheet might tell you 1 mist coat followed by 2 wet coats with 15 minutes between coats and you believe you follow those instructions but find your coating is a bit flat instead of glossy, then it’s likely you didn’t do a heavy enough coat. Film thickness is something you get a feel for, not really something that can be instructed over the internet. Better to practice than to read about it!
I’ve learned that spraying clear is far more complicated than it would initally seem. You’ve got to consider gun pressure, distance, temperature, humidity, the amount of reducer/hardner in the paint, and even the quality of the air source going to the gun…
I have switched to spray cans for the time being. It’s more costly (~$25/8 ounces) but the results are easier to predict. Reason being, is that you eliminate some of the variables that a less experienced painter (like myself) isn’t accustomed to. No worries about the gun, the air, or the paint mixture itself since the 2 parts are pre-measured in the can. Spraymax 2k Glamour Clear is what I use. Granted, whenever possible I use Duratec Sunshield. But for the times that I can’t get to a spray booth to spray the Duratec (stinks to HIGH hell :mad:), I use the Spraymax aerosol cans.
At the very least, you can use the aerosol cans until you get a good grasp on the act of spraying 2k paint. There is certainly an “art” to it
Depends on the clear you are spraying ask your supplier for the data sheet for your clear they list recomended tip size, air settings
how many coats etc. Various paints and guns differ in thier recomendations for instance alot of ‘high solid’ clears call for two wet coats (and no more) the product data sheet will be a good baseline for a fine finish you can ajust from there as you see what works for you.
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This is a fine example of the difference between brands. I often find the ‘cheaper’ brands tend to be more sensitive to things like this and take more experience to get good results with, while the more expensive brands are less sensitive and more forgiving.
And by cheaper, I don’t mean that they are cheap. Some of these systems are still very expensive in their own right, they just wouldn’t be considered ‘top of the range’ products.
If you’re looking for a quality system to use, I recommend talking to your paint supplier and asking for a high solids clear with good flow properties.