How many coats of Duratec Grey Surface primer do people usually use on their plugs?
Also, im thinking of sanding from 220 grit, 300, 400, 600, 800. then compounds. first compound has a grit amount of 1k, then 1500, then use wool pad at the end with a waxed based finish for the shine.
any thoughts?
i normally just use pva on my plugs, gives the mold a SUPER high gloss, but i want to stop using PVA for now.
I have made some plugs recently and find that 2 coats of 2k acrylic primer, wet flatted using 320 when dry, then 2 coats of acrykic top coat, wet flatted with 1000 when dry, then mopped to high shine using medium compound, works absolutely fine, and is probably less costly than using Duratec products.
I use poly primer…slick sand.
Why on earth you want to go from 220 to 2000 I dont know.
400 then to 600 then to 1000 then to 2000 and buff like crazy.
220 is like rubbing it on asphalt.
Not worn out 220 sandpaper…wink, wink…
lmao… well wet 220 is pretty darn good. i like getting the hard bumps out.
im going to go from 300->800 and compound. my next order will include higher grits.
You dont really need to mess around with lots of different grades of paper…as long as your original surface prep was good, you shouldnt need anything more than 320 (used wet) to get the primer flat, and then 1000 (wet) on top coat, before buffing with a medium compound, ideally using a proper electric mop.
when Im done buffing my primer surface…it looks like cleared over grey paint.
Very high gloss can be achieved very easily using automotive 2k paint systems, but I imagine some people have run into problems using them, through not allowing them to dry properly before applying gel-coat.
If you are using air dry 2k materials its best to leave around 3-4 days after final buffing, before applying gel-coat. Using low-bake or IR drying takes less time, but better to leave as long as you can to be on the safe side.
i forgot about my initial q. how many coats of primer?
Today I used one mist coat, then waited 3 minutes for it to fully flash. Then 3 wet coats with 1 minute between each wet coat. The gun was at 40psi and about 6"-8" away from the plug while spraying.
I waited about 2 hours for it to cure and then wet sanded it starting with 320 (to knock the orange peel off), 400, 600, and 800. Never sanded through it (unlike my co-worker). It will off gas the rest of the night and be hard as a rock and ready for polishing in the morning.
My mixture was: 14oz Grey Duratec Surfacing Primer, 2oz of Clear Additive, and a soda bottle cap sized amount of Acetone (only because I dont have any Duratec thinner at the moment). I used roughly 7cc’s of MEKP.
Would duratec thinner just be styrene?
Should be as it is PER base.
oh so you guys add a thinner (acetone) also to the mixture even with the MEKP? hmm… i only used MEKP and it was ok to spray. i have a 1.3 kit on the HVLP gun. maybe adding thinner will help me.
dude regular primer doesnt like a 1.3 tip.
youre getting all those bumps because youre spraying out of too small an orifice.
get a 1.8 or 2.0 for the duratec or other poly based primers. Its going to be alot easier that way.
Right now its shooting too dry and clumpy so you get all the extra texture.
oh noo noo. i had 2 3 small bumps from the plug itself. i should of sanded it down first. but oh well. the 1.3 tip is working ok for me, not FAST but i dont have access to a 1.8-2 tip till next week. ordered it already 
[QUOTE)JRL;
My mixture was: 14oz Grey Duratec Surfacing Primer, 2oz of Clear Additive, and a soda bottle cap sized amount of Acetone (only because I dont have any Duratec thinner at the moment). I used roughly 7cc’s of MEKP.[/QUOTE]
That’s exactly how I use Duratec. Is the clear additive a Duratec product, I haven’t heard of that? Also, the prople at Duratec said you can use regular automotive urethane reducer (like PPG DT870)to thin the primer. I use 4:1 primer/reducer for the finish coat. HAve you used the Duratec E-Z sand?
What is acrylic primer exactly? What does the 2K refer to?
Ive used EZ sand at home. It works really well. It comes out a little duller than the stuff I do at work. I spray it with a Home Depot husky touch up gun on my front porch. At work I use a DeVilbiss with a 1.8mm tip.
The Clear Additive (thats the name on the jug) is a Duratec product. Its recomended as a gelcoat additive for decreasing porosity.
When you add it to the Surfacing primer it produces a much shinier/harder finish. Duratec recomends a 1 to 1 ratio, but, my mentor (of sorts) swears by a 10% to 30% clear ratio. He’s been in the business for 40 years so Im not going to question him.
Good call on the urethane reducer, we have lots of it. Ill have to give it a try and compare the results with the Duratec stuff (we bought a gallon of it today).
Off topic but today we used Hawkeye’s Aqua Buff 2000 to polish out the 800 grit marks. Works unreal. Its one of those products that after you use it your like “what they hell”.
shizit…Id love anything that buffed out 800 grit scratches and didnt take the primer off of stuff…
Seriously…AquaBuff 2000 does just that (doesnt rip the primer off though). It only comes in 2.5 gallon jugs though (about $60). And you apply it with a brush.
They recomend misting it in intervals while buffing (keeps the friction down). And youll need a buffer that can spin above 2500rpm. It works awesome.