Keepin a clean paint job
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I posted this on “the other forum” as well but I noticed theres a bunch of new people here that probably dont visit or post over there so I figured I would look for more ideas here as well.
After spraying regularly in a downdraft for years, I had to switch to a homeade crossflow for the last year or so. Altho the results werent too bad, nothing came out as clean as I was previoustly used to. Now I am back “home” spraying in a pretty old partial crossflow positve pressure booth. The air is forced in through the roof, and exits the end. Not a nice booth by any means, but the boss swears he can get clean jobs out of it consistently.Anyway, Im still not getting desirable results. Sometimes I can get away with just nibbing them and I feel like I should be able to spray side panels and only hit a few nibs, but its not happening. I know all the basics,…..a clean vehicle, tight masking, a good solid blow, wet floor etc. My experience with dirt is its never just one thing or one fix, So Im hoping to maybe compile a list of what everyone here thinks are some of the more important rules as well as maybe some tricks to keepin them clean. Thanks in advance.
Oh your aka pickypainter over there. Good to see ya around here, hit the chat box sometime theres lots of good dudes here. If i recall you went to work for crash from abol right, what happened with that?
So tell us what your standard operating procedure is once the car is washed,masked,and in the booth.When do you wipe it down?Before or after you blow it off,how many times do you go over the car with a blower etc.I know this is obvious stuff but maybe it is something simple or a sequence that needs to be changed.I have been painting for 23 years :wak so maybe I could help.Welcome to this site,there are a bunch of talented and friendly people on this board.
Talented may be a stretch :rofl
As Jason said though what is your current procedure? Blowing does cause static, this might be where Jayson is heading
just think in 3rds a 3rd of the dirt comes from the booth a 3rd from the car an a 3rd from the painter plus it helps if ya just dont give a flying fuk :lol1 :lol1 :lol1
All the trash in my paint job made me very good at polishing. 🙂
I have notice sometimes than if I dont give a flying fuk, it does come out nicer sometimes, like the lower end cars always seem to come out nicer than the jobs that need to be flawless. And yep thats me,….pickypainter. 👿 Yes I went to work for crash for awhile out there on the coast. It was a great experience for the most part, got to live the coastal beach life for awhile, but learned that I am a mountains guy who likes my 4 seasons, kinda got a little homesick after 10 months. Crash is great guy, but sorta hard nose (which probably has gotten him where he is today) but it created an environment which was tough for me to perform in. So I took an offer back here at home, to get me home, and am now getting ready to upgrade to a very nice place in two weeks with bennys etc. that Im super excited about. Anyway, back to the original post. I will start with my first step after rinsing off scuffing paste (manjuice 😛 ) and sanding sludge.
1.A good rinse with the hose, blow all the water out. Wipe out jambs, cracks, wheel wells etc. with a W&G soaked rag.
2. Blow the sh*& out of everything again.
3. Mask everything super tight, and clean, then pull in booth.
4. Finish masking details, wet down the floor (usually), then wax and grease everything. This is where I have been trying different things but typically next
5. CLose up the booth, get it warm and air moving. One last blow, then tack.
6. Since I have been back here, I hose down a coat of DX103 (anti-static) then tack one more time before sealing and goin to town. Thanks for the replies fellas
From reading your post you are a picky painter that cares.Maybe I could add a couple of things.Check the towels you are using,sometimes they can leave lint.Also check your tack rag,sometimes the cheap ones can leave fibres that look like dirt.
When you blow try using a tack rag at the same time,I used to just use my hand but this helped.When doing a complete I will go around the whole vehicle starting at the roof,then hood,trunk sides at least 4 times.I try to use a new tack rag for my last tack.If possible try to do most of your masking in the booth,out in the shop can be dusty.The old guy that I learned alot from always said”you can never blow enough”.The anti-static is a good idea,so is a waterborne cleaner,another option is isopropyl alcohol and distilled water mixed one to one.Just a couple of thoughts that might work for you or not :unsure:dont tack after the dx103. tacking again will create more static.
I like to mask in the booth with the fan running. this gives the booth some time to remove some of that airborn dust.
Sounds like you are doing a good job with the car so lets concentrate on you and the equipment. a spray on coating on the walls helps trap airborn dust in the booth. Make sure you keep the booth nice and clean. run a shop vac over the floor get in the corners good, anywhere were dust will settle. also keep as much stuff out of the booth as you can. i dont like those booth boxes people use that hold sandpaper, tape and towels. just more stuff to collect dust. blow off any stands that are holding parts. I also wrap the stands with masking paper to keep them clean and to keep stuff from coming off of them.
Wear a shoot suit. not only do I blow off the car I make sure I blow myself :whistle: good. Also wipe down and tack the hose. its amazing what kinda dirt collects on those things. sealed fittings on the hoses help as well like those from prevost.
and dont forget Filters, Filters, FiltersO yeah. How do approach Dirt that gets in the sealer and base. I will denib the sealer. I put the base on to get my coverage then go through and denib that and blow a little more on those spots or just one more coat over the whole thing. By then most of the dust has been blown out . tack good before clear as well
after I get done with my waterborne wipe, I take the towel and soak it again and wipe the paper and plastic surrounding the area I’m painting. I will wipe pretty far out. I also lightly spray the plastic on the car with waterborne cleaner, just to lock down any dust that might come off. Before clear I will wipe over the plastic again to get off some of the overspray.
i have recently made a couple changes in my booth that made a big difference. one i started using that white booth paper on the floor which is awesome. makes cleanup a snap too then you just roll out some new stuff and its like you just painted the floor again. #2 a booth coating from evercoat called tacky coat. its white, you spray it on and its stays a bit slimy on the walls. after a week you should see the crap that is stuck to the walls. thats all $hit that could have ended up in my paint. anyway. once i started with both of those it cut my dust nibs by 50-70%. the rest i’m sure comes from me, the hose or not tacking well enough.
My secret is to become a good polisher :chair
My jobs usually have a few specs I need to remove, to get the cleanest possible for me I find having a clean booth and giving each job a really good blow off helps quite a bite. I find my jobs come out the worst when I am in a hurry and don’t blow out the seams & jambs properly when I start. I think if you can get away with just spraying it makes a big difference to. I do quite a bit of prep work while we have one guy that only sprays and his jobs come out flawless. I’ve asked his secrets and he beleives it’s tacking every coat (doesn’t work for me though).
Yep over the years I have become a pretty good and fast polisher. As far as taking care of the nibs part way through. I will knock them down after my first coat of base with either 1000 or 600 grit depending on the color. What really irks me though is after doing that, and I come across some big honkers in the clear. Today I sprayed a charger hood and tops of fenders, I did the normal process plus a few small things mentioned here, but also sprayed the anti static way up onto the plastic. I just blended the corner of the hood with base and cleared the whole thing of course. Came out with about 8-12 nibs, enough where I was able to just nib it. Probably wouldve been less if I didnt have to jam the bumper up in the front of the booth with it. Thanks for the tips, just what I was looking for.
I find the less air I move, the cleaner it stays.
So I paint with a bit of a cloud.[b]JCClark wrote:[/b]
[quote]I find the less air I move, the cleaner it stays.
So I paint with a bit of a cloud.[/quote]Yah me too jc , I was gonna suggest trying painting with no fan on your next small job … turn it on once your dust free :pcorn:
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