Painting and sanding question

[jdrich48]

I'm still new to the painting game.
I'm painting my motorcycle tins in the shop where I work. The conditions are not ideal.
When priming my fender I got several pieces of dirt in the paint. with the primer it's not such a big deal because I can sand it out.
Now when I go to lay the base coat on I know I'm going to have objects in the paint.

Is it ok to wet sand the base coat before applying the clear coat? I was under the impression that the clear had to go on right after the base coat.

Can someone set me straight.
I'm trying to minimize the stuff flying around the shop by painting on the weekend when no one else is around and wetting the floor down.
Any help would be appreciated.:ears:

 

[flamepain]

you can wet sand the base if its non metallic . your best bet though is to sand out the nibs and then blow one more coat of base over it.you can do this as many times as it takes to achieve the desired finish.or you can shoot a couple of coats of inter coat and then wet sand .make sure you have clean clothes or coveralls on .it' surprising how much of that dust comes from you.use a tack cloth between base coats that has helped me in the past.good luck.cyas

 

[jdrich48]

Thanks Flamepain, that's what I needed to know. I'll try the coveralls this time. I didn't have any on the first time around.

 

[hoss]

make sure that before you paint you go and blow (with the compressed air) all your clothes off, blow your...

hair on your head
clothes
hair on your arms
mask
and most of all make sure your paint is strained and your gun is clean.

where your gun gets gunky- around the cap, around the screw on the cup, inside the gun, and anywhere dust can settle if your gun's setting out.

another tip for painting in a place that's not ideal is;
find out where your air flow is. the air that runs through your booth area. try to keep the tins out of the direct wind, cause some crap is just destined to get in it.

if there is an open light or ceiling that's made of a material that can get large chunks of dust, brush it off w/ a broom or something. then blow that off too.

after all that dust is stired, wait a little while for it to settle on the floor, then wet your floor down. i wet the floor by the bottom of my garage door and garage car door (this is my air flow area). i also wet the floor down under the things that are going to be painted.

after you've wet the floor, make sure you tack cloth your surface and blow that surface off after you've blown yourself off and right before you spray.

shew... good luck! remember, there's always going to be crap that gets in it, but do every thing you can to make it not your fault, and sometimes you get lucky and have very little junk in your paint.

have fun!!

 

[jdrich48]

Hoss,
Thanks so much for your reply. I'll surely take all these precautions. As it is, being a newbe and only getting to work on the weekends. It's taking me much longer to do this painting than I had antisipated. So not having to do it more than once will make me a very happy camper<BG>.

 

[shama009]

Wetting the floor

It is not necessary to wet the floor. If you can ground the stand that your parts are on with a wire or something similar to get the static electricity gone the dust tends to want to stay on the floor. Dust is lazy and unless it has a reason to fly it will stay put on the floor. I find that wetting the floor tends to put more dirt into the painted parts. Of course, you should try and clean the floor as much as possible by sweeping it.

 

[flamepain]

The Idea Of Wetting The Floor Is To Lock The Dust Down And Also Any Dust That Lands On The Floor Stays There.THE WIND FROM YOUR GUN CAN MAKE THE DUST START FLYING.CYAS

 

[hoss]

plus water knocks down the static electricity that makes the dust stick. moist air is less shocking he he

 

[shama009]

Then I must be doing something wrong cause when I wet the floor down, the water vapor that is evaporating seems to stick to the parts causing more dust to stick. Do I possibly not have the right temperature? I usually try to paint at about 70 to 80 degrees. Or do I need to put more water down?

 

[flamepain]

where are you shama.is there a lot of humidity? .like my electrifying friend says .wipe it off and tack it just before you start laying paint.cyas

 

[jdrich48]

OK, and the sagga continues.
I painted and cleared my tank. I applied 4 coats of clear. Then I wet sanded in preparation to buff. But I had some dirt specks in the clear and had to sand a little more than I wanted to. Now I'm afraid that I have the clear to thin to buff without burning through.
Can I just add a couple more coats of clear over the sanded clear? I didn't sand through the clear, but I'm afraid I'm not far from it.
If it's OK to do this.
I've sanded it with 2000 grit. will that be to fine to clear over, or do I need to rough it up with something a little rougher?
As always any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Richard

 

[hoss]

did you just sand the clear flat for the dirt specks or really dig into the clear there?

w/ 2000 you should be fine just to buff. especially w/ 4 coats of clear. just as long as the dirt your talking about isn't like a piece of pepper that you had to sand down to and then dig out. he he

 

[jdrich48]

Thanks for the reply Hoss,
I just did kind of an overall sanding to include the area where the spot was. No I didn't sand it flat or just sand in that specific spot.
I think if I were to buff it, it would look just fine. I just wanted to make sure I didn't buff through the clear, and their will be enough left to provide the UV protection afforded by the clearcoat.

How much sanding with 2000 grit paper would you have to do to sand through 4 coats of clear?

 

[hoss]

a hole bunch.

i usually lay down 3 med. wet coats of clear. then i sand it flat w/ 1000 grit followed by 1500 grit then 2000 grit then i buff w/ a wool pad w/ some turbo cut, then i buff w/ a foam pad w/ finish cut, then i hand glaze.

this should give you the idea that you're ok w/ the 2000 grit.

 

[jdrich48]

Wow!! I didn't think you could do all that. Good deal then, I should be good to go. I got all the sanding done today, I'll get started on the buffing tomorrow.
Thanks for your input Hoss, I appreciate it.

I'll probably get started switching all the tins on my bike this weekend. I'll post some pics when I get it all done. I'll need to show off my first paint job to somebody, it might as well be here where I can get some constructive criticism.<BG>
You guys have been great with all your help. I hope to try something a little more custom on the set of tins I'll be taking off. So you guys haven't heard the last from me.LOL...This painting thing is sort of fun...alot of work but fun.
Thanks again
Richard

 

[flamepain]

remember when buffing to constantly feel the surface with the back of your hand.warm is OK hot is not.there is nothing worse then doing all that work only to burn through the finish.cyas

 

[jdrich48]

Thanks for the tip Flamepain. I've already buffed the front and rear fenders. The second one went smoother than the first. I was so scared of burning through on the first one. But I'm starting to get the hang of it now. I actually went back and buffed the first one again because I wasn't happy with the results the first go around. But they look great to me, and my co-workers seem to think the same, so I must be doing something right.
Thanks
Richard