Stupid newbie question

[nrburkett]

I do not paint and I have never done anything like this before. So here is my question.

If I spray a "base" coat, I do know it will need to be cleared, can I wet sand it smooth with say 1000 grit if I get the "orange peel" and then clear over that or do I need to go finer? Will wet sanding the base coat dull my final clear finish?

I ask as I am having issues spraying and I end up too heavy, runs, or too light and get the orange peel. At this point if I did not get such a good deal on the Hot Hues paint, I should have taken it to be painted by a pro.

Oh and this forum is awesome. Have learned a lot reading many of these posts.

 

[Brian Dee]

no you can't sand a base coat it's very fragile. But you can sand a single stage. The only thing you can do with a base coat clear coat system if you really need to is to scuff it very lightly with a worn out scotchbrite pad. (grey) Even then it's pretty iffy. Just take your time get your gun set up properly, stay the proper distance from the surface when your spraying your base. If your getting orange peel in your base. It makes me think your not reducing your paint enough.and you maybe a little heavy handed. Just don't pound it on and you should be fine.

 

[grichardson152]

We have a young kid at work that cleans up around the shop, he's bugged me for months to teach him how to paint. First, I belive it's very hard to teach someone your ways. Anyway, I attempted. The result was the same as your situation. The way I solved his problem was, mixed his base 1:1, had him spray a light coat holding the gun about a foot away. Then a second coat the same way. He tried to lay the base on like he was clearing it, which resulted in orange peel here and there and sags in other spots.

I then cut the fluid flow back (via turning it so the trigger would only pull back so far) and had him kinda dust on the color a little. This worked great for him. This was on a solid color, I would not recommend doing this with any color that contains matallic, will result in blotching or striping.

Quick question, what type of gun are you using? Reason I'm asking is, the guns you pick up at your local home depot or the real cheap ones at the paint store may be a cause too. They state that their 1.3 or 1.4 but in reality they spray like 2.0 which will cause the orange peel or runs in base because they just dump the paint out of them.

 

[nrburkett]

Thanks for the tips. As for my gun, it is a cheap one from HD, the touch up gun that holds 7 oz. Since I only have the 1 job to do, I did not want to drop hundreds on a gun I was only gonna use once.

 

[grichardson152]

Don't blame you there, if you don't use it everyday, no sense in paying out the big bucks. Touch up guns usually have a 1.0 tip and should be fine for what your doin. Just try to cut back on the fluid a bit and make sure your spray pattern is about 6-8 inches on the touch up gun. Take your time, I'm sure it will turn out the way you want it. Practice, practice, practice.