Painting question...

[HPIman]

Hi, so I'm about half way through refinishing an old Kramer baretta
solid body. I have just finished 4 aerosol cans of color coat. (after
the sanding sealer and primer coats) Should I sand down the orange peel
a little before applying the 3 cans of clearcoat, or should I spray the
clearcoat as is? The color coat does have a lot of orange peel but no
paint runs.

If it matters, I am using automotive paints and it is a metallic red
color.

Thanks!!!
Garrett

[David Hajicek]

"HPIman" <HPI...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:3D841EF2...@hotmail.com...

There was probably some polish residue on the guitar that didn't get cleaned
off completely.

Give it a full week to dry. Address and eliminate additional possible
causes of the orange peel (contamination, oil, dirt , dust). If you are
lucky, the orange peel cause will have been trapped by the coats of paint
now on the guitar. If it keeps coming through, you may need to strip and
start over. If the guitar hadn't been prepared properly to start (cleaned,
lightly sanded), you are better off stripping and starting over as the paint
will likely peel off with time.

To try and save what you have got, wipe the finish with soapy water, then
ammonia, then alcohol and let dry. Sand off the orange peel using wet or
dry sandpaper with a little soap in the water to get a uniform smooth
texture (no shiny spots allowed). Wipe clean with no soap water and dry.
Give it another color coat. If this looks free of orange peel, let it dry
then put on your clear coats. Sand smooth and polish.

Dave Hajicek

[Randy Boone]

Orange peel is usually NOT caused by oil, dirt, rust. Typically this
will cause "fish-eyes" a totally different beast.

Orange peel is usually caused by:

1.Air pressue too high
2.Material drying too fast
3.Material not flowing out, see above two

Mainly a combination of the above.

If using spray cans, escpecially automotive,

Test the drying time and material flow on some scrap.
Apply at a distance and speed to maintain a wet coat, so it will flow.

If the color is drying to fast or appears rough, and you cannot adjust
by distance and spraying speed, see if you can get an auto finish
store to fill a spray can with Laq Thinner, or use a Preval Sprayer to
spray a medium drying thinner on the color to help wet and flow.

There are other methods/materials to help in a dry finish, but the
above will work.

40 years of spraying Cars, Furniture, Guitars and more, I'd say
with a gun its the air pressure, with cans, its your distance and
spraying speed.

Good Luck.
-RB

[HPIman]

ok thanks...
Yeah I am confident the orange peel is a result of your 3 items below
and not resulting from particles collecting beneath the color coats. I
am certain all the paint was stripped completely to the bare wood before
applying sanding sealer. The sanding sealer and primer coats were
sanded smooth to 320 grit prior to color coating.

I think I'll apply another coat of clearcoat (giving a total of 4), this
time with slightly wetter passes and allowing the body to dry with the
face horizontal. Perhaps this will allow the wet coat to flow more
evenly across the guitars face before drying..

Thanks,
Garrett