Hello Kicks, I just finished painting flames on the front fenders and doors of an old Chevy. When I opened the doors after- ward, I had created quite a mess inside the door jams with over spray. I spent hours removing it with rubbing com- pound, any suggestions?
Tom Ovary (Wis.)
Well, it’s that old adage,... “An ounce of prevention, is worth a pound of cure”. 3M has a soft edge foam masking tape that is a fast and easy way to mask door jambs and other apertures such as hood and deck lid openings. It has an adhesive which allows the material to be reposi- tioned if necessary. It’s basically just like a piece of foam weather strip. You place it along the rocker panel and rear door jam about one eighth of an inch from the outer edge, and close the door up against it blocking off any over spray from entering. You do the same along the edge of the inner fender and close the hood up against it. This stuff saves time and doesn’t leave a hard tape edge along the jam or rocker.
Another method that I use all the time,... is called reverse taping. Open the door and take some two inch masking tape, placing it along the bottom and back edge of the door. Have about one inch adhering to the door, and the other inch hanging down and facing out. Now close the door and place your masking tape and paper on the exposed surface of the tape that is facing out. The perfect seal,... nothings going in there!
Of course you could just take masking tape and cover every square inch inside the doors with it, but on older cars that have other than factory paint on them,... this could create different problems. When it comes to inner door surfaces, with all those nooks and crannies, they don’t always get sanded like they should before painting, and you may end up pulling paint off areas that will look even worse than the over spray might have. Finally,... as long as the paint inside the door jams is well cured, and the over spray isn’t over 24 hours old,... a little fast reducer on a rag will usually remove it. Give it a quick wipe with the reducer, and then wipe dry with an- other clean rag,... don’t let the reducer sit on the painted surface, and make sure to wear some nitrate or rubber gloves to protect your hands. I’d suggest trying this on a small inconspicuous section first. You may still have to do a little buffing to bring the gloss back up, but it won’t take hours.
Thanks for the letter, and next time send along a pic- ture of your work for the readers gallery,.... we never get enough feed back from our readership!
Hello,
I’ve been airbrushing on tee shirts and canvas for about three years now, but have wanted to start painting helmets and motorcycle tanks. I plan on using HOK and I’ve been told that I will need three spray guns, one for primer, one for base coat, and one for clear coat. Is this true or can I just use one gun for all three.
Jim M. (Ga.)
Hi Jim. It is possible to do all of these things with one gun,... but if you are thinking of doing a lot of this kind of work,... it would probably be a good idea to go with at least two guns. There are a couple of reasons why it’s a good idea to have a separate gun just for primer. The first being that to-days two stage primers (and I do suggest that you use them) are very thick and high in pigment. This means that they don’t spray well through the smaller tips like the 1.2 or 1.4 that are best for atomizing base and clear coats. An inexpensive HVLP with a 1.7 tip will lay your primer down wet and smooth. The second reason is that no mater how long you spend cleaning the primer out of your gun (something else that you must do religiously, if this stuff kicks over in your gun,... you’ll be hours digging it out), if you are using it to clear something, just as you apply the final coat,... a big primer coloured booger with shoot out ruining everything.
If the largest thing that you are going to be spraying will be a motorcycle tank,... you may want to look at one of the many Mini spray guns that are on the market these days. You didn’t say what you were using as a compressor, but it’s another thing that you will need to take into consider- ation when you buy your spray guns. Make sure that you are going to have enough CFM (Cubic Feet per Minute) to push paint through whichever guns that you decide on. Good luck on the new venture. If you haven’t used urethane paints before,... you may want to order issue one of this magazine (if you don’t already have it) where I cover some of the safety issues involved with these paints. These aren’t tee shirt paints, please spray safely. Well I guess that’s it for this issue. One last tip that I’ll leave with the thrifty amongst you. The plastic spouts on clear and hardener cans do not allow the can to completely drain. If you turn it upside down it seems empty,... but if you puncture a hole in the corner and turn the can up side down, you’ll get another two or three ounces of product out. Waste not,... want not! Hey,... I’m not tight,... OK maybe I am. When I blink my kneecaps move! Keep those questions coming,... see you next issue!
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