painting with an air paintgun, 101

[maddawg308]

Okay, I have never done any MV painting that didn't involve a spray can. Since this will be my first time painting with a compressor and a paint gun, was hoping someone here could school me in the art of doing so. I have the following items so far:

4 gallons of 24087 OD semi gloss
air paintgun
compressor with air line

That's it. Need info on xylene and thinner and hardener and dry time. Any help is much appreciated.

 

[Chief_919]

Make sure you have a really good air dryer/oil remover on your air line to the paint gun.

I have actually had really good luck with the Harbor Frieght (sold under other names too) HVLP turbine units. They use a shop vac style turbine instead of a compressor, so there is no oil or water to worry about.

It is one of the few Harbor Freight items that gets great reviews all around- Google "Harbor Freight HVLP Turbine"- and you can catch it on sale for $79 and then use the 20% off coupons you print off online.

High Volume, Low Pressure Spray Gun Kit

 

[Barrman]

Mike,
Surface prep is going to make or break the paint job. If you have bare metal, prime it, sand the primer once it dries in about 15-30 minutes. The higher the number on the sand paper, the finer and smoother it will be. The higher number also means it will take longer. 180-280 is just about the coarsest you would want to be at.

Once primed, sanded and ready to paint. Mix the Gillespie 2 parts paint to1 part Xylene all the way to straight paint. I like 3:1 myself, but it is up to you. Shoot the first coat kind of thin. Just make the truck change color to what you are shooting. Once it "flashes" in about 20 minutes depending on your weather. That means it dried enough to look kind of dull compared to the wet water look right after you shoot. Go back over again thicker. Here is where you can get into runs if you go too thick. Let it dry over night and drive away.

The Gillespie is very forgiving paint. You can wait weeks between coats or just about 20 minutes. If you don't like the look a month later, clean it off and shoot another coat.

Put a psi regulator on your gun or air line, or both. Use a paint filter to pour into a mixing cup, shake and stir good, dump what you didn't use in the gun back into the gallon since the Xylene is not a hardener, just a thinner. Practice on a scrap piece of metal just to figure out the gun and all the controls and what makes the best look.

 

[CGarbee]

My thoughts on painting...
Paint

 

[maddawg308]

I have Airvoe paint guys, not sure if that matters for prep work....

 

[rlwm211]

If your spray gun does not have a regulator on the handle you will need a good regulator to control the pressure at the gun. I use a mini regulator on my HVLP and run high pressure to the gun.
You will have to prime the surfaces and that is a great chance to gain the experience in proper mixing and patterns of coverage. Your spray gun should always remain at the same relative angle to your work piece. This keeps the pattern of application from the nozzle the same. When you apply any paint, from gloss, to semi to flat paint, you look for the flood, or wet to follow your spray gun to ensure you are getting a seal on the surface. The application process is a dance between getting just enough to seal and protect the surface and too much which will result in a droop or sag or worse yet a run in the paint.
After the first pass, use half lap of spray pattern on each successive pass to be sure you do not miss a spot. Alternating horizontal passes and vertical passes in seaparate coats guarantees you get even protection and coverage.
In thinning paint, follow the manufacturer's instructions and be very aware of the temperatures because in my experience it is often times colder in the area where you are spraying that it is in the mixing area. It helps to use a paint strainer to ensure you do not have large particles in your paint, but some paints do not lend themselves to these filters due to their thick consistency.
Be sure to have good ventilation, and wear a proper mask to protect you from the fumes and particles in the paint that are airborne and are a threat to you and yours when you are painting.
An explosion proof exhaust fan is used in a spray booth. I generally spray outdoors these days especially on large items like a deuce so your venitilation problems are solved there.
If it is dusty where the truck, or other item is located you are painting, wet the ground, or floor to keep the dust from contaminating your workpiece.


Lastly, I would do a practce piece and get a feel for the process on that before taking on the big things....

Hope this helps

RL

 

[Capt.Marion]

Coming from our compressor's tank we have an Ingersoll-Rand filter/water-separator/regulator and then at the end we've got another commercial grade filter/water-separator/regulator designed specifically for painting that the 1/4" line comes out of.

 

[AceHigh]

Mike, good advice from all. I used this thread as my guide and it turned out to be easy and problem free. Good luck!

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/paint-bodywork/11373-rustoleum-rusty-metal-primer-red-version.html

 

[m16ty]

be very aware of the temperatures because in my experience it is often times colder in the area where you are spraying that it is in the mixing area.

Good point. Years ago I was painting a tractor in the dead of winter. I sprayed it and the paint had a rough texture to it and no gloss. After talking to several painters they said it was too cold. It had been cold in the shop the night before and I knew it was too cold to paint so I built a fire and warmed up the shop. The problem was that even though the shop was warm the metal of the tractor was still too cold. I sanded it back down, aimed a space heater at the tractor for awhile, and then painted. It turned out ok then.

It's really hard to screw up a OD paint job. You just point and spray and it will look better than most military paint jobs.

I've painted for years and can do a pretty good job. The problem I have is cleaning the gun. I can get it clean enough but I end up using alot of thinner. For the pros out there, are there any tips for cleanup where you don't waste so much thinner?

 

[rlwm211]

The only thing I know is this..Cleanliness is next to Godliness...don't be messy and keep the outside clean...next thing is to clean the gun IMMEDIATELY after spraying. The longer you wait the harder it is to clean the gun. I use an HVLP and I remove the nozzle and soak it in Lacquer thinner immediately to get the accumulated paint off. I use Lacquer thinner to clean the gun. I rinse out the cup with a couple of ounces and then pour some in and let it run our of the nozzle without air when I pull the trigger.
I have learned that the more mess I make doing the job, in terms on getting paint on the equipment the harder it is to get everything clean.
I use a very aggressive solvent to clean the gun so I can use less of it. BTW I have used pump gas as a solvent when I ran out of Lacquer thinner and it works ok...

RL

 

[Nonotagain]

Okay, I have never done any MV painting that didn't involve a spray can. Since this will be my first time painting with a compressor and a paint gun, was hoping someone here could school me in the art of doing so. I have the following items so far:

4 gallons of 24087 OD semi gloss
air paintgun
compressor with air line

That's it. Need info on xylene and thinner and hardener and dry time. Any help is much appreciated.

Mike,
I'll be headed thru Winchester/Front Royal in another two weeks to visit my folks.
If you can wait, I can instruct you on how to set up a spraygun so that you can probably turn out a paint job that you won't have to be ashamed of.

Let me know if this will work for you.

 

[rnd-motorsports]

One thing I would add if you are not in a paint booth cover anything you dont want overspray on whatever gun you use you will get some overspray and buy yourself a disposable paint suit and mask unless you like drab nose hair! Take your time dont get in a hurry 2 light coats work better than 1 heavy one.

 

[Dave Kay]

The only thing I know is this..Cleanliness is next to Godliness...don't be messy and keep the outside clean...next thing is to clean the gun IMMEDIATELY after spraying. The longer you wait the harder it is to clean the gun. I use an HVLP and I remove the nozzle and soak it in Lacquer thinner immediately to get the accumulated paint off. I use Lacquer thinner to clean the gun. I rinse out the cup with a couple of ounces and then pour some in and let it run our of the nozzle without air when I pull the trigger.
I have learned that the more mess I make doing the job, in terms on getting paint on the equipment the harder it is to get everything clean.
I use a very aggressive solvent to clean the gun so I can use less of it. BTW I have used pump gas as a solvent when I ran out of Lacquer thinner and it works ok...

RL

Good info, and I was with ya' all the way up to the "ran out of Lacquer thinner..." and "... used pump gas as a solvent..." EYEEEE! I did the pump gas solvent thing years ago too until I took a training course on HAZMAT. Gasoline has benzine and it's so toxic that the harmful levels are measured in parts per BILLION--- way nasty stuff!~

So you don't want to inhale benzine or let it be absorbed by your skin. Hope this helps someone.

BTW; this is a really great thread, learned a bunch here myself!