Spraying AwlGrip

[JetStream]

Just thought I'd pass this experience along for those that might want to attempt this. First, and most important in thinking about spraying AwlGrip is safety. I have a remote supplied-air respirator and would not think about this process without it.

I wanted to learn the techniques and ideosyncrasies of this stuff before I tried it on my big boat project so I elected to do the hulls of two Lasers that I had just repaired the mast steps. Their hulls sadly needed something and one had been previously painted with something non-nautical. One mast step repair went all the way through and had two layers of 10 oz. on the bottom to fair in.

For equipment, I used a Devilbiss JGA502 gun and a 2 quart Binks pressure pot and 5' hoses. The best way I've heard, is to use an HVLP system, but my compressor is only a 5 HP and won't supply the huge amount of air required for the HVLP. It kept up nicely with the JGA. I did install a remote pressure regulator (and air filter) at the pressure pot because of the long line. That way, I could run the compressor at 100PSI and the gun at 50.

I used AwlGrip's (US Paint) 545 primer, followed by Awl-Fair, more 545 and finally AwlGrip Navy Blue. I can't say enough nice stuff about the 545 primer. It goes on well, sands well and is really durable. Many articles that I have read, say that even if you choose someone else's finish coat, you should consider using 545 as your primer.

So, the hulls were perfect and fair, I had had great success spraying the primer, and that's when I got cocky and things started to go terribly wrong. On a perfect spraying day, I catalyzed a whole quart of AwlGrip, (one quart AwlGrip, one quart Awl-Cat#2 spray converter) figuring 3 coats at 45 minutes flash-off for each would give me plenty of pot life to do the whole project. The hulls were prep-sol'd and tacked off and I thinned just about a pint of the 2 qt mixture with T0003 reducer to about 30% that matched my temperatures. The first "tacky" coat went on perfect and I cleaned the gun and sat down for a coffee to let it flash off. I thinned another pint and sprayed a second wetter coat that again went on very nicely and I figured I was nearly home free.

My mistakes came here. The time was now just afternoon and the weather was changing slightly. I was working in a 50' tent that also houses the big boat. The tent has sides but I had left one gable end open for ventilation, along with my storm door that opens right in the vicinity of where I was spraying the lasers. When the weather changed, a gust of wind came up that blew dust and dirt all over the paint before it had a chance to flash off.

Knowing that I couldn't proceed, I took the rest of my mixed paint and put it in my camping refrigerator in the basement, with the control set to max. cold. I checked with US Paint to find out about pot life of AwlGrip finish coats because it is not in their manual. They said it would be about 3 hours at standard temperature and if I kept it at 40F I could probably get 48 hours. The difficulty is in resurrecting the mixed paint. AwlGrip cannot stand moisture at all, and the paint was cooled way below dew point.

The next day was impossible for painting but I took the time to sand off all the dirt and be ready. The day after that, was my only available time window and I figured it was also the last I could use the paint. (By the way, 1 qt. of AwlGrip plus the converter represents about $80.00 without the reducer.) The day was awful. It was not windy but the temperature and humidity was high. I took the paint out of the refrigerator and sealed the lid with electrical tape while it was still very cold. Then I placed the container in a bath of warm water in the air-conditioned (and thus low humidity) house. In 10 minutes the mixture was above dew point and usable. I sprayed a pretty fair, wet first coat but it needed another because of the serious sanding. With the high temperature, I had thinned to the max of 40% and I ended up with a couple of sags on one boat - phooey! When I sprayed the next coat on, the temperature had really climbed and it was about 95F in the boat tent. I found that the paint was flashing off too fast even though it was thinned to the max, and it wouldn't level. In desperation (both boats were now covered) I sprayed raw thinner to try and get it to slow down. (This used to do wonders in my old lacquer days!) Then on one hull a big drop of sweat came out of the respirator right onto the paint. I wicked it off and left nice a nice hairy patch.

I took the paint back to the refrigerator and let the hulls harden. In the evening, the temperature went down and I wanted to see what I could do with the sags and the "spot". I dry sanded the sags and the hairy spot with 320 and they came out very smooth. Then I cleaned and tacked off that hull and got the remainder of the paint warmed up again. This time, I just painted the one side that had the sags and hairy spot, which also used all the paint.

In the morning, what I found was that both hulls have a lot of overspray that I couldn't remove with thinner, and the paint had a fair amount of orange peel where it had dried too quickly. Ironically, where I sprayed the one side to fix the sags and the temperature was cooler, it was gorgeous.

So what did I learn? Never, never spray when the temperature is too high. Be extremely careful of air movement that could put dust in the paint. AwlGrip keeps just fine in the refrigerator if you warm it up carefully. The supplied-air respirator is really, really nice. And no, I am not going to redo them ...... at least until the Fall! (Everyone except me says they look nice.)

[Tim]

Great description--and honest, too! It's super-smart to always try the technique on a smaller, less-important project first. The lessons learned are invaluable when you get into something bigger.

Also glad to hear about your success and pleasure with the 545 primer, which I plan to use on my next painting projects.

Thanks, Bruce!

[The Good Goose]

Great description. It seems when things go bad with awlgrip it quickly goes from bad to worse. I really like the 545 primer as well. YOu might try wetting down the floor area in your tent with a spray nozzell on a hose before you paint your big boat. I think it really helps keep down the dust.

Brock Richardson