Tim,
I am curious about your work on the Etchells. I noticed that you sprayed the Awlgrip. You didn't comment much on the process, but as it was a departure from you roll and tip expericene, I was hoping you might take the time to elaborate a little, including which sprayer you are using. And while I'm asking, what did you think of the 545 primer? If I'm not mistaken, that was the first opportunity you had to use that product.
(Heart of Gold's launching is tentatively scheduled for June 19; the website should be christened shortly thereafter)
HVLP sprayer and related questions
-
heartofgold
- Skilled Systems Installer
- Posts: 237
- Joined: Wed Mar 17, 2004 10:47 am
- Location: Pensacola Bay
- Contact:
HVLP sprayer and related questions
Doug
http://heartofgoldsails.com
"The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears or the sea."
Karen Blixen
http://heartofgoldsails.com
"The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears or the sea."
Karen Blixen
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Tim
- Shipwright Extraordinaire
- Posts: 5708
- Joined: Tue Apr 01, 2003 6:39 pm
- Boat Name: Glissando
- Boat Type: Pearson Triton
- Location: Whitefield, ME
- Contact:
SPRAY EQUIPMENT
I used a Showtime 90 HVLP turbine system from TP Tools. I bought a new system on Ebay for about $100 less than the advertised price on the site. My "client", as it were, actually bought the tool for me as payment for my assistance with spraying his boat.
I was pleased with the performance of this spray equipment, once I got used to the various controls. It is a stand-alone system that is fairly straightforward to use, and only slightly different in overall operation from normal compressor-driven spray equipment. I haven't done a ton of spraying, so can't really comment on a true comparison basis. Suffice it to say that I found the turbine equipment could provide smooth paint layers with good flow, once I got used to controlling the material flow, gun distance, and spray pattern width.
SPRAYING AWLGRIP AND 545 PRIMER
This was my first foray into spraying Awlgrip. Let me begin at the beginning. (duh)
545 Primer: I very much liked this product. It is worlds away from Awl-Quik. I found that the HVLP gun laid the primer on beautifully, though it used more product than I was expecting. Based on my past brushing experience, I had only ordered one quart kit (2 quarts overall product) to spray the Etchells, which I thought would be sufficient. It was barely enough for two thin coats, as it turned out. I purchased more, and ended up spraying three additional coats for complete and even coverage. I thought that the primer was excellent; the finished primer spray job was very smooth, even, and needed little sanding. I think I got one small run in the whole 5 coats, which was easy enough to sand out at the end. I used the white base, since the boat was to be painted off-white.
Awlgrip Topcoats: Flush with my success with the primer, and feeling confident with the spray equipment, I dove headfirst into the topcoats. Using the same basic spraying techniques and equipment setup as with the primer, I prepared to spray three wet-on-wet coats (about 45 minutes between coats, as directed). Unfortunately, my first coat ended up being a disaster: obviously, the gun settings were applying way, way too much material, and I ended up with sags throughout the entire coat. This forced me to stop spraying for the day and wait till the next day, when I thoroughly sanded the whole boat to remove the sags. Not fun.
With once again a smooth surface at hand, I prepared to try again. This time, I made some adjustments to the equipment, reducing the material flow and widening the spray pattern. Some careful testing on an old countertop and even on part of the hull of the Triton Daysailor helped me ensure that I would get the coverage I wanted using the technique at hand.
With these adjustments, I sprayed three successful coats that day, over the course of about 3 hours. I began with a light tack coat, then a slightly heavier second coat, before finally spraying the third and final coat, taking care to get good coverage.
The end result was quite good. There was some orange peel, as is typical with spray jobs, but the product still levels beautifully. The Etchells job required spraying over the hull/deck joint and a 3" section of the deck edge, which definitely complicated the procedure: not only was it difficult to set the staging at the ideal height for either the deck or hull, but it was easy to overload the curved hull/deck joint. The end result featured a couple small runs in this area, though they are hardly noticeable even when one is searching for them.
Any faults in the final job are completely operator-related, and are part of the inevitable learning curve. I recognized my limitations at the beginning, and learned a lot during the process. Having this experience under my belt, I now feel more confident about acheiving a closer-to-perfect spray job in the future, and expect to use the spray equipment for Awlgrip applications going forward.
No, the final result was not perfect. But they rarely are. I called the end result a 5-foot paint job (i.e. from 5' away, it looked perfect); others who looked at it said it was better than that. I appreciate that, but remain critical of my own work, as always.
My next project involving this process will be a 17' O'Day Daysailer that belongs to my Dad. I'm going Claret red on this one. I'm not sure exactly when this will happen, but sometime this summer.
I used a Showtime 90 HVLP turbine system from TP Tools. I bought a new system on Ebay for about $100 less than the advertised price on the site. My "client", as it were, actually bought the tool for me as payment for my assistance with spraying his boat.
I was pleased with the performance of this spray equipment, once I got used to the various controls. It is a stand-alone system that is fairly straightforward to use, and only slightly different in overall operation from normal compressor-driven spray equipment. I haven't done a ton of spraying, so can't really comment on a true comparison basis. Suffice it to say that I found the turbine equipment could provide smooth paint layers with good flow, once I got used to controlling the material flow, gun distance, and spray pattern width.
SPRAYING AWLGRIP AND 545 PRIMER
This was my first foray into spraying Awlgrip. Let me begin at the beginning. (duh)
545 Primer: I very much liked this product. It is worlds away from Awl-Quik. I found that the HVLP gun laid the primer on beautifully, though it used more product than I was expecting. Based on my past brushing experience, I had only ordered one quart kit (2 quarts overall product) to spray the Etchells, which I thought would be sufficient. It was barely enough for two thin coats, as it turned out. I purchased more, and ended up spraying three additional coats for complete and even coverage. I thought that the primer was excellent; the finished primer spray job was very smooth, even, and needed little sanding. I think I got one small run in the whole 5 coats, which was easy enough to sand out at the end. I used the white base, since the boat was to be painted off-white.
Awlgrip Topcoats: Flush with my success with the primer, and feeling confident with the spray equipment, I dove headfirst into the topcoats. Using the same basic spraying techniques and equipment setup as with the primer, I prepared to spray three wet-on-wet coats (about 45 minutes between coats, as directed). Unfortunately, my first coat ended up being a disaster: obviously, the gun settings were applying way, way too much material, and I ended up with sags throughout the entire coat. This forced me to stop spraying for the day and wait till the next day, when I thoroughly sanded the whole boat to remove the sags. Not fun.
With once again a smooth surface at hand, I prepared to try again. This time, I made some adjustments to the equipment, reducing the material flow and widening the spray pattern. Some careful testing on an old countertop and even on part of the hull of the Triton Daysailor helped me ensure that I would get the coverage I wanted using the technique at hand.
With these adjustments, I sprayed three successful coats that day, over the course of about 3 hours. I began with a light tack coat, then a slightly heavier second coat, before finally spraying the third and final coat, taking care to get good coverage.
The end result was quite good. There was some orange peel, as is typical with spray jobs, but the product still levels beautifully. The Etchells job required spraying over the hull/deck joint and a 3" section of the deck edge, which definitely complicated the procedure: not only was it difficult to set the staging at the ideal height for either the deck or hull, but it was easy to overload the curved hull/deck joint. The end result featured a couple small runs in this area, though they are hardly noticeable even when one is searching for them.
Any faults in the final job are completely operator-related, and are part of the inevitable learning curve. I recognized my limitations at the beginning, and learned a lot during the process. Having this experience under my belt, I now feel more confident about acheiving a closer-to-perfect spray job in the future, and expect to use the spray equipment for Awlgrip applications going forward.
No, the final result was not perfect. But they rarely are. I called the end result a 5-foot paint job (i.e. from 5' away, it looked perfect); others who looked at it said it was better than that. I appreciate that, but remain critical of my own work, as always.
My next project involving this process will be a 17' O'Day Daysailer that belongs to my Dad. I'm going Claret red on this one. I'm not sure exactly when this will happen, but sometime this summer.
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Forum Founder--No Longer Participating
Forum Founder--No Longer Participating