Hard to Get Smooth Finish from Spray Cans?

[Gnpenning]

I've been one of the worst painters ever. Several things I have done to raise the quality of my paint jobs are as follows.

Slow down, a few extra minutes makes a huge difference in the end product. Make sure the prep work and masking is completed. A lazy Susan or hanging helps a bunch. Wipe down the part with a thinner and use gloves if you need to touch it again.

Heat the item and spray can by putting them in the sun or the items in a oven. Low temperature. You can put the can of paint in a bucket of hot water.

Shake the heck out of the can. A spray can adapter to a sawsall works great.

Read the recoat times on the can and follow it. You have to give the solvents and such a chance to clear(I don't like to do the 24 or 48 wait). Several light coats (most recoat times are short). The first coat is just getting a little color on the part (resist the urge to get full coverage). Each coat adds to it. Keep moving and use the distance the manufacturer recommends. After a few coats you should have the finish you want, put it in the sun or oven.

I've spray painted my lug nut sockets (both metric and standard) orange, for some reason I've been pulling a bunch of tires and they have been holding up really well. Non critical items like this gives you something to practice on.

Hopefully some of this will help a little.

 

[tmenyc]

I've found the Rustoleum 2X ultracoat sprays to work really well, as combination lacquer primer and color coat. You need to prepare the surface really well, make sure there's no dust, spray a dust coat, wait 5 minutes, then start spraying light even coats, every five minutes, moving around evenly and spraying past the object every pass. Try hard to not build up more paint than you need. Then let it sit for a few days to really cure. Then sand it lightly with something like 600 grit, wet if you can; then use 1200 grit, also lightly, and higher grits from there to bring out whatever shine you want.
Since it is so humid, you'll need to spray a little closer than recommended, maybe 8" away, so will absolutely need to spray lighter coats to prevent buildup.
good luck!
Tim

 

[deakin]

a treatise on foo-foo cans oh my

 

[homebrewed]

Shake the heck out of the can. A spray can adapter to a sawsall works great.

I have used an orbital sander as a shaker. Remove sandpaper if present. Turn the sander on and press the bottom of the can firmly against the rubber pad. I actually bought one just for that purpose where I worked. In that case I was mixing up polishing slurry and if allowed to sit for very long the polishing powder would settle into a layer of "mud" that was very difficult to get back into suspension. The sander did the trick, in a hurry.

 

[tmenyc]

That is truly clever...I've been decanting most of my spray cans, and getting all of the pigment mixed in well is always a challenge.
Thanks!
Tim

 

[great white]

I have used an orbital sander as a shaker. Remove sandpaper if present. Turn the sander on and press the bottom of the can firmly against the rubber pad. I actually bought one just for that purpose where I worked. In that case I was mixing up polishing slurry and if allowed to sit for very long the polishing powder would settle into a layer of "mud" that was very difficult to get back into suspension. The sander did the trick, in a hurry.

Not a bad idea. I get pretty "disinterested" after a minute (ie:an actual 60 seconds) of shaking a rattlecan.....and I find the older I get, the shorter the period I can actually sustain shaking the can.

 

[Boswell]

I have used an orbital sander as a shaker.

Great tip! thanks

 

[Chips O'Toole]

It looks like the primer was the problem. Or, rather, the fact that I chose a primer that was not compatible with my bad technique.

In the past I used some kind of primer that went on smooth, and the paint looked good without sanding. This time, I got some kind of high-build Rust-Oleum primer, and it dries pretty rough.

I stripped the project, used a different primer, and wet-sanded it. Today I shot paint on one side of the project, and it looks excellent, even with the humidity.

Painting is a nightmare. Harder than machining, fabricating, and woodworking. Oddly, painting small things well is very hard, but painting a house is really easy.

 

[Chips O'Toole]

Well, this is unbelievable. I decided to finish the board my grinders will sit on with brushable farm and implement paint, and I had an unexpected problem.

I used a 6" roller. I picked the one labeled "professional" at Home Depot. I wanted things to go smoothly, so I didn't cheap out.

While I was painting, fibers came off the roller and imbedded themselves in the paint! I have never seen this before. Tomorrow I have to sand the board and recoat it, and in the meantime, I have to buy a new roller cover. Guess I'll stick with the cheap ones.

 

[great white]

Before you use any roller besides a foam one, you should rub it back and forth in your hand a couple times. This dislodges the loose fibers and makes it far less likely you will end up with “fuzz” in the paint.