Fill me in on liquid flattening agent

C

C_REX

I have never used the spi or any other flattener and would like to get ant info on it, my one question I do have is if you have nibs in the clear and you denib then polish does this add any gloss or change the appearance?
 
It is a one shot deal..

You get trash in it, sand it down smooth.. and start over.. You can not polish flattened paint.. It will polish out and have gloss and the rest will not..

I hate shooting flat paint in my garage set up.. Almost impossible to suit me no matter how " almost trash free it is"..

I have found, the best way for me to do flat panels,.

First thing in the morning when the sun is just begining to come up.. I shoot outside when the dew is on everything, then I promptly put it in the garage and easily close the door and dont come back for an hour or so.. Then I know we are out of dust completely and I can move around without being concerned with anything getting in it!!!
 
thanks BK I was also wondering about overlap if you double up in area's will that show?
 
I will tell you, for an all over.......a flattening agent is extremely hard to deal with. I prefer to use an already formulated matted clear for anything large. Waiting for barry to come out with one!!!! lol.

With the already forumlated mat clear......you just mix as you would normal clear and spray like normal clear. Just seems to work better as it is consistent all the way through. Can always add a flattener to it to get it flatter........with the clear already "mat" it doesn't take much more and still stays consistent. just my opinion.
 
right on thanks jeremyB, does ppg make a pre formulated clear? I m gonna play around with the flattening agent I have some rims and couple other small pieces I want to have a matte finish, thanks again
 
I think PPG's is called FlexD and Flat clear.. As for doubling up. I dont see how your overlap will bother anything. You will spray it just like it was not a flat clear coat so it will most def have overlap everywhere!!

dcu2060.jpg




Flexed "N" Flat™ Clear

DCU2060 Clear offers a pre-flattened and pre-flexed clear in one product. It can be used with a variety of PPG clears to achieve the increased gloss levels desired. DCU2060 is used in some low gloss clear formulas to match OEM low gloss requirements. This product will allow the blended clear to fit the "Specialty Coating" category in VOC regulated areas under both anti-glare safety and elastomeric coating designations.
 
thanks BK I did some google work last nite and came across the ppg flexed and flat, I think its around $60-65 a quart and around $25 for the hardener. For now Im just gonna do some small stuff with the spi flattener anything I will look more into the ppg stuff I guess
 
I tried some of the PPG flattener w/ SPI UV clear. It works but getting the correct ratio was very difficult. It was super sensitive and would go from gloss flat with very little added. I must have mixed up 10 sample batches. And the only way to test it was to spary and then you had to wait for it to flash, and even then is seem to turn flatter the longer it sat.
 
precisely why i like a pre-flattened clear. Gets you in the middle. Can cocktail it with regular clear to get more gloss or throw a little matting/flattening agent in it to dull down.

Most of the time just straight out of the can is fine...you can control the gloss a touch with reducers, but not as much as adding regular clear or flattening agent.
 
jeremyb;9668 said:
I will tell you, for an all over.......a flattening agent is extremely hard to deal with. I prefer to use an already formulated matted clear for anything large. Waiting for barry to come out with one!!!! lol.

With the already forumlated mat clear......you just mix as you would normal clear and spray like normal clear. Just seems to work better as it is consistent all the way through. Can always add a flattener to it to get it flatter........with the clear already "mat" it doesn't take much more and still stays consistent. just my opinion.
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It seems like i get little specs any time I flatten clear, it's very consistent on the panel and very small specs, it's in the first coat and more with every coat after, I think it's the flattener not blending in well enough, maybe next time I should put the clear on the shaker before spraying!
 
Chad.S;9997 said:
It seems like i get little specs any time I flatten clear, it's very consistent on the panel and very small specs, it's in the first coat and more with every coat after, I think it's the flattener not blending in well enough, maybe next time I should put the clear on the shaker before spraying!
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Chad, I had this same issue with flattener. I posted my pictures and problems on this list in the flattener section. I too think it was some blend problem on my part. I tried everything. I have loved everything SPI but this just didn't work for me and I was losing my ass on a job. I got some BASF flattener and it worked perfect but it was a lot thinner and pre-mixed and got that F'r out the door. I can see how a pre-mixed product or a pre-mixed clear could be a benefit in this respect.
 
dbohemian;10025 said:
Chad, I had this same issue with flattener. I posted my pictures and problems on this list in the flattener section. I too think it was some blend problem on my part. I tried everything. I have loved everything SPI but this just didn't work for me and I was losing my ass on a job. I got some BASF flattener and it worked perfect but it was a lot thinner and pre-mixed and got that F'r out the door. I can see how a pre-mixed product or a pre-mixed clear could be a benefit in this respect.
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Maybe this could be Barry's new project product after eliminating Turbo Clear??
 
could be a reason why he hasn't posted in the thread i made conerning a mat clear?!?!?! lol.

I did a 78 jeep truck with sikkens mat clear a while back. 3 wet coats in 100 degree heat in the booth. zero problems. right out of the can with slow activator and reducer. The sheen was perfect. no dry spots or any of the normal problems you hear from using flatteners. Between that and the rally black i have all basis covered when doing low gloss projects...would be nice if i could replace those 2 products with cans that had SPI logos on them though!
 
RodMan;10033 said:
Maybe this could be Barry's new project product after eliminating Turbo Clear??
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Well he better hurry, I have a few gallons I need to spray in the near future. :)
 
The first couple times I use flattener it worked just fine, then I didn't use it
again until about a year later. when I did I got lots of grit from it.
It was to fine to strain out with paint filters.
I was told that this is a problem with flatteners, they have a shelf life
and after that there's a kick-out of some kind and you get the grit.
I sure did.:cool:
 
Arrowhead;9757 said:
I tried some of the PPG flattener w/ SPI UV clear. It works but getting the correct ratio was very difficult. It was super sensitive and would go from gloss flat with very little added. I must have mixed up 10 sample batches. And the only way to test it was to spary and then you had to wait for it to flash, and even then is seem to turn flatter the longer it sat.
Click to expand...

True flatness will not show up until all the solvents are gone, a good rule of thumb is check test panels after setting over night.
 
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