Flow coating. What's your method?

Wholeheartedly agree with Shine and Bob H. When you learn that adjusting your fluid nozzle is the key to being able to effectively spray clear it is a big step forward for someone trying to become proficient as a painter. :)
 
You can also spray a little less material and tighten your overlap like closer to 80%. In real tight areas I will dust 3-4 coats one right after another until it takes on a shine. I found this helps eliminate the chance of a run from any overspray and I'm able to watch exactly where I'm putting the material and where the overspray is going. If you blow on the clear and then try to come back with a smooth coat it is too late the base layer has been established and will only continue, for the most part, but if you start thin you can always increase material as needed or you see fit to get the desired look you are after.

Material choice, temp etc. all play a part in what is needed and how it can be done and they all play a part in the outcome.
 
Okay, here it is.
This is a close up of the rear tail panel on a 1990 Mazda Miata. It was sprayed laying horizontal on a table. This is three coats of SPI Euro Clear with the first two coats mixed 4:1:1 with slow reducer. The last coat is mixed 4:1:1 but I added 10% retarder to the mix.
Retarder.jpg


If it wasn't for some specks of dirt here and there this would be good to go. (I really need to upgrade my paint booth.)

I was afraid of adding 30% since I normally shoot Euro Clear straight 4:1. I was already nervous enough just adding the slow reducer. LOL
Next time I'll try 20% but as you can see this lays down real nice.

Also, I had a small cascade run on the front bumper. I left it alone and when I checked it today it had almost completely laid down.

I will being trying this again in the future so I'll keep you posted.
 
68 looks great!! By the way I have had three texts today that posted on some forum that flow coats will weaken the clear. NOT True and in some cases can strengthen but depends on a lot of different factors. Now with that said some cheap polyols used to make clears will die back or maybe weaken when reducer added but those are not clears you want to be using for jobs that matter anyway, ask the company if its hurts. we been doing flow coats since company started and 1/2 the 13 cars at Pebble Beach this year were done with flow coats, that I know of for sure.
 
Barry, I'm glad you brought this up because I did have someone mention the weakening aspect to me. I told them that according to the SPI Tech Manual the Euro Clear was high quality clear that was made to be reduced to the user's preference.
Another concern brought up was losing gloss by over reducing.
 
If you were to use a reducer that was too fast for the temp you are spraying then you could have a problem as then the surface would be kicking off faster then the material underneath. If you use the correct temp even higher temp (risky though) that thinned material will sink into the layer it was shot on and then both layers will become one (kinda hard to put onto words).
The only issue I could see is if an off colored dirt speck landed in your flow coat it would sink deeper then if you didn't flowcoat making it a little more challenging to get out.
 
I've been using retarder for more than 30 yrs.
Started using it on all my enamel jobs back in the 70's & 80's.
All my bumpers get a last clear coat with a lot of retarder in it.
(way more than recommended)
All my lacquer woodwork finishing gets it too. Great stuff.
 
Nice work 68'

The times I have done a flow coat, I sprayed 3 coats, I would let it sit a week, block sanded with 320-400-600.. All wet.. then apply 2-3 more coats of clear. I try to keep it at two coats because I worry that if you get urethane peel with the first three coats you would get it with the second three coats.. However it always seems to look better the second time around because you are going over such a smooth surface..

I have also applied 4-5 coats before and blocked from 320 all the way to 2500 and buffed.. I did a car like this years ago and it still looks great today. However we had so much time into sanding and buffing it may have been quicker to flow coat.. I find when i do this I always find spots that were sanded coarse and not hit well enough with the finer grit and have to re-sand a spot here and there.
 
So far it has been sanding flat with 1500 and not a lot of work. Couple of places I needed to use 1000 to get some dirt out but it was only spot use.
Trunk lid, quarters, rear finish panel, rear bumper, and windshield frame are done. Started on hood.
 
Barry said:
Here is something interesting, I plan to try.
I have heard from a number of shops (7-10), now and all swear you have never seen anything like it.

They do 3 or 4 normal coats waiting 30 minutes between coats, then as soon as done with 3rd- 4th coat they mix more clear and I have been told from some they add 30% retarder and some they add 50% and right away put a 5th coat on.
Makes sense to me but have not tried it myself yet.

This is why I love the tech line, learn something everyday!
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What would be the lowest temp I could use this method? Im in Austin, TX. Not too much winter but at the moment we have ZERO heat in our shop and booth. Im hoping he remedies that before this winter. Im really wanting to try this and get a complete as "dipped" as I can.
 
Chris_Hamilton said:
Wholeheartedly agree with Shine and Bob H. When you learn that adjusting your fluid nozzle is the key to being able to effectively spray clear it is a big step forward for someone trying to become proficient as a painter. :)
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Chris, do you mind sharing your advice on adjusting fluid nozzle? I use Iwata WS400 1.4 for clear currently. I actually just bought the non-compliant w400 lv1 1.4. What little Ive sprayed with it, seems to lay out the nicest so far.
 
Ok sorry to bring up an old thread but I'm still trying to understand some things brought up here. First many of you mention blocking dry with 320-400. What paper are you using to do that? 3M Gold sheetroll or equivalent? You guys don't have any issues with scratches doing this? The clear will flow over those type of scratches and not follow them? Jwolfe mentions in here that he shot 3 coats of UV with 5% retarder back to back no waiting. Huh?? Does that little bit of retarder allow it to not trap solvents? That goes against everything I ever heard. Please elaborate someone.
 
yes 400 gold psa rolls. clear will flow over that no sweat. once blocked i will occasionally buzz a da real quick over the surface with 400 on a soft pad. this just makes the sanding scratch a little more consistent. before i reclear i always wipe down with slow reducer on a rag to clean the surface. i never add retarder so i cant comment on that. i can say that you do need to clear, sand and reclear though. doing it all in one shot will never get it as flat and smooth since alot of the texture and unevenness comes from the basecoat itself.
 
Barry said:
Here is something interesting, I plan to try.
I have heard from a number of shops (7-10), now and all swear you have never seen anything like it.

They do 3 or 4 normal coats waiting 30 minutes between coats, then as soon as done with 3rd- 4th coat they mix more clear and I have been told from some they add 30% retarder and some they add 50% and right away put a 5th coat on.
Makes sense to me but have not tried it myself yet.

This is why I love the tech line, learn something everyday!
Click to expand...
I get confused with some of these measurements so 50% by volume would that be say clear and hardner together mixes 16 ounces then add 8 ounces of retarder Or 16 ounces?
 
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Primetime said:
I get confused with some of these measurements so 50% by volume would that be say clear and hardner together mixes 16 ounces then add 8 ounces of retarder? Or 4 ounces?
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When you see something expressed as a %, the % is always of the cumulative total. Example, 1:1:10% would equal 10 (1) ounces+10 (1)ounces +2 (10%) ounces. If you see someone refer to 5% for example that would be the amount added to the total of whatever the mix ratio of the product they are using is. UV Clear mixes 1:1 so if someone said add 5% retarder it would mean 5% of the cumulative total. Say you mixed 40 ounces total of UV clear and activator, you would then add 5% of the total of 40 ounces, which in this case would be 2 ounces.

Hope my explanation is somewhat understandable.
 
Chris_Hamilton said:
When you see something expressed as a %, the % is always of the cumulative total. Example, 1:1:10% would equal 10 (1) ounces+10 (1)ounces +2 (10%) ounces. If you see someone refer to 5% for example that would be the amount added to the total of whatever the mix ratio of the product they are using is. UV Clear mixes 1:1 so if someone said add 5% retarder it would mean 5% of the cumulative total. Say you mixed 40 ounces total of UV clear and activator, you would then add 5% of the total of 40 ounces, which in this case would be 2 ounces.

Hope my explanation is somewhat understandable.
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Yes it does thank you, I tried this, this morning but only did 25% retarder not the 50% I assumed as I just learned lol. It did come out pretty good tho no runs laid out smoother than the previous coats.
 
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