Mixing small amounts

C

cstrom72

Just curious if any of you have tips for mixing small amounts of paint? Today I' am going to spray the "jamb area" on the doors, and the "jambs" of the fenders (area that is under the hood when closed)
I have been going by the rule of thumb I once heard 8oz does one coat on 2 doors. Seems like I am always wasting a little paint though. How much would you mix for this type of thing? I have a hard time judging it -
 
I use graduated mixing cups. I start by mixing what I believe is enough for a coat, and a little more, hate running out of paint on a coat. After I'm done spraying a coat, I go back to my mixing cup, and put the remaining paint back in it, this way I can see how much paint I used for a coat, and can mix more precisely for my second coat. It works for me, I hate throwing "pucks" in the garbage.
 
The plastic mixing cups also come in small sizes, I'd probably use a 1/2 pint cup for a job like that. chevy_power427's advice about tracking quantity is very good. Of course, judging the first coat can be difficult, especially for strange shapes. Also narrow strips tend to use more than you think since a lot of the paint misses the target. Might try about 4 oz to start and see how far it goes. I use the little medicine cups like jc uses too, but it looks like that job is too big for a one ounce cup.

http://www.tooltopia.com/e-z-mix-70008.aspx
 
Nice thinking on the medicine cups!
I ended up mixing about 4oz and had just enough for base. Once I got to clear I fell a bit short. 4 oz was not enough and needed about another ounce so I had to mix a tiny amount wroth a cleaned out scoop from some whey protein i take haha.
 
cstrom72;n78018 said:
Nice thinking on the medicine cups!
I ended up mixing about 4oz and had just enough for base. Once I got to clear I fell a bit short. 4 oz was not enough and needed about another ounce so I had to mix a tiny amount wroth a cleaned out scoop from some whey protein i take haha.
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Looks good. To avoid running out, empty your gun back into the measuring cup after each coat and subtract that amount from what you started with to get your per-coat usage. That way, you can make sure you have the right amount of paint for that critical last coat.
 
Yes -good point and good idea to you both. I read his but it didn't sink in till further down the line :)
 
you can also get the weight ratio from the supplier. since paint and catalyst are not usually the same weight, its important to know. Otherwise, when you mix a big batch, you can weigh the paint and activator for that ratio and use math to figure out the gram ratio for small amounts.
 
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