Reducing Orange peel

Lizer said:
Believe it or not, the cleanest paint job I ever did was spraying a 28' camper outside. Two coats epoxy and two coats single stage, and there is almost no trash in it.
Click to expand...
That’s funny. I’ve noticed that I seem to get the same amount no matter how much I prep and clean or not. Wearing a fresh throw away coverall makes the biggest difference, I always spend a lot of time blowing off the panels and racks and using a tack rag. I’ve been spraying in a portable tent/canopy outside my garage. I’ve tried plastic on the floor and taped perimeter, etc, and also sprayed with one or both sides rolled up over the bare gravel drive. Odd, but I seem to end up with the same amount of trash in the paint with either situation.
 
I use the same gun with a 1.4 tip and Silver Cap.

Personally, I set the gun up by backing the fluid knob out until I can pull the trigger full open. Then holding the trigger full open I turn the fluid knob in until I feel it start to lift the trigger. I release the trigger and then turn the fluid knob in 1/2 turn more.

I then adjust the air pressure at the gun with the trigger pulled full open to 22-24 PSI for Epoxy Primer and Base Coat. I jump the pressure up to 29-30 PSI for Clear and Single Stage.
 
'68 Coronet R/T said:
I use the same gun with a 1.4 tip and Silver Cap.

Personally, I set the gun up by backing the fluid knob out until I can pull the trigger full open. Then holding the trigger full open I turn the fluid knob in until I feel it start to lift the trigger. I release the trigger and then turn the fluid knob in 1/2 turn more.

I then adjust the air pressure at the gun with the trigger pulled full open to 22-24 PSI for Epoxy Primer and Base Coat. I jump the pressure up to 29-30 PSI for Clear and Single Stage.
Click to expand...
I actually tried that method last week after seeing it here in one of the message threads. For some reason wasn’t even close for me. It was still like more than five turns out if I remember right, and the fluid as just way, way too heavy to not get runs. Thank you for the suggestion.
 
MAKZ06 said:
I actually tried that method last week after seeing it here in one of the message threads. For some reason wasn’t even close for me. It was still like more than five turns out if I remember right, and the fluid as just way, way too heavy to not get runs. Thank you for the suggestion.
Click to expand...
I would question your air supply then. What is the CFM output and capacity of your air compressor?
 
'68 Coronet R/T said:
I would question your air supply then. What is the CFM output and capacity of your air compressor?
Click to expand...
It’s an ancient Kellog American beast w/ 2 stage pump and 80 gal tank. I don’t know the specs but it’s high cfm.
I checked a while ago and turning until I hit the trigger and then going another 1/2 turn in puts me at 5.5 turns out from closed. It’s spraying the reduced epoxy perfectly at 2.75 turns out, and I had been shooting the unreduced at no more than 3.5.
 
Chris_Hamilton said:
Looks pretty darn good for your first(?) time. Yup that is orange peel. What I would recommend is to leave your fluid where it's at, along with the speed of your passes and just tighten up your overlap. Something around 75%. Meaning spray your first pass, then your second pass overlaps the 1st by 75%, and so on and so on. Tightening overlap should get it looking really good.
When you don't have enough overlap, the clear can't "fill in" so to speak. Tightening/narrowing the overlap will let the clear/SS fill in and not leave that texture.
Click to expand...
i made some progress and am starting to maybe get this figured out the more spraying experience I get. The first day I sprayed the cab interior, door backsides, and underside of the hood. Because of the cramped quarters, tight spaces and difficulty keeping the gun a consistent distance, etc it wasn’t as good session to learn what was happening and compare results. The nooks and crannies and different heights with under hood bracing made me end up with more of a dry spray and no peel. Similar results inside the cab. Day two I did the fenders, goor exteriors, and front valence/bumper stone guards which had the orange peel which prompted this thread. On day three I did the truck bed and stuck with the same gun settings (which produced another glassy smooth finish with the 25% reduced epoxy sealer) but I increased my overlap from @50% to about 75%. Orange peel is still there but was reduced somewhat. What I learned this time is that I have several areas with no orange peel and that have a nice smooth glassy finish. Those are the areas that basically got 100% overlap due to their locations and how I was spraying from various directions. The flat top of the bed rails for instance were hit from both sides and several directions as I made passes. Same with the rear vertical corners where the taillights mount. Those got more overlapping passes as I worked around the corners… Got my first minor run near the edge of one of the front corners, again where it was getting more overlap due to location and my inexperienced spray pattern/ technique.
So, seems like I’ve read that right at the verge of a run is where you want to be for a smooth finish. Thinking at this point I probably need to keep that overlap at 80% and either slow down a little bit or open the fluid control slightly. The cab and top of hood are tomorrow after sealer today. Afraid of screwing with it too much at this point. I‘m not sure what is worse, sanding out a lot of runs or dealing with orange peel over the entire surface.:confused:
Maybe if I live long enough I’ll eventually have enough experience to do a nice job.
 
Chris_Hamilton said:
"Real" orange peel is the result of spraying too dry or not enough overlap. Not enough overlap is one of the main causes. Other texture can come from spraying too wet but it's not orange peel. Wetter=slick. Dryer=Peel. Overlap is perhaps the biggest cause. If you don't have enough or not consistent then it will be peely. If you have tighter overlap, even spraying with less fluid it will be slicker and less peely.

Refer to any late model Ford truck for what orange peel actually looks like. :)
Click to expand...
Look at late model Jeeps OMG that would be embarrassing to me...
 
The LPH400 requires a slow deliberate spraying speed in my experience FWIW. Would be interesting to see how fast you are moving.

Don
 
Don't try to lose sleep over a slight texture. There are tons of adjustments, pressures, speed, distance, overlap, etc. As soon as you get it perfect, weather will change and add a new set of variables. A small area is easy to get relatively slick, but a van side is much more difficult. Slight adjustments is part of constant change.
 
MAKZ06 said:
I actually tried that method last week after seeing it here in one of the message threads. For some reason wasn’t even close for me. It was still like more than five turns out if I remember right, and the fluid as just way, way too heavy to not get runs. Thank you for the suggestion.
Click to expand...
So I checked my gun and counted the number of turns out. It was 4.
 
dhutton01 said:
Is that the setting you used when you laid down that epic run down the side of your car?

Don
Click to expand...
Ha, ha. The waterfall on my signature car is what I believe you are referring too.
P1010004.JPG

That was a SATA 2000 RP. I realized I needed to move a whole lot faster with a SATA and I am just too slow, hence the switch to the Iwata LPH 400.
I had hosed enough on there to sand all of those out.
Runs Gone.JPG
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top