Spraying

[lee grout]

I've started spraying my panels at home in the garden. The ground has been watered to down dust etc, the panels have been smoothed, tack'ed and panel wiped. Now I've started spraying (only 1 panel so far as a test) but its not coming out smooth. Not as severe but picture an artex ceiling and you get the idea. How do I get it to come out smoother. The better I can do now means less flatting back later on. Im not sure on much technical info, I just plug it all in and try it lol. what hints can anyone give to get it to come out smoother? Its cellulose by the way. 1:1 with thinners.

 

Cheers.

[Andyb0127]

At a 50/50 mix celly should lay down really flat, trouble is if you thin it any more it will have less covering power, and you'll old up using more paint.

What gun set up are you using mate with celly it should be around 1.2 or 1.4 anything higher will make it look like its got alot of peel to the finish. Or it could be the spraying pressure is to low, should be around 2 bar/29 psi which should get it to lay down fairly flat and even.

[Escort Si-130]

Did you make sure you oiled the fluid needle on the spray gun?

[shawdreamer]

your doing in the garden?

 

in direct sunlight?

 

on some of the hotest days in recent record with the addition of higher than usual humidity?

 

1. doing it outside is fine depending on weather conditions, obviously rain is a pain but heat and strong uv levels can be an even greater troublesome factor, its not all about the paint though, the surface temperature of the panel can be just as fundamental

 

2. be absolutely sure the thinners your using are compatible with your choice of paint and the conditions required for the mix are met (ergo mix levels, pressure requirement and temp/humidity again)

 

3. dont get too ambitious, its the simplest failing of any amateur sprayer, take it slow and steady, dont rush it, put your coats on thin and even and never ignore the recommended drying times between coats.

 

4. one of the hardest skills for a noob sprayer is learning to recognize a issue before it becomes a problem, with each coat take a few moments to run a careful and critical eye over the area and search out any blemishes that though minor at first will quickly become a finish destroying annoyance later.

 

5. One of the most useful things you can learn is an understanding of what the paint is trying to tell you as it goes on, how its shapes itself upon contact, how its viscosity reacts, its spreadability etc etc. figuring these out can help you avoid repeated restarts and even aid you in correcting a mistake in progress to avoid a restart entirely. your paint should strike and spread similar to what you would see with a prepared off the shelf spray can (a good spray gun however offers better control, steady pressure and coverage obviously), if your paint strikes surface and spreads immediately while forming finger like protrusions its to thin, if you paint strikes and doesn't immediately begin to spread slowly then its likely to thick....its rule of thumb really, if something doesn't feel or look right within your first 1-2 coats then 9/10 times it probably isnt right and will only get worse if you ignore it.