Never Get Orange Peel?

I used to work in the body shop at an AMC dealership and the head cat would purposely shoot heavy orange peel texture down low behind the wheel wells and down the rocker panel between. He said it was for texture and the inevitable gravel that strikes those areas and it really looked good. I wish I could remember how he did it. I think he just loaded it up with paint but it could have been some kind of additive. I never shot with anything but acrylic and got orange peel most of the time.

 

Off the subject a bit but can you tell me what color this is and the code number if possible? Thanks in advance, Dan

 

I can't paint without orange peel and it is worse with a HVLP, best I can do is lay it as wet as possible without runs and sand and buff. A friend of mine was an Autobody instructor at a college after running a shop for years and still has orange peel. I attached pictures of my T-Bird before and after buffing.

 

Ok guys question, whats the best way to get rid of orange peel and dust when the paint job is done .Mine been done for about 3 months now and just wounding? Thanks Bruce.

 

There, fixed it for you. I HOPE you're not so upset about your paint job that you're actually "wounding" yourself over it!

I'm not a painter but by reading this thread I gather you color sand and polish out the very minor scratches that 1500-2000 grit sandpaper leaves.

 

Here is a good site for learning how to paint.
www.paintucation.com

 

I was pretty discouraged to continue painting after the first couple of small projects I had painted. Thought the peel was the cheap gun So I bought a devilbiss finish line 4 and had the same results. I have never properly set the airflow at the cap, just at the gun so this I know is part of it. My spray technique needs help too but after the job is done all it needs is a little cut and buff to turn out nice. I'm a total novice but learning more with every project.

 

Thanks Dan in Pasadena , my spelling has gone to hell in a hand basket since I let school some 30 years ago, LOL. Bruce

 

I think every paint job gets some orange peel but it all depends on the kind of paint job you are trying to get.

I watched a friend who has been painting cars for over 40 years one day spray a front fender and he was really laying the paint on heavy and that's when I realized why is was doing it that way.

Once he wet sanded and put a wheel to the fender it looked like a piece of gl*** when he was done. He wanted to make sure he had plenty of paint on the fender for wet sanding.

If you are not planning to wet sand your new paint job then you simply reduce your paint and change your spray pattern to try to get as little orange peel as possible.

Jimbo

 

Hey, that looks like the same color on my '32. Is that an old BMW color?

 

Only way is to wet sand with fine grit sandpaper until it's smooth then buff it out.

 

Time spent, volume of material and area of attention divided by square inch. When working on small parts you can see the whole thing. You can't see the whole panel, door hood whatever while you are painting it. If everything is perfect it will lay down long after your attention has moved on. Glance back to check where you've been and you'll probably have an issue there.

 

Usually when I get orange peel it's because I used the wrong speed reducer for the weather conditions or I didn't use enough. It has to have enough reducer for it to flow out. If it's drying to fast it doesn't have time to flow out and it orange peels. When it happens I don't worry about it until I spray the next coat. I make the adjustment and the next coat will smooth it out. Once you do it a few times you will get more of a feel for how the paint reacts and what to do to fix it as you go. Most first time painters make the mistake of to heavy of coat on the first two p***es. Once you understand why things happen it gets easier. I've never painted a car in a paint booth so I've learned all kinds of tricks to fix mistakes as I go. Bugs are a big problem certain times of the year. I use to panic when a bug would land on wet paint...but now not so much. Pull them off with tweezers after I finish coating the whole car. Then on the next coat I put it on a little thicker in that area and the reducer will deactivate the previous coat and it will flow out the spot where the bug was. You have to realize that the reducer in each coat will soften up the previous coat. So on the first coat you need to just get a light even coat and not worry about being able to see through it. I've sen several guys try to put the first coat thick enough to hide everything underneath on the first p***. That's too much and you risk runs.

 

On the second coat you can put it on thicker because now the first coat will absorb some of the reducer and keep you safer from runs. Then the 3rd coat you can go heavy because you have two previous coats absorbing the reducer. If you do a 4th coat it can be heavy also. I usually don't do 4 coats unless it's a color that doesn't hide very well. By the 3rd coat you shouldn't be able to see through the color. If you are using BC/CC all you really need to do with the color is get it on smooth and just heavy enough to hide what's underneath then build the thickness with clear.
FYI....all of this applies to painting out doors using a turbine HVLP. I'm not a professional painter but most of my paint jobs come out better than some of my buddies that hired a professional to do it in a paint booth.

 

Man, it's so hard to achieve perfection...when painting. We don't paint in a vacuum......and it is rare, to be in zen bliss.....and shoot perfectly.... with all that goes around while painting.

Don't beat yourself up....while I can say that, yes, I have painted perfectly before....AMT model parts probably really shouldn't count. I am a fan for whoever it was that decided....that wetsanding and buffing, as well as clearcoating.... should make it look good. Without that, pertaining to automotive finishes....there is no way in hell I would be able to paint anything without complaint.

Hell, I have a 6k dollar paint job with multiple coats, and many ***es and elbows working....and still had issues....before cut and buff.

 

I totally agree....each case is different. I'm my worst critic. I finally had to just convince myself it was good enough because I know where every flaw is and most times other people can't even see them when I point them out. Most are nice but every one has flaws. I just don't worry about it so much.

 

Txturbo, when you say wet sand with fine sand paper what grit are we talking about? Thanks Bruce.

 

1000-2000 grit

 

i remember heating up paint in a hot plate,did that a few times when it got a little cold.if my memory serves me right it layed out very smooth....remember it was urathane enamel,,,back in the '70's...

 

No shame in a little peel from time to time. There are a lot of really good painters here on this site and I [and probably most of them], wish that was the worst thing to have to worry about when it comes to laying down paint. If I get it smooth enough , it usually has a run or two. Just a little more cutting and buffing.

 

Thanks for the information Txturbo Bruce.

 

Hell yeah, that perfect finish right out of the gun is on a razor thin line between sags and runs and orange peel. Much Better to go to the peel side with in reason.

Matching the reducer temp to the metal temp not the ambient room temp is quite helpful. You can custom tune your reducer too by different ratios of slow medium fast. Say medium is a little too fast but slow is a little too slow, mix them and you'll get something in the middle.

 

I suppose if conditions were just right, and the right reducer/activator erer used you might have bo orange peel, but you wouild have to be very close to having runs to get the paint orange peel free. As has been said, even factory paint has some orange peel in it. Just wet sand and buff to get your desired finish

 

Even if you put the paint on mirror smooth, it can still shrink and pick up texture of some kind, esp. if there's a lot of material on it, like with a candy or pearl job.

 

I have found it has a lot to do with experience and learning the right touch with your painting equipment. It also has a bit of "feel" to it, the more you do and watch how it comes out has a lot to do with knowing what you are seeing as you go along and how "wet" you can get away with before you get runs. Some people are better at this judging than others just like everything that needs some judgement to it because there is nobody standing over your shoulder saying "you need a touch more here next time or less here next time" it's all up to your experience and "reading" the paint you just applied. Some people have the touch and some less so.