A 'how to' for High Gloss Finishing

[zxgravediggerxz]

Thanks guys. I'll stick to lowes or home depot stuff in cans for now until I get an HVLP gun.

It is surpringly annoying to find what the filters protect FTP
. One is for Organic vapors, which is what is used in thinners and some garners and such I think and the other filter is p95 which filters 95% of oil based fumes.

[zxgravediggerxz]

Hi guys,
Me... again :/ lol

I finally got myself an el-cehapo HLVP gun from Rockler (pic#1). It has gotten a surprisingly good amount of decent reviews for the price it is selling.

Some of the reviews are saying that they are getting amazing results with little to no over-spray or orange peel!

Now I got myself a can of Rust-Oleum professonal oil based paint (pic #2) and at first I mixed it at about 30% (30% diluted with acetone) but I did not get satisfactory results. I even measured with the viscosity cup to get between the commander drain time. I adjusted the material volume/trigger throughout all the ranges and every time I got pretty big droplets (pic #3), so ended up setting the material spray to as low as I can to get some coverage. I sprayed the back of the speaker at that setting and needless to say there was orange peel, a lot of it (pic #4).


Than I cleaned the gun (which was a mess!!!!) and did a 2:1 mix ratio and got slightly better results. I still had to set the materiel spray at pretty low. I got a bit smaller spray droplets (pic#5), but still not that much greater. I decided to spray the whole speaker with that and it was a bit better over all (pics #6 'top of speaker and #7'side of speaker')

I am about to do some sanding with a #400 or #600 and try to get rid of most of the orange peel and crap that got stuck to it :/ (yes i have a DIYpaint booth but apparently nothing i do work properly)

Oh yeah I sanded the primer coat with a #320 flat!

What do I do guys? I am about to mix at 1:1 ratio next time.
Is it the shitty paint or the shitty gun?!? Frankly I can get better result with a spray can.... so I must be doing something wrong at setting this gun and my mixture or the paint is crap. I wish I could do lacquer but there is no red lacquer anywhere and my base coat is shellac already :/

[jewel]

Please be sure to moderate the amount of pressure you place down on the
electric sander. The sander can do the work for you and you may get
closer to a smooth finish much sooner.

[Renron]

Acetone evaporates too fast, try 5-10% Naptha or paint thinner

[evanc]

My intuition looking at your pics is thin it more. I don't know about the rustolium product. There are certainly differences in how different paints spray and flow. have you thought about auto finish?

[zxgravediggerxz]

Originally Posted by jewel

Please be sure to moderate the amount of pressure you place down on the
electric sander. The sander can do the work for you and you may get
closer to a smooth finish much sooner.

I spent about 1-2 hours wet sanding by hand. I got lets say 80% of the orange peel out and I think I will keep it that way. Next one I will take the random orbital sander and do it that way.... I hope it is easier :/

Originally Posted by evanc

My intuition looking at your pics is thin it more. I don't know about the rustolium product. There are certainly differences in how different paints spray and flow. have you thought about auto finish?

Yeah I will thin it at about 75% next time (in a day or two). I wish did do an auto finish, I went to PepBoys today and they have Quart cans of Duplicolor lacquer (ready to spray) for abhout $24 each.... kind of pricey. But they have primer, base coat (color choises) and a clear coat. I should have known better and spend the money. I think next time I would go with that combo. Do you have any recommended brand or retailer I can get some good stuff for a decent price?

Originally Posted by Renron

Acetone evaporates too fast, try 5-10% Naptha or paint thinner

Hmmm.... you think it evaporates that fast that it is giving those results? I am using acetone because that is what is recommended on the directions. I am thinking more acetone and mix at about 75% or 1:1


Do you guys think that Lacquer clear coat will stick to the oil base?

[GM]

Orange peel means you're either spraying from too far away and/or at too high a pressure, which is another way of saying that it's congealing from evaporation during its flight through air.

FWIW, historically, mineral spirits or Xylene was the thinner of choice to allow the sufficient 'flow' time required for enamel, so I'm guessing that Acetone is required these days to meet EPA emission standards.

Lacquer is a 'hot' thinner, so not only will it stick to enamel, it will melt it, so a sealer is required; though in cold weather I would add a little to thinned enamel to get some initial 'bite'.

Regardless, with enamel it's best to shoot a thin 'tack' coat, then the color coat once it becomes tacky.

GM

[peterlo]

I've been following the posts on this subject.
I also have found difficulty on occasions finding the best combination of temperature, dilution, pressure & technique for a given "paint" type.
It's not correct to assume orange peel affects only the amateur sprayer, I have seen new BMW vehicles with evidence of this although certainly not in recent times.
Before moving to an alternative coating type I would recommend contacting the "tech support" section of the manufacturer. They generally can tell you informally what works best & this info often is not found on the side of the can.
For me dilution with mineral turps to about 20 - 30% has worked.
What I have failed completely to master is keeping dust from settling on wet surfaces despite wetting down floors & walls in the area.

[gbuilder]

I'd just like to throw in a reminder that the finishing technique discussed at the start of this thread is for 'low investment' finishing using spray cans and lots of sanding. The advice here has helped me to achieve an amazing finish on my speakers, using the following approach*:
*note the suppliers mentioned below are in the UK.

-seal MDF with wickes (UK) mdf sealer, sand a bit
- a couple of layers of halfords (UK) grey primer spray, then sand down with fine grit to 'glass smooth' surface.
- several coats car spray paint from halfords, sanding with fine grit between every few layers. Don't sand the last layer - and don't worry about slight orange peel - we will be covering all that with clear laquer, when it becomes less visible.
- Lots (7+) coats of halfords clear laquer spray, sanding every few layers. Then sand again to smooth finish (don't worry when it looks all scratched and nasty).
- Then use the finishing compounds&polish described by Shin.
-Enough work and it comes out as good or better than a typical automotive finish.

A couple of things to watch out for:
- Edges are unbelievably vulnerable when sanding; you will almost certainly sand down to the primer so take extra extra care here.
- A fly landed on my top layer of paint before the laquer, messing up the finish. I gambled and carried on, thinking the laquer would cover it up but it didn't!

Good luck and if you're just doing one or two pairs of speakers, I advise that it isn't worth the expense or hassle of getting into proper spray pump systems. People seem all to quick to spend hundreds on equipment for one off projects.

Cheers

[Renron]

High quality tools perform better and give better results than "el cheapo" ones. The resale value is high also if they are relatively new. So how much DID you spend on Drivers? and What is your time worth? (rhetorical)
Ron