Paint Buildup/Pooling Around Cutouts

[richie00boy]

When you cut recesses for things like tweeters and sockets, do you find when spraying that you get paint pooling up making the edges not square/sharply defined? Is it wise to try and brush this out a bit?

I'm trying to work out how much to cut out for a Speakon socket recess. I'm working on allowing 1mm for paint thickness then 1mm spare all the way round.

[Nordic]

Why not just apply some to a piece of offcut, let it dry, saw through and check thickness...

[richie00boy]

That wouldn't quite tell me what I want to know. It's the pooling effect at recess edges (if it exists) that I want to know about, not the thickness on a flat slab, as I'd be aiming to put about 1mm paint on.

[TerryO]

Originally posted by richie00boy
That wouldn't quite tell me what I want to know. It's the pooling effect at recess edges (if it exists) that I want to know about, not the thickness on a flat slab, as I'd be aiming to put about 1mm paint on.

richee,

First off, that's a lot of paint. Are you planning on some sort of Metalflake Candy paint job?

Several people I know shoot some flat black around the inside of the recess and then place a cardboard circle with mylar taped edges in the recess that is slightly thicker than the recess itself. Even with this you need to be careful not to apply too much paint at the junction, or edge, of the "filler" piece.

Best Regards,
TerryO

[richie00boy]

I'm just going by what shinobiwan has said about how much he puts on, and one type of paint I'll be using is a heavy duty speaker coating that is thicker than the usual paint.

The masking idea is interesting but I think it could be pretty fiddly.

[KP11520]

The problem is caused by a term called Cohesion.

One suggestion is to let it settle and dry. Hopefully most of the excess will flatten as water seeks its own level (but with thick paint, who knows).

If it doesn't lay flat and look crisp, sand it flat with 200 to 400 sand paper (depending on how much build up you need to remove) and then a quick spray to cover the sanded area so it looks uniform.

Perfection is no accident and the closer you get the more frustration you receive. The only people who will truly understand the committment you made are the ones that made the same journey to the same level.

We all have to decide where the line is between pride for sweating the details and insanity! LOL. I tend to lean towards the insanity side. Please post a photo when you get the results you desire! Good luck!

Rather than paint, I wonder how powder coating would look and work! (never mind, this is wood.)

Regards//Keith