How to spray paint

[despawn]

I've seen a lot of decent spray painting jobs around here, and tonight I found out I'm no good at all. That's why I turn to you guys for advice.

The pattern of my wheel stand (obviously) looks something like this:

(Just to give you an idea of what I'm talking about)

Now I have given the whole schabang (which is made out of wood) a layer of gray primer. Not a decent job, but I figured it would do. Then I taped the parts that are to be black, and gave it a layer of red. I taped it quite accurately, not leaving a lot of room for error. Was that a stupid idea? Should I have given it an inch or so margin of error? I still have to do another layer of red before moving on to the black, so I'm not totally screwed if I have to add the margin of error.

Then, after all is sprayed and the black and red hopefully look nice, should I add a clear coat? The paint it self is supposed to be glossy, but should I coat it with a clear paint just to fixate it?

Thanks for any advice.

-despawn.

 

[.Hz]

You might want to ask around on home improvement type forums mate, and/or Home Depot/Lowe's, you'll probably get much more help, quicker, and pot. more knowledgable help there.

 

[robulus]

I'd allow about 2mm overlap, doing this for the top coat of red should be fine. Black will cover red, red may or may not cover black depending on the paint.

A high gloss enamel paint should give you a gloss finish you are happy with, if not you can always clear coat afterwards.

 

[Rylan]

The general rule with something like this is that you spray detailed sections first, then spray the main colour coat.

There is a counter rule which says you apply the lightest coats first. As it happens, your lighter coat is your detail section so it's a no brainer.

Mask out a rough outline of your stripes leaving about 2 cm on either side, so a 10cm stripe would be marked out with a 14cm stripe. Apply a thin coat of red from about a foot away. Do not attempt to backfill on any one coat, which means, if you feel at the end of your coat that you've not covered an area do not respray it. That's what extra coats are for. If you ignore this you'll inevitably end up respraying an area which has enough paint on and then you'll have too much which is where you end up with drips and runs.

Once dry apply additional layers until you get the required colour and finish. Then remove the tape.

Very carefully apply two lines of masking tape on top of the red and fill everything between. The goal is that the only bits covered are your red stripes and they are already finished. You can then spray your black till you get the required fill and finish.

When you peel back your tape and mask you should have two perfect stripes. You can then apply any detailing or stickers.

After that a few coats of a spray based lacquer will give you a gloss finish or, alternatively, you can use a tin of polyurathane varnish which will make the finish more durable.

 

[despawn]

You might want to ask around on home improvement type forums mate, and/or Home Depot/Lowe's, you'll probably get much more help, quicker, and pot. more knowledgable help there.

Yeah, I thought about that, but as you see, I did get some good answers here as well. No need to cross the creek for water

@ robulus and Rylan: I'll remove some of the masking I've done, and leave a gap for the second coat. Glad to see I at least did the thinking right regarding the order of the details and colours.

I think I was a bit to keen on getting the job done, and perhaps overdid the amount of paint per round. But I want my wheel stand done NOW, I hate the 24 hours of waiting for the paint to dry. Watching paint dry is really, really boring, you know. Hopefully I can clean up the red paint today, maybe do some careful sanding if there are any drops or signs of running paint.

I guess I'll have to consider the finish when I'm done, not sure wether I'll add the clear coat or not.

Thanks for good advice, mates!

 

[grog]

One tip I thought I'd add is to use a good brand paint and nozzle. I'd screwed up countless paint projects until I was turned on to Aeromax paint. It comes with a good nozzle and goes on great.

 

[dougdoberman]

Coupla notes to add to Rylan's very good instructions.

Don't wait until the paint is completely dry before you remove your masking. If you do, it may flake since it's all dried in one coat across both the area you painted and the tape. Wait for it to set up a bit and then carefully pull it. For best results pull it so it's coming off at a 90 degree angle.

Don't apply the next masking until the coat you're masking over is COMPLETELY dry. This would seem to be pretty obvious, but it's probably the #1 mistake people make when doing a multicolor spray.

Several light coats (of the same color) will both look better and dry faster than one big globby coat. You don't need to wait until the previous coat is dry before putting another on. Just a short time.

You need patience for a first rate outcome.

If you have trouble waiting for the paint to dry, go play some LittleBigPlanet 2. Just came out last week and it's amazing fun.

 

[despawn]

One tip I thought I'd add is to use a good brand paint and nozzle. I'd screwed up countless paint projects until I was turned on to Aeromax paint. It comes with a good nozzle and goes on great.

I use cheap stuff, but I haven't had any major issues with it. But I'm not used to spray painting at all, so I might not know what I'm missing out on.

Coupla notes to add to Rylan's very good instructions.

Don't wait until the paint is completely dry before you remove your masking. If you do, it may flake since it's all dried in one coat across both the area you painted and the tape. Wait for it to set up a bit and then carefully pull it. For best results pull it so it's coming off at a 90 degree angle.

Don't apply the next masking until the coat you're masking over is COMPLETELY dry. This would seem to be pretty obvious, but it's probably the #1 mistake people make when doing a multicolor spray.

Several light coats (of the same color) will both look better and dry faster than one big globby coat. You don't need to wait until the previous coat is dry before putting another on. Just a short time.

You need patience for a first rate outcome.

If you have trouble waiting for the paint to dry, go play some LittleBigPlanet 2. Just came out last week and it's amazing fun.

Thanks for the advice. I removed the masking a few hours after applying the last coat of red, well before the paint had dried, but before it was completely dry. Ashamed to say I did it to apply the next coating. Luckily I did this on a small part not very visible before thinking: will the masking tape now rip of the paint? It did, at least a little bit. So now I'm letting it rest overnight before adding new masking tomorrow.

But since I'm painting wood - with it's natural defects, joints and what not - I seem to have some issues with paint getting under the masking. I guess I'll have to be extra careful when applying the last masking tomorrowm. Maybe even use some putty in the worst areas, like where two parts of wood connect. Going to be one dirty job...

 

[Dracwolley]

Well, it's a bit late now, but I came up with some instructions from experience and helped my friend stencil this on his computer case with this method:

Here it is (this is for ultra-durable, ultra-awesome stenciling, but you can obviously use a simpler version for the stripes on top of a good 3 or 4 layers of the black paint):

Step 1:
Cover the side of the case in 2 layers of painter's tape

Step 2:
Make the stencil as you normally would

Step 3:
Tape the stencil on to the side of the case already covered in tape, like you were about to paint it on.

Step 4:
Use a sharpie and make lines following all of the edges of the stencil. So you're essentially just making an outline of the stencil onto the painter's tape.

Step 5:
Take a razor blade or something equally sharp and run it along all of the lines you made in step 4. Make sure it gets through both layers of tape; you might have to go over it a few times. It's okay if it scratches as you'll just be going over it with paint

Step 6:
Peel off the holes you made (the stuff you are planning on painting) from the tape. You should have a side with 2 layers of painter's tape, except for what you are going to paint.

Step 7:
Run your finger hard along the edges of the tape so that it's perfectly flat against the side of the computer, so extra spraypaint can't get in.

Step 8:
Spray one very thin layer across the case evenly. Very, very, very thin. Maybe about 30% of the opacity it will be in the end.

Step 9:
Wait about 12 hours, and repeat step 8.

Step 10:
Repeat step 9

Step 11:
Repeat step 9

Step 12:
Repeat step 9

Step 13:
Wait 24 hours and then remove all of the extra blue tape really, really slowly.

Step 14:
Don't kill me if it doesn't turn out exactly the way you want it to (but it should).

–––––––––––––––––––––

And to answer your last question, YES! do a clear coat, or three. The more, the more durable. With layers of black on layers of red, the black could easily bond with itself and peel off of the red with pressure and abuse. That obviously won't happen with a thick clear coat.

 

[Rubadubdub]

If I were you I would spray the whole thing black. then go to and auto store and pick up red vinyl strips. That way the lines are clean and crisp.

 

[dougdoberman]

But since I'm painting wood - with it's natural defects, joints and what not - I seem to have some issues with paint getting under the masking. I guess I'll have to be extra careful when applying the last masking tomorrowm. Maybe even use some putty in the worst areas, like where two parts of wood connect. Going to be one dirty job...

Yeah, the only way to really avoid this is to prep sand it with progressively finer paper and then use a coat or two of wood primer. Even more work & time.

I'm sure yours will look fine regardless. And if it doesn't, that's what paint stripper is for.

 

[despawn]

Wow, that's a nice guide! Thanks, at least I now have it for future reference.

Vinyl - I don't think that would be very nice on wood. And besides, the red parts aren't that many, but the bars in the bottom are red, leaving the vinyl a non viable option.

I've sanded, sanded, sanded and sanded, and then added a layer of primer. But the problem with running paint appeared where pieces of wood connect. I've put some putty there now, hoping that solves the problem. And I've kept the plate horizontal, not really giving the paint an option of running.

I tried to make a joke about paint strippers, but that obviously was too much for the moderators here. Sorry about that, I liked my joke. (Edit: come to think of it, it might have been me pressing preview, not submit. If that's the case, sorry for bashing the mods here without proper cause. And the joke wasn't that funny anyways.)

Thanks for all advice. Now I'm waiting for the paint to dry, playing b-spec while waiting. Man, I really do not like Bob.

 

[dougdoberman]

Wow, that's a nice guide! Thanks, at least I now have it for future reference.

Vinyl - I don't think that would be very nice on wood. And besides, the red parts aren't that many, but the bars in the bottom are red, leaving the vinyl a non viable option.

I've sanded, sanded, sanded and sanded, and then added a layer of primer. But the problem with running paint appeared where pieces of wood connect. I've put some putty there now, hoping that solves the problem. And I've kept the plate horizontal, not really giving the paint an option of running.

I tried to make a joke about paint strippers, but that obviously was too much for the moderators here. Sorry about that, I liked my joke. (Edit: come to think of it, it might have been me pressing preview, not submit. If that's the case, sorry for bashing the mods here without proper cause. And the joke wasn't that funny anyways.)

Thanks for all advice. Now I'm waiting for the paint to dry, playing b-spec while waiting. Man, I really do not like Bob.

If it's running, you're applying too much.

 

[robulus]

Thanks for all advice. Now I'm waiting for the paint to dry, playing b-spec while waiting. Man, I really do not like Bob.

I think 'B-Spec Bob' sounds like something cruel to call the intellectually challenged.

Make sure you post pics of the finished job.

 

[despawn]

I think 'B-Spec Bob' sounds like something cruel to call the intellectually challenged.

I kept referring to myself as «B-Spec Bob» while spray painting. I felt really out of place. Anyhow, the project is close to done, just the final adjustments of the pedal stand missing. Here's how it looks right now:

More pics will come shortly in my build thread.

Again, thanks for all good advice and humour.

 

[robulus]

Looking good. I checked out the build thread, in those pics it looks like the issue is with the sanded finish on the timber. I know you said you've spent a lot of time sanding. Are you using power tools (an orbital sander or a 'mouse' style sander)? Did you start of with some course paper, say P60 grit, and then work up to at least P120? Does it feel smooth to the touch, or can you still feel the grain?

It looks like you are a fair way through this and probably won't want to go back and resand it or else those might be older pics (it looks great in the photo above), but it would be worth working out if this is an issue to help you out on further projects.

 

[despawn]

Looking good. I checked out the build thread, in those pics it looks like the issue is with the sanded finish on the timber. I know you said you've spent a lot of time sanding. Are you using power tools (an orbital sander or a 'mouse' style sander)? Did you start of with some course paper, say P60 grit, and then work up to at least P120? Does it feel smooth to the touch, or can you still feel the grain?

It looks like you are a fair way through this and probably won't want to go back and resand it or else those might be older pics (it looks great in the photo above), but it would be worth working out if this is an issue to help you out on further projects.

The majority of the running that is still visible is underneath the wheel plate. Everything else is well sanded, I figured it didn't matter all that much under there, as I was going to stick all the cables, USB-hub and power splitter under there anyway. I used a mouse style sander for this project, went directly from P80 to P120. Over all it worked out fine, but I didn't have the stamina to do the parts «less important».

The running I was concerned with earlier happened on the upper side of the wheel plate. As it is three pieces of wood aligned, it was running a bit in the joints. But small pieces of putty did marvels there.

But even though it looks quite all right, I know it's really not. I was way too generous with the paint – or way too impatient. The whole «30 percent opacity» wasn't for me... Thus there are some drops here and there, and for my next project I'll probably be using regular paint. Or – more likely – I will have forgotten all about my spray painting issues on this project, and once again think «it'll be done in a blast».

Again, thanks for all your help and advice, thanks to you guys it at least looks presentable! 👍

 

[robulus]

It looks great. No point spending too much time on stuff you can't see, and it sounds like you've got it under control.

I've done my last few projects with roller and brush using enamel paint. Spray painting is a science unto itself. I don't get a perfect finish, but I get a really good finish that is very durable, and I just consign the flaws to 'character'.

It's the old 60/10 rule, you can spend 60% of the total effort for a given project getting the last 10% of perfection. I'm a perfectionist by nature, but I've learned to accept non-critical flaws, and then spend time with my kids!

 

[despawn]

It looks great. No point spending too much time on stuff you can't see, and it sounds like you've got it under control.

I've done my last few projects with roller and brush using enamel paint. Spray painting is a science unto itself. I don't get a perfect finish, but I get a really good finish that is very durable, and I just consign the flaws to 'character'.

It's the old 60/10 rule, you can spend 60% of the total effort for a given project getting the last 10% of perfection. I'm a perfectionist by nature, but I've learned to accept non-critical flaws, and then spend time with my kids!

Thanks. I'm satisfied, and that's what's most important, right? I sent my father a picture, he went «whaaat?!? Did you do that?»

The roller will probably be my next tool, but then again – my next project will probably be a cradle for our first baby due in june, so I guess spray paint is out of the question because of health reasons anyway.

I like your 60/10-rule, I'll probably quote you on that one some day. Kind of a perfectionist myself, but I try to keep it within reason. Hence the bottom side of the wheel plate... ;-)

 

[robulus]

I think painting a cradle for a baby on the way is some kind of modern rite of passage. Every guy with kids I know did it. Get some advice on paint to use, but as far as I know most modern finishes are safe, as long as they have had plenty of time to cure, usually a month or two. Good luck, it's an exciting time.

 

[despawn]

I think painting a cradle for a baby on the way is some kind of modern rite of passage. Every guy with kids I know did it. Get some advice on paint to use, but as far as I know most modern finishes are safe, as long as they have had plenty of time to cure, usually a month or two. Good luck, it's an exciting time.

Wow, I did not know that. At least it's not a rite of passage here in Norway. A couple of my friends have got kids, but none have made their own cradles. But my GF figured I was quite a handy dude, thus leaving me no other choice...

There are some paints here in Norway supposed to be very «baby friendly, and even though it's last minute». I'm not leaving it to the last min though, I'll be asking for the «least hostile» paint in the shop and I'll be doing in a couple of months in advance. At least, that's my goal. We'll see...