With the summer coming so quickly I have moved all my paints closer to the concrete floor in the shop. Heat does funny things to paints and the containers that hold them.
Its up around 86 today here in southern Oregon and since most of my service is mobile I never leave my paint kit in any of my vehicles even overnight, this way I could also go through all my tools before going to work.
I always believed that paint should be kept in a cool dry place. What is it that you do in order to gear up for the coming hot weather concerning your everyday tools ?
------------------ HotLines Joey Madden,45 years in the Classic Art of Pinstriping.
------------------ Roger Bailey Rapid Tac Incorporated Waikoloa, Hawaii
Posted by Donna in BC (Member # 130) on :
Decals stay inside a building at all times, never in the vehicle. Same goes for cold weather. Extreme heat and extreme cold do weird things to decal kits. Same applies to vinyl striping in packages.
Switching from stabilos to removable projector type felt pens. I now use them year around, they're the best thing on earth! Thanks for the idea Monte Jumper!
Try to book as much work outside as possible! We rarely get sun, so it's a big fat treat over here. (working under shade is best naturally)
I will say this. I find it nearly impossible to stay inside on a nice day. (I'm a sun freak, and have massive windows in my new shop to prove it; contractor thought I was a little weird) My next toy will be a lap top so I can do some designing etc. outdoors under a nice big old shady tree. How cool would that be?!?
I do alot of screenprinting too so I have 4 freezers with no compressors as paint lockers. They are cheap (free, because they cost money to discard) hold a TON of paint and they make the fire department happy.
When finished with paints,I usally "splatter" them on some overalls. Hope this helps
------------------ PKing is Pat King of King Sign Design in McCalla,Alabama The Professor of SIGNOLOGY
Posted by old paint (Member # 549) on :
i got a 3/4" plywood box i built that stays in the step van with all of my paints and reducers in it....the wood is a good insulator against the heat.....
------------------ joe pribish-A SIGN MINT 2811 longleaf Dr. pensacola, fl 32526 850-944-5060 BEWARE THE TRUTH.....YOU MAY NOT LIKE WHAT YOU FIND
Posted by Stephen Deveau (Member # 1305) on :
Hey Jim I like that idea as well! old fridges or freezer.... Good one as a cheap storage area and safe as well. Thanks
------------------ Raven/2001 Airbrushed by Raven Lower Sackville N.S. deveausdiscovery@sprint.ca
Posted by Steve Barba (Member # 431) on :
My shop is unheated, most of the time. I also use a large freezer to store paint. Works great.
------------------ Steve Barba is the proud owner, president, & sole employee of Sturgis Sign Works. "B0LT" on the chat room thing. 209 Oak Drive Sturgis SD 57785 sbarba2616@dtgnet.com 605-720-7667
Posted by Bob Rochon (Member # 30) on :
I guess I'm cheating, having my shop in the basement, I'm always surrounded by cool concrete.
And every night my sign kit and my paints go back in the paint cabinet.
------------------ Bob Rochon Creative Signworks Millbury, MA bob@creativesignworks.com
"Some people's kids"
Posted by George Perkins (Member # 156) on :
I'm just the opposite, my stuff stays in the truck all the time cept at refill time. I've never had any problems with the heat with the exception of the 6000 thinner. The ez pours aren't a problem either. Course in winter the paint does get a little thicker. Besides being lazy there is a reason I don't bring the paint inside. I work almost strickly mobile and most of the time that work is done outside. A number of years ago I did the cars for the local BMW dealer. At that time I had a shop and would load my kit up whenever I headed out to the dealer. I was running into some adhesion problems the first winter. I managed to talk to a paint chemist with Chromatic at the time who also spent some time at Dupont. After numerous calls he figured the adhesion problem was due to the different contraction/expansion rates between the paint and the car. The paint was cooling off the car brought inside was warming up then put back outside to cool off and the paint was trying to dry on a moving surface. He suggested keeping the paint at the same temp as what I was painting on. It souded kinda rediculous at first but the adhesion problems soon dissappeared. I've used the same system ever since. Now if I know I am going to a heated/cooled garage, I bring my kit inside the night before.
P.S., thanks Bruce wherever you are, for all your help.
------------------ George Perkins Millington,TN. goatwell@ionictech.com
"I started out with nothing and still have most of it left"
When I had my shop.....I used a couple of old airline drink push carts. The fire dept. loved those too, as they were metal....you could roll them around..and store all your paint in them.
