posted
Several weeks ago I sprayed some sample pieces with Ronan Silver Aqua Leaf with excellent results. Must have been beginners luck because now that I'm spraying some prismatic dimensional letters that matter, I'm not having so much luck.
Perhaps it's all the facets of the letters that are causing the problems with air flow patterns. In any event I can't figure out what I'm doing differently from that first effort.
I'm using a mini HVLP top load sprayer and have tried a few different setting but I can't seem to get as smooth a coat as that first time. I end up getting varying degrees of a sandpaper looking finish. Heavier coats only have a heavier texture.
These are ExTira letters primed with oil-based primer and sanded perfectly smooth with 320 sandpaper.
I even tried adding Floetrol in one experiment. I did not try thinning with water yet but I may do that next. I have also tried varying pressures and distance from sprayed letter. Still haven't found the right combination.
Anyone experienced with spraying Aqua Leaf have any tips or tried and true method they can share?
-------------------- Happy Signing...... Marty
M.F. (Marty) Happy Signmaker Since 1974 Happy Ad Sign & Design Regina SK, Canada S4N 5K4 306-789-9567 happyad@sasktel.net www.happyad.ca
Get Happy & Get Noticed! Posts: 773 | From: Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada | Registered: Jan 1999
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Sounds like your getting Orange peel. Try reducing your paint to the consistency of milk so it will flow out once it is laid down. And check you Temperature. I will have some issues if I try to spray when it's to warm.
Just some Ideas.. I have never worked with the Aqua Leaf so I don't know its properties. Some water base/Latex type paints seem to flow better when reduced with alcohol than with water.
Dan... sanding is not the issue. I'm not getting any scratch marks using 320 sandpaper. It's just that I'm getting a rough/flat rather than slick/shiny finish. I was told not to thin with water because it would "pool".
Bill... Aqua Leaf seems to be different in consistency than anything else I've ever sprayed. It's quite thin and almost 'milk-like' right out of the can. Might try alcohol just to see.
Anyone out there actually sprayed Aqua Leaf successfully and can offer ideas?
-------------------- Happy Signing...... Marty
M.F. (Marty) Happy Signmaker Since 1974 Happy Ad Sign & Design Regina SK, Canada S4N 5K4 306-789-9567 happyad@sasktel.net www.happyad.ca
Get Happy & Get Noticed! Posts: 773 | From: Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada | Registered: Jan 1999
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I haven't used the Silver, but I've used a lot of the AquaCote colors.
I use a product by XIM called "Latex Extender" (sky blue color). My wife bought it and she "thinks" she got it at Sherwin-Williams (probably did). I have also had success with a similar product from Duron (purple).
Each is a water-consistency thinner that extends the dry time for spray AND brush coats. Unlike Floetrol, it does not add anything else to the paint. It is not milky like Floetrol.
Silver is always a pain to spray because of trying to keep the flakes in suspension. The thinner may make it work well.
-------------------- Gene Golden Gettysburg Signs Gettysburg PA 17325 717-334-0200 genegolden@gettysburgsigns.com
"Art is knowing when to stop." Posts: 1578 | From: Gettysburg, PA | Registered: Jun 2003
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By the way Marty, you may be holding the spray gun TOO far away. The AquaCote dries very quickly and it may be small particles hitting the air, slightly dry from the heated air of the HVLP already blowing it out. Try to vary your distance.
Another thing PROBABLY happening is that as you spray one side of the prismatic letter, the airflow is carrying the smaller particles and laying them on the "other side of the hill"... dry already. Instead of laying the letters on a table or solid surface, lay them onto a screen so the overshoot goes through, instead of circulating around. Any particles bouncing around will be dry, and will land back on the surface. You may need to spray the letters more "head-on", instead of spraying one flat side of the bevel, and then the other. Try to raise the letters on an angle, like 45 degrees or more, so you are not forced to spray downward at an uncomfortable 90 degrees. Keep moving quickly.
-------------------- Gene Golden Gettysburg Signs Gettysburg PA 17325 717-334-0200 genegolden@gettysburgsigns.com
"Art is knowing when to stop." Posts: 1578 | From: Gettysburg, PA | Registered: Jun 2003
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