tmoneygetpaid

Heya,

Just working on my first rattle can paint job. It's turning out better than I expected, but not as good as I'd hoped.

There are a couple areas where there's a drip or just a little extra thickness to the paint from how it was suspended-- I guess I went too thick in some places. Any tips for smoothing out those areas? At the worst, I could mask and sand the paint all the way off those areas, re-prime, re-paint.

And how long do you wait between paint and clear? The cans say 30 mins, should I trust that?

Thanks!

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

you gotta sand off drips once the coat dries. Wait the amount of time the can says before its sandable then wet sand the drips with something like 1500 grit.

That's why doing a million light coats is preferable to a few heavy coats. Less chance of drips.

charlox5

trust what the cans say, they usually spell out the ideal cure times.

regarding drips (or orange peel), the only solution is to wetsand and possibly repaint if you have to. 1500 grit would be a safe grit to prevent damage from over-eager sanding, but it's going to take a long time. I wouldn't mask it, though (unless you're protecting a two tone part of the paint job). it'll be an obvious paint line. you'll want to blend in the reapplication and sand it smooth.

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

+1 dont mask it. the line will be very obvious as charlox suggests, and difficult to blend in.

Grand Bois

Drips can be cut off with a razor blade before the paint cures.

tmoneygetpaid

Man am I glad I asked. The site I looked at suggested wet sanding with grits from 160-600. I guess if you have a really soft touch that could work?

Lesson learned about thin coats and keeping your distance from the frame. I was being hasty because I got all excited once I saw the paint hitting the frame. Looks great, but the less because there are those drips.

Thanks for all the replies, I'm off to the hardware store (again) to get some more sandpaper.

charlox5

if you are REALLY gentle, you could use a wet 400 to start, and it would be faster. 1500 still might mean you have to respray, but it's easier to be careful with 1500 or even 1000 vs. 400.

zandoval 

Yes the razor blade works - If you spot it when your spraying just dab it with your finger to smooth it out then after its dry do the sanding thing - There is a rule that you have to rattle can spray at least three frames before the Gods will allow you no drips - Buy some extra spray caps so that you can change them out as soon as they get sloppy - Never use paint thats been on the shelve to long - You know all this I am sure...

By the way I recently posted good results with Dupli-Color Ceramic Engine paint - It has held up to road use well even though there is a very limited selection of colors... Good Luck

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

Zandoval I'm probably gonna put a fresh coat of white on the baskets on my Varsity and something tough is the order of the day

illwafer

you can also just leave it

you'll quickly see how adding components will make any small paint blemishes inconsquential. once you start busying up your frame your eyes won't be drawn to the bad spots.

but light sanding works too.
you can also use rubbing compound and really work that area hard. you'll be surprised how much awesomer rubbing/polishing compound makes your paint job look. however, you have to be careful not to overdo it.

Mike Mills

I can't imagine sanding with 1600 grit, it's too fine. Use 400 grit, then move to 600 grit. Then respray the area in a few light, misting coats. The clear over coat comes only when you are satisfied with the base coat.

THEJAPINO

One more important thing. Sand down the drip (high spot) using a sanding block behind the paper. This will help even out the paint. If you use your fingers, you will remove more material where your fingers are behind the paper - high and low spots. Using a flat block will ensure you hit the highest points in the paint defect first. Let the paper do the work and clear the paper often with the water. Using a little soap helps the paper glide on the surface.

frantik

rubbing compound is nice to help bring out the shine

and trust the directions on the can..

Glennfordx4

Not to hijack your thread but since we are talking spray paint, I just had to repair a section of paint on my wife's bike frame where the paint peeled back at the chrome chainstays. I couldn't find a perfect match red for the original color but it is close and I am going to use pinstripe around the repaired area, how long would you let the paint set up before using rubbing compound on it I have to wait 48 hrs before I clear it, is that enough time for compound ? I have never used compound on fresh paint only for clean up and scratch removal on older painted frames.

Glenn

zandoval 

Glenn - With rattle can paint thats a hard question - The question is how hard does the paint have to be before you can use rubbing compound effectively - The basic answer is till the paint no longer smells - As long as that paint aroma is coming off the surface it has not truely hardened - Here in central Texas you can put a newly painted frame in the attic for a few days - Thats like an oven around here sometimes even in winter - In Jersey spray painters add special compounds to their paint to speed up cure time - Maybe you could take the frame over to a car body shop and see if they would let you park it in one of their ovens for a day...

seypat

I am also doing my first rattle can job. Too many surface rust spots to treat. It ended up looking like it had a bad case of acne. So I stripped it and started with Duplicolor rust fix primer. The main problem with this stuff is that it comes out in a stream. Definitely not a fan spray. So very tough to keep from getting a drip here or there. The advise on this thread is very timely for me also.

tmoneygetpaid

Related question: I wet sanded with 1500 grit, and there are some areas that lost a lot of their lustre and look really cloudy (white greyish opaque areas). I was thinking I might use scratch X as a rubbing/ buffing compound to brighten it back up before I put on the clear. Is that a good idea? Or should I do another coat? I'd have to get another can if that's the answer.

I've let the paint dry 48 hours, btw.

Thanks

Spookeay Bird

Dull is ok the clear will shine it up just as long as you cant see any sanding marks in the paint.
A good ref is to wipe it with alcohol and look at it wet. If it looks good wet, it will look OK with the clear on it.

tmoneygetpaid

Excellent. Thanks!

Amesja

The razor blade idea works well if you are very careful.

Wait until it is fully cured.

Go down to 400 or 600 but use a very gentle touch and add a drop or 3 of soap to the water. Don't let the paint wad up and keep rinsing often. Work your way up to 1200 or 1500 if you can find it. Then go to rubbing compound and polishing compound. By the time you wax it you will have a much smother and glossy surface than even a well-sprayed non-orangepeel natural top paint layer.

If you must tape and can't get the hang of feathering go all the way down to a lug and paint the entire section. If you mask at the lug the paint ridge will be impossible to see. Either that or put the mask exactly where you plan on putting a cable clip/stop or other item on the bike like the front derailleur clamp. Sometimes you can paint all the way up to a decal and use that as your mask point but be careful because tape can cause a decal to peel -avoid putting even the high-end blue tape over old decals as it'll peel the color right out of them.