Andy Taylor
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[quote=”Mathias Destiny” post=18013]
How do you go about drying the paint and getting that place up to any kind of temperature? I struggle in my small garage come workshop never mind a space that big. I have lots of problems with orange peel in this colder weather.
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Basically I don’t 😆 I just heat the local areas using either a heat gun or an infra red lamp.It’s been so cold in there this winter that one day my wet flatting bucket froze up! I put my paint products in his office area with a heater on to warm them up to a sprayable condition, but I’ve been having to wear woollen gloves while spraying as my guns get so cold. One day I brought a car in from outside covered in ice and snow. By the time I’d fitted a new front wing (fender), done some filler work on the damaged door and sill (rocker), and primed it all, the roof was still covered in snow :blink:
I did work at a shop once where we didn’t have the funds to buy a booth straight away, so built a temporary one out of studwork and fire proof plasterboard. A big fan at one end to extract the fumes, and a torpedo style propane heater were the only luxuries, and we turned out all kinds of jobs from that, right up to full repaints. Maybe you could find a small unit and construct something like that?
Andy.
I’ve used a variety, and the Vision is certainly worth the extra coin in my opinion.
Not much help mate, but here goes:
I’ve been looking into this myself as I do a lot of evening and weekend work, but can’t use the facilities at my workplace so I’m spraying in a mates workshop. It’s dirty, dusty and everything is covered in oil and grease, so not really ideal for spraying!! For bigger jobs I sheet up the floor which helps keep the dust down, but drying the paint is a different matter, especially water borne basecoat.
I’ve tried to find a booth to rent myself from time to time, but haven’t really had much luck. I’ve managed to do a one-off deal with a friend of a friend for an upcoming full respray, but nothing permanent. Would be great if there was some kind of network around, of people willing to rent out spare booth time, but then I’m sure most places would see it as doing their business out of money, as they could charge more for painting the job themselves.
Sorry I can’t be of much help, but if I can manage under the conditions below, then maybe your garage isn’t so bad! :blink:
[IMG]http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn385/Duluxdude/Work/Corolla/P1000549Large.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn385/Duluxdude/Work/Corolla/P1000548Large.jpg[/IMG]
[quote=”bobwires” post=17948]looking killer, Paint Guy. oh wait, wrong place :compsmash [/quote]
Yes you got me Nelson :clappySomehow my usual internet alias didn’t seem appropriate when I signed up to a forum full of painters :lol1
But yes, it’s a pretty big extraction unit – bigger than the compressors I’ve seen in some shops. The base it sits on is around 3’x3′, and it’s taller than me! You can just about see part of it in the ’empty’ shop picture. At the left hand side next to the mixing room, just in front of the booth fans/pipework, black base with a blue top.
[quote=”Ben” post=17934]All paint guns are set up the same..[/quote]
:huh:
[quote=”Ben” post=17934].that is, adjusted to what suits you. [/quote]
Just messin’ Ben, but if someone were to take that quote out of context, it could get you shot 😆 :hunt
Completely agree with you though – there are so many variables that no-one can ever give another painter exact setting to copy. They can be a good starter, but the real skill in painting (in my humble opinion) is being able to fine tune the gun like you say, to suit oneself, and of course the material and spraying environment.
Wow, thanks for all the great comments guys!
It’s 5:24 AM here and I’m on my way to work very shortly, so I’ll have to answer some of the questions later, but yes Ryan, I’ve finally got myself an Audi S4 after many years of lusting after one. Got it for a steal from work too :exci
The utility drops hanging down are indeed electric power, air, and dust extraction – one of the reasons for it staying so clean. Coupled to an owner that’s fanatical about cleaning. Every week the place gets emptied and swept & scrubbed until it’s like brand new again.
Time to put a few more hours in, and I’ll check back later 🙂
Thanks guys.
Yes Ding, we’re pretty much like you say – a large car retailer with around 600-700 cars on site. I run the bodyshop side, tidying the cars up ready for sale. No insurance or crash work, in fact no external work at all, just making the cars we buy in look mint for the potential customers.
I’m sure I’ve posted up some pictures of the shop on here before, but here’s a couple more:
[IMG]http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn385/Duluxdude/Work/P1000105.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn385/Duluxdude/Work/DSCF0031edit.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn385/Duluxdude/Work/DSCF0033edit.jpg[/IMG]
[quote=”Sprayman_neil” post=17825]
Another uk member here.. speaking of mr2s.. we have 1 in at mo :lol1
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Is that a Zinc Yellow Ka I spy in the same picture?It seems we all have an opinion. Personally I’ll try to keep my filler as thin as possible, but if it needs to be more than 1/8″ thick, then so be it, and I have never had any filler jobs returned to me for cracking.
But then I am also quite happy to put a thin skim of filler over paint, providing it is very sound and sanded well, which I know some of you aren’t. I will go to bare metal for a deep fill, but if the manufacturers of the filler I use quote a repair method on their tech sheets which includes filling straight over paint, then who am I to argue 😉
Oh, and none of their tech sheets specify a maximum thickness either…
Hi there, from another UK member. :welc
I use the Iwata Supernova for clear, and in my opinion it’s worth every penny 😉 But if your budget is tight look at the previous model W400. They are still a cracking gun, and can be found second hand on ebay quite cheaply.
So many questions to answer 😆
Ryan – I don’t mean the foam tape, although we use that too, but this stuff:
We use it for splitting panels up into bite sized chunks:
[IMG]http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn385/Duluxdude/Work/Transition%20Tape/P1010013Medium.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn385/Duluxdude/Work/Transition%20Tape/P1010020Medium.jpg[/IMG]
Might give the purests a heart attack, but needs must in the production shop 🙂
As far as panel painting goes, there are a lot of colours that I paint regularly, and know they match perfectly, but if anything new comes along I’ll blend to be on the safe side. It’s quicker in the long run than doing a spray out first, checking the colour, tinting as required etc. but I’ll do a spray card whilst painting the job so I have one ready if a car the same colour comes in again.
macioce – I’ve been doing the same hours as you this week, 6 – 5. Then most nights I’ve been going over to a buddies place after work to do some stuff for myself.
And cheers Nelson. They certainly ain’t slow guns in my experience 🙂
Nice one.
The DeBeer stuff I use goes on like that – nothing like the right colour until it dries. Tends to give new painters a heart stopping moment or two
[quote=”bondomerchant” post=17742]nice job taping those handles thats how they come off the fastest[/quote]
That’s my motto – if it’s quicker to tape, then it stays in place!
Looks good from here.
That’s the kind of thing I’m doing day in, day out 🙂
I’ve heard good things about Lesonal too, but I’ve never had the pleasure.
Looks very nice in those pictures, possibly even too slick for the finishes I’m trying to match, but I’m sure I could introduce a little peel somehow 😆
Cheers Jason. Someone has mentioned that ez edger to me before, but I’d forgotten about it. Sure I can fold it that way by hand over my knee, but that looks a nice piece of kit.
I’ve really gotten to like the DeBeer system, after changing over from ICI/Nexa/Autocolour. I find it very user friendly, with the best computerised mixing scheme I’ve ever used. Have a look on YouTube for ShopSmart DeBeer, you’ll find all of the product videos.
As for helpers – I wish! 😆
I oversee a team of four, with one guy doing the de-mask and polishing where required, and two guys doing the preparation work (sand, fill, prime etc) We don’t do crash repairs or anything heavy like that, so we very rarely change any panels.
The prep guys go as far as they can, and edge out with masking tape, but from there on in it’s up to me. I pull the car in the booth, sheet it up with plastic film, clean, blow, tack & spray. I’ll generally be mixing the colour for my next job while the base is drying, and mixing my clear while the final light ‘drop’ coat of base is flashing.
I aim to do each job in half an hour. That way as soon as the adjacent bake oven is empty (30 minute cycle) I can slide the job straight across into it, then bring the next car into the booth for masking. Once you get into a rhythm it’s surprising how many cars you can get done.