Poly Sspray question

[Louis]

Hello, folks:

Just had a question about Poly-spray. I sprayed two coats of silver, sanded, then started spraying the third coat. Some of it has come out a little rough, most likely due to my spraying technique. I was wondering if it would be recommended that I sand and spray again in the rough areas before I start on the topcoat. I want the paint to look good, but don’t want to add more weight than I have to with extra coats. Thanks!....Louis

I wrote to Poly-fiber, but I think they thought I was asking if I should sand before the third coat of Poly-spray. I’ll probably write back and clarify the question.

[marklamon]

Louis, You can sand the third coat if it is rough. And then apply you finish to the sanded third coat. If you are a heavy handed sander you could put a fourth coat on and sand that also. But, all that is needed is the three CROSS coats. On the fuse you can shine a high powered flash lite from the outside in. If you can see the light on the inside you need more silver. I put three coats on mine and sanded quite allot and still could not see the light, however I tend to spray it on thick. Hope that helps. Mark

[Nathan K. Hammond]

Louis,
To answer your question: take a Red scotchbrite pad and scuff over everything lightly; the shoot the last coat. The scotch-brite will knock down the trash and polish the surface at the same time. It will help smooth the color coats out and make it shine better. In fact, before you spray the last color coat, scotch-brite it once more.

Now to the problem; is it trash like dust/dirt from the shop or little stick-ups made of paint? If it's the latter, there are a couple fixes. If you use a Turbine HVLP, add an extra link of hose or run several coils through a bucket of ice water. The Turbine will heat up the air and dry the paint before it hits the surface; adding the link or water bucket helps cool the air before it picks up the paint. Second, add a little extra thinner/reducer. The poly products have a tendancy to need just a little extra to help things flow out (and dry slower.) Here in Georgia, even in the winter (30-40'F) I use RR8500 with 4oz. of 8600-Retarder to slow things down and get a smoother/glossier finish.

Good luck.

nkh