jwrass
Rookie
Mechcanical Engineer. 45 yr's Custom Painter- Pinstriping, Lettering, Airbrush, Exotic Finishes,
Posts: 93 
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Post by jwrass on Feb 5, 2017 4:05:30 GMT -5
A Pair Of Painter’s Tips
Want cleaner paint finishes? I first experienced this problem in about 1974 while striping a snowmobile cowl. I had cleaned the cowl with wax and grease remover, put down my grid and loaded the brush to lay some lines. When the brush got about 1” away from the surface, the paint was actually being pulled out of the brush and falling onto the surface in an amazing random pattern, it looked great, however the owner wanted lines not a wild pattern. I would wipe the paint off and attempt to lay some lines again and the same thing would happen. I cleaned the surface again and then out of blue I wiped the surface with a wet towel, I went to lay a line and the pulling of the paint out of the brush stopped.
The problem was static electricity…… When you rub any plastic surface you create a static charge. That charge has an affinity to pull dust towards the body. If you kill that charge the painted surface will be much cleaner. here’s how you kill the charge.
#1) Right before you paint, kill the static charge….. Here’s how: Mix 3 to 1, 3 parts distilled water to one-part isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol). Place this mixture in a dedicated spray bottle, mist the body inside and out with the solution then wipe clean with a micro fiber towel being careful not to over rub the surface.
You have now killed the static charge in the body, eliminating the possibility of the body pulling dust towards the surface. Net result…. A cleaner pant job!
#2) When wet sanding place your water in a container and add a few drops of Ivory liquid dish washing soap (original scent). Ivory has long been the preferred soap in the custom paint world as it is oil free…. Many soaps have perfumes in them that contain oils…. Oil and Paint Equals Fisheyes. An hour before you are going sand place your sandpaper in the water/soap mixture. The dish soap acts as a lubricate making sanding more even with less effort and virtually eliminating paper loading. It also softens the paper making it more easy to handle.
I hope this pair of tips is helpful!
Respectfully Submitted,
Jimmy “RASS”
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Post by alterrenner on Feb 5, 2017 8:21:55 GMT -5
That's interesting!
I once worked at a dealership that had a body shop, and noticed that before they began spraying paint, they would cover the floor of the booth with water. I always assumed they were killing dust by holding it to the floor with the water. Would this have been the same thing, killing a static charge?
--Frank
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jwrass
Rookie
Mechcanical Engineer. 45 yr's Custom Painter- Pinstriping, Lettering, Airbrush, Exotic Finishes,
Posts: 93
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Post by jwrass on Feb 5, 2017 9:26:09 GMT -5
Frank,
With any subject you paint their will always be a certain amount of static charge, it's all around us. With a metal vehicle the substrate is not grounded because of the rubber tires. I have two metal rods in the floor of my booth which are driven 8 feet in the ground, I attach a jumper type cable to the metal chassis and to both of these rods to kill the static on the metal. A common practice is to wrap a chain around the rear end and lay the remainder on the floor to ground the vehicle and that practice works fine. When we built the new booth we had the rods driven in the ground before the concrete was poured.
We throughly wash our booth after each paint session due to the high end of the work we do. Wetting the floor in a traditional production shop would be more a function of damping any over spray from the last job. Wetting the floor is also a function of trapping the over spray that falls to the floor while spraying the vehicle, other wise over spray from each coat would be kicked back in the air and landing in the fresh paint.
Hopefully this answers your question!
Peace Jimmy "RASS"
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Post by indy on Feb 6, 2017 14:32:40 GMT -5
Jimmy, I have been enjoying your most recent posts and they are so very helpful. Thank you for taking the time to write it all out, share, and answer questions.
Jordan
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Post by speedracer on Feb 6, 2017 19:35:05 GMT -5
Me too!
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Post by Gary Davis on Feb 6, 2017 21:10:30 GMT -5
I'm also enjoying the Painting knowledge that you're sharing with us Jimmy. It is really helpful.
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jwrass
Rookie
Mechcanical Engineer. 45 yr's Custom Painter- Pinstriping, Lettering, Airbrush, Exotic Finishes,
Posts: 93
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Post by jwrass on Feb 6, 2017 22:59:45 GMT -5
Jordan, SR, Gary.
Thank you guys for the kind words.... My goal is to give back to the community that I really enjoy... My skills at building are a work in progress......After a 30 year plus Hiatus from model building I got to thinking what can I share of value to fellow builders..... It was pretty simple, my skills as a 1:1 Custom Painter. I see so many horror stories of paint gone bad and it doesn't have to be that way! If more people were to use 1:1 processes and procedures on their builds there would be a lot less heartburn. The problem with that is the majority of builders have not been exposed to the PPs of the 1:1 world. It a nut shell that's what I have to offer to give back to the community!
I plan on posting some more T&Ts and some tutorials in the future, I'd like to do one a week which I hope will be helpful.............I think I have some interesting subject matter. Stay tuned!
Much Respect!
Jimmy "RASS"
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Post by racerbrown on Feb 7, 2017 8:24:36 GMT -5
it's definitely appreciated sir!  please keep 'em coming . duane |
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Post by indy on Feb 7, 2017 9:50:17 GMT -5
Looking forward to it! Sounds great!
Jordan
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Post by Gary Davis on Feb 8, 2017 15:50:22 GMT -5
Oh Yea! If you start showing PAINTING Tips and Techniques weekly...Maybe Jordan can Pin it for us. That sure would be a cool thing. Thanks again Jim for your unselfish kindness. I wholeheartedly agree with you on the 1/1 technique in scale building. That's the approach I use when I paint.
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