Scratched gel coat, wanting to clear coat over it. *Photos inside*

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Scratched gel coat, wanting to clear coat over it. Photos inside

Author	Message
carbon man	carbon man posted 9 Years Ago HOT Topic Details
Group: Awaiting Activation Posts: 86, Visits: 1.2K	Hi, I make some carbon fibre parts using clear polyester gel coat . Fresh out of the mould and there are some swirl scratch marks which i then use a machine polisher clamped to a bench and in some cases having to 1200grit some worse marks out. To then get a great finish takes agggges! polishing with a hard compound pad and then a soft one. ( The carbon photo is fresh from the mould) I really want to look into spraying a clear coat over the gel coat in order to get a perfect finish and save alot of time. How ever im a complete newb when it comes to spraying. What gun? what compressor? what lacquer? technique? Can i achieve a perfect finish on the clear coat from spraying alone or will this then involve more sanding and polishing? I tried a rattle can lacquer (Just playing around, i know these are not good) and ended up with lots of dust or pin hole size bubbles. Also i spoke to the man in the paint store who told me this wont work because the sanding marks will be seen through the new lacquer which im not sure is true. Look forward to your response. Thanks
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Hanaldo	Hanaldo posted 9 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 2.5K, Visits: 28K	If you're new to spray painting, this certainly won't save you any time. It takes quite some practice to get a perfect finish off the gun. My advice would be that 1200 grit is actually quite harsh, and does take a bit of polishing to remove. I suggest using 2000 grit to remove the imperfections, then 3000 grit to remove the 2000 grit scratches. From here it should polish up quite quickly and come up perfect, provided you aren't using a contaminated polishing pad.
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davro	davro posted 9 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 300, Visits: 2.2K	Hanaldo is quite correct about getting a perfect finish from the gun. I have been spraying for about 20 years on "personal projects" in a less than perfect setup and I can get a very good finish "from the gun" but this means putting down about 6/8 layers. Working up from a 1000/1200 towards a 3000 then hitting it with a final "perfect" layer, then compounding back with FARECLA G3 compound followed by FARECLA G10 finishing compound then polishing!! It takes time and practice to get to know your materials and equipment, also building an environment that is safe and can remove lots of over spray quickly to avoid it settling on the work piece, if you are messing with 2K spray paint get the best face mask you can afford. (if it was easy everyone and their dog would be doing it) but if you can master this process you will really have the patience for just about anything Pin holes are your enemy! and dusty finishes are indicative of a spraying environment that is not removing the over spray from the room quick enough. This is the gun and 2k clear coat I use, it's not the very best on the market but it's very reasonable (£60) for an HVLP (High Volume Low Pressure) gun also the slg-610 will run off a small compressor BTW perfection is an aspiration a hope or ambition of achieving something but in reality we never quite reach it David Stevens YouTube: Comment \| Rate \| Subscribe Instagram Composite Projects Body Package for Dax Rush RC Car Touring Body 1/10 Scale Edited 9 Years Ago by davro
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carbon man	carbon man posted 9 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Awaiting Activation Posts: 86, Visits: 1.2K	Hi thanks for the replies. For now I think I will struggle on with how I'm going. I didn't realise spraying was so complex.
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