Clearcoating tips

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jack smith

Veteran
Location
Durham
Can someone advise me the best way to do this from a can, the undercoat will have been left to dry for about a week by the time i come to do it so that will be fine.
i want to do it properly, it is halfords matte laquer, as the finish looks excellent on what used to be shiny seatpost, bars and stem. However it seems to scratch off quite easily with my nail, am i doing something wrong here? I lightly sanded the parts before applying but looking online it says not to sand the colour coat.
 
You dont sand it as such, you are using very fine wet and dry to smooth out the surface of the paint, get rid of any runs, blemishes or orange peel that may be in it.
Put the can of lacquer in some warm water before you use it, Apply lots of thin coats and allow a long time for it to harden. Lacquer is normally a bit thinner than paint and runs easily, so thin coats and often. Polish out any overspray when it has had a chance to dry.
 
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jack smith

jack smith

Veteran
Location
Durham
How long should i let it harden between coats? And what is orange peel? I picked up some really fine wet and dry yesterday :smile:
 

Gravity Aided

Legendary Member
Location
Land of Lincoln
Orange peel is the tendency of paint, when it dries under less than optimum conditions , to have a bumpy and irregular surface, much like that of an orange peel. Length of time to harden varies by atmospheric conditions, method of application, and paint mix
 
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jack smith

jack smith

Veteran
Location
Durham
Would that be like the rest of the frame is smooth however on the rear triangle the paint is rough like large grit sandpaper? Ive no idea why thats happened, looks okay though
 

Gravity Aided

Legendary Member
Location
Land of Lincoln
Try going over it with the wet and dry, and see if it won't come out. Very lightly, so the particles don't bring off sections of paint with them. Those are holidays you don't want to celebrate.
 
Orange peel normally happens if too much paint has been applied in one coat, it looks like the skin of an orange or cellulite!
If you have a rough sand paper texture in one area it sounds like you have had a reaction to something on the frame. Did you flatten the surface down and apply primer or just paint over the existing surface? Have you used panel wipes to clean the surface?
 
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jack smith

jack smith

Veteran
Location
Durham
I had already painted it another lighter colour first but didn'tike it so lightly sanded and re applied the darker, the rest of the frame is silky smooth bar the rear triangle
 
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jack smith

jack smith

Veteran
Location
Durham
Looks good though just rough to touch
 

screenman

Legendary Member
A picture would help, what grade is your fine paper, I go down to 3000 here and even finer at times.

Roughness is normally applying to dry, not easy to get a wet coat in between the rear triangle, but not impossible.

Single pack lacquer is no where near as hard as twin pack, which a proffesionals would use.
 
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jack smith

jack smith

Veteran
Location
Durham
I think I may have applied too much in one area then, the stays were a hard area to reach the way the frame was hung and they are really thin so that's probably why, it's only the seat stays and the tops of the chainstays
 
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jack smith

jack smith

Veteran
Location
Durham
I did but there's still some left in the can, not much but I could probably get a light coat, I thought id keep some incase I ever need to touch it up, I tested abit of clear on the too of the seat stays a few days ago and I've just checked and I can't scratch it with my nail at all so hopefully it will all work fine!
 
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