I need lacquer spray paint knowledge

[erwin1978]

So I'm looking into painting my bike using spray paint. I have a choice of either lacquer or enamel type. I hear lacquer is better, but there's not much color available. Does lacquer have particular properties that prevents manufacturers from providing more varied colors? I checked out Krylon, Duplicolor, Plastikote, Rustoleum and their lacquer lines of spray paint only cover the grey shades.

 

[Eli]

Bad idea, unless you want your bike to look like ass.

You'll have to strip it, primer it, and then paint it for it to look half way decent with spraypaint.. and even then, the spraypaint won't be durable compared to the powder coat that's already on it.

 

[erwin1978]

How do you know it was powder coat on my bike?

I've already stripped the frame.

 

[alkemyst]

on a bike powder coating would be your best bet (look in the yellow pages) and not too expensive.

Lacquer is fast drying but can crack and chip easier than enamel...it gives a nicer finish in my opinion most of the time.

Enamel is longer lasting, but the finish is not as nice as a good lacquer job, it's splitting hairs really though. However, even fast-drying enamels take some time to dry and until the paint is dry flaws can happen (dust, runs, smudges, etc).

 

[Ornery]

This is coming out of a spray can? I think that will just override the one advantage that lacquer has over enamel, which is less orange peel. Screw it, use enamel if you aren't using the best quality equipment.

I'm no expert on paint at all, but this is what I've heard. I've also heard enamel can be made to look almost as good as lacquer. I'm not one who knows how to accomplish that, though.

 

[Tom]

As far as colors, you can get as many and probably more colors in lacquer. Try an automotive supply store or a body shop supply store.

 

[erwin1978]

I decided to go with plastikote. The primer is drying now. How long does it take to dry? Stupid cans don't say anything about cure-time.

Are primers supposed to be rock-hard once they are dry? What's the difference between a sandable primer and the non-sandable? I know the obvious answer but even paint I can sand so why not the primer.

What's the difference between acrylic and enamel? I got a clear coat and it says it's acrylic. Is that good or should I go with enamel if it's better?

 

[alkemyst]

You need to use the primer and clear designed for the paint you are using.

Usually a sandable primer is 'thicker' both can be sanded.

Most of the time a primer needs about 30 mins to topcoat. The paint itself is really picky about recoats, sometimes there is a window of 15mins - 1 hour then you have to wait 24 hours to recoat with you miss the window. It does make a difference.

 

[erwin1978]

I applied the topcoat but it's kind of bumpy. Will the bumpiness go away once I apply the clear coat or can I sand the topcoat without ruining it? Or should I apply the topcoat and then sand that?

 

[notfred]

You want to sand the paint after each coat. Sand the primer with 220 grit paper. When you have a SMOOTH and well covered bike frame, then you move on to color. After each color coat, sand with 400 grit paper. After the last color coat, when the paint is smooth and covers well, go over it with 600 grit paper. Then do the clear. After each clearcoat, sand with 600 grit paper, until the last coast, which you should sand with 2000 grit paper, then polish.

BTW, all this sanding is wet sanding.

If you're using enamel paint you should wait a few days before sanding to allow the paint to cure fully. Automotive primers can be sanded after jsut a few minutes, and laquer paints can be sanded usually in half an hour.

 

[erwin1978]

Are you an automotive painter? Is that how pros do it. On those car shows on tv, they show car painting but you never see them sanding between layers.

Is it possible for spray paint to get hard enough that they don't get scratched easily? I did a test sample on a piece of metal and I can easily scuff the 2 day old paint with my fingernail.

 

[alkemyst]

The durability of the paint will determine scuff/scratch resistance.

Sanding between coats is almost always done in top of the line paint jobs. TV shows would not have time usually to show all these details, but I am sure they mention wet sanding.

 

[erwin1978]

What about in the mass production of cars? I doubt they do sanding between coats as that will take too long.

 

[alkemyst]

hmmm you need to do some research on your own...I am unsubing from this thread.

A mass produced paint job has tons of flaws that a custom show paint job would not. In production there is no wetsanding at all and the paint technology is different.

 

[erwin1978]

I want it quick. I have all these new parts and I can't ride because the painting isn't done. The 3 piece crank I got is so beautiful. I can't wait to beat the shite out of it.

My bike is gonna be white with, possibly red logo. I can't decide what font to use for my logo and whether to add drop-shadows or just outline the graphics.

 

[notfred]

Originally posted by: erwin1978
I want it quick. I have all these new parts and I can't ride because the painting isn't done. The 3 piece crank I got is so beautiful. I can't wait to beat the shite out of it.

My bike is gonna be white with, possibly red logo. I can't decide what font to use for my logo and whether to add drop-shadows or just outline the graphics.

How the hell are you going to paint a drop shadow when you don't even know how to paint a solid color?

Anyway, if you want it done quick, get a can of black primer, spray the thing, wait ten minutes and assemble it. Of course, then you get a flat black bike.

If you want it to look good it takes a lot of work.

 

[erwin1978]

I got a lot of practice with drop shadows using photoshop.

 

[notfred]

clicking the drop shadow button is a tad bit different than airbrushing one onto your bike.

 

[erwin1978]

I don't have an airbrush and will be using black spray paint. After I make my stencil, I figured I would have to have the stencil floating on top of the surface and spray in order to create the soft edges.

 

[erwin1978]

I did a test drop shadow today and it turned out pretty well. The shadow edges wasn't as soft as I would like them to be. I'll just have to move the stencil further away from the surface I guess.

My bike is gonna be awesome!