That elusive mirror finish....where to get it?

[Jeff7]

Big problem here painting my case; it's ruined a few coats, and I'm kind of stuck now.
I need recommendations on how to keep dust away from the drying paint. The garage here is no good - everything outside is producing debris or pollen, which seeks out the drying paint and strongly adheres to it.
Guess this is kind of a rant; can't seem to find any good places here to paint without getting a coating of dust in addition to the paint.
Suggestions, comments, additional rants?

 

[Swanny]

Put a sheet of plastic over it?

 

[Crucial]

Close the garage door almost al the way and hose the floor down with the garden hose. Then leave the garage for about 15 minutes and come back and give it another hosing. Then start spraying. This will keep most of the dust out. Just be careful you dont let the fumes build up too much. Don't want any kind of explosion.

Otherwise a spray booth is your only real alternative.

 

[Jeff7]

Well, I've tried setting up a makeshift/crappy clean room with some shower curtain. It's succeeded in filtering out larger pollen, but there's still small pollen getting in; plus any time I go in to put a coat on, I bring in cat hair, hair from my head, and eyelashes. blech
We have a tent which would be ideal, except that there's really nowhere to put it.
I wonder about trying to put together a cheapo little spray booth with plastic and some 2x4's. Maybe I'll figure out some way of doing the painting in the house somewhere.

 

[Crucial]

heh, maybe you should hose yourself down before going in! I painted my cycle in my garage and didnt have that much of a problem with dust or hair. where do you live?

 

[Jeff7]

Eastern Pennsylvania.

 

[Conky]

Yeah, I would say find a room with no activity(cats etc.) in it and no drafts. Apply thin coats and leave the room and let it dry. Repeat as necessary.

Or get some metal polish and give your system a real mirror finish.

 

[RagManX]

Rubbing the panel down with a tack cloth just before painting helped a lot in keeping my paint relatively free of contaminants. Also, a lot of the smaller particles sand right out and don't leave a mark once all is said and done. Another option would be to carry your panel inside after painting to let it dry. If you run hot water in the shower for about 10 minutes before painting, by the time you get the paint on, the bathroom should be almost dust free. It will take the panel longer to dry, but after about an hour, it should be dry enough for you to take it outside to dry it in the sun without it getting dirty.

RagManX

 

[Jeff7]

I, uh, think that the solution has been presented here, and it's the simplest. (kind of feel dumb now)
I've always been opening a door to air out the garage after painting. Perhaps waiting until the paint dries would be a better idea...
(Wonder how long it would've taken me to figure that out on my own. I get pretty stupid sometimes.)

 

[Crucial]

doh! that along with the floor hosing should set you up pretty good. Assuming you are in a garage that can have a wet floor. I found that to be very effective wherever I was painting.

Good luck, and post some picks for us when you're done.