[ISAAC-RAY]

is there a way to test to see if your paint is thin enough to shoot. thanx

[adtkart]

In a short answer to your question, Yes. There is a thing that you can use to check that. Right now I can't remember what it is called, as I have seen people use them, but I have never used one. I am sure that someone on this board will have the answer for you.

BTW Welcome to the site. There is alot o f information available here from some very intelligent people.

[jcclark]

It's called a viscosity cup, there are a few different ones.
The most common one that people use is called a "Ford #4" cup
(I can't remember the number for sure but it's a Ford something)
It's a small cylinder cup with a small hole in the bottom, you
fill it with paint and time how many seconds it takes to empty.
Most thin to a number of seconds like 20 or 25.
There's different opinions on that viscosity setting but some mfg's
have specs that tell what you should use.
The advantage of a cup is you can keep different products the
same viscosity by thinning to it, therefore your gun settings and
behavior will stay pretty much the same.
But of course this is just one of the so many variables.

[shine]

an old trick is to count . in a mixed quart i lift the stir stick and count until it starts dripping. 12 to 14 is where i like to shoot. although most of todays paints are pretty simple on the mix. not like thinning lacquer. the ford cup works well but is just one more thing to keep clean.

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by ISAAC-RAY

is there a way to test to see if your paint is thin enough to shoot. thanx

Yes, there sure is, use the mixing ratio on the tech sheets. If it says mix it 2:1, then mix it 2:1 and it will be right.

Brian

[milo]

Some directions (PPG DBU for example) will say 1 part to 1 or 11/2 parts.This is because different temps will affect how paint flows through the gun. On a cold morning more thinner/reducer will be needed than a hot afternoon.



I took a picture of how to check paint viscosity before it goes in the gun. Touch your stir stick to a nearby vertical surface so some material starts to rundown it. If you watch the speed paint drips down the side a test panel or in this case a paint can, you'll get a reference "benchmark" to know if it needs more or less thinner/reducer. The drip under the paint stick in this picture is just right! The short one needs more thinner/reducer and the long "too fast" one needs more paint...

Give this some chances. It may not fix it the first time but after a few times you''ll get a sence for a mix style that you can duplicate...

Then this can be used to check primers, base colors, and even clears so you can spray everything with the same tip on the same gun .

Could almost be a tip of the day
hope to have helped,

[BondoKing]

I use Milo's method on the inside of my mixing cups... Been doing it long enough I can judge with just a couple of inches how thin it is or isnt.... unless I am painting one of my own vehicles, then all bets are off... No matter what I would do it would be a mistake in that case... but for a customer it works great everytime... I picked that one up from Milo myself a while back

Matthew

[Jeff L88]

Brian, I couldn' t agree with you anymore! The days of the glug-glug method are long over, follow the paint manufacturers ratios and you won't go wrong!!

[adtkart]

I have always been one of those that doesn't read directions when doing things, except when mixing paint. With the cost of the stuff, and work involved in doing it over, I follow THEM. Use the mixing cups with the ratios on the side, and mix to the proper ratio.

At work we use SW paints. One of the guys recently mixed some primer in a cup, instead of using the mixing scale like we are supposed to. It took forever to dry for sanding. They even tried baking it in the booth 2 times, and finally had to let it sit over the weekend. No one is really sure what he did wrong, but it is the only time we had problems with the stuff drying. Not really crazy about that stuff, but it does dry, normally.

[jcclark]

Viscosities are very different from mfg to mfg., especially clears.
Mix to what the mfg suggests and you won't go wrong.
I have one brand of clear that is really thick and another that's like water.
If you reduce the thick one to be like base coat or the other clear
viscosity then it would be way over reduced, you can't reduce them
all to the same viscosity. They're different, that's why there are different
tip sizes for your gun. Follow the mfg.

[BarryK]

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

Yes, there sure is, use the mixing ratio on the tech sheets. If it says mix it 2:1, then mix it 2:1 and it will be right.

Brian

AMEN!
Nothing else needs to be said.

[MARTINSR]

And people wonder why they have shrinkage, then they blame the manufacturer, "XXX makes crap clear, is died back the next day". When they didn't follow the manufacturers recommendations. I'm sorry, the manufacturer spent hundreds of thousands of dollars, possibly millions I don't know, to make the best product they can. They sprayed out God only knows how many gallons of the stuff in development, for ONE purpose, to develop the possible product and the best possible use of the product.

If they found that standing on your head and having a Beastie boys tune playing in the background produced a better result, THAT would be in the tech sheets. Why on earth would you want to not believe them? That is what you are saying when you "shoot from the hip". You are saying, you guys in the lab at XXX don't know as much as me", Yep " You guys with the masters degree in chemistry don't know as much as me because I have been painting for ____ (fill in the blank) years and I know more". That is what you are saying.

I forget the guys name who said it, I believe Christipher Price?

"Some problems are so complex you have to be highly intelligent and well informed just to be undecided on them"

Brian

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

I forget the guys name who said it, I believe Christipher Price?

"Some problems are so complex you have to be highly intelligent and well informed just to be undecided on them"

Brian

It was Laurence Peter.

But I have a "mechanics version"

"Sometimes you need to get smart just to find out how dumb you are"

My brother Russ Martin

Now, that is a JOKE, well sort of, it is very profound. I am not a chemist, I did not develop the product, so I am going to follow the manufacturers recommendations. I do, I have for as long as I can remember and I have few problems because of it.

Sure you can have some "field modification" where a little more solvent is added, but you have to know where you are at the start! If you are shooting from the hip you have no idea what you have done. That dribble test has a hole as big as the Grand Canyon for error.

Mix it in a mixing cup to the tee, you KNOW it is going to work. If you want to "adjust" a bit (knowing you will allow extra flash time) with a little more solvent, go for it. You KNOW what you are doing.

Brian