When your talking about "Urethane Wave", I assume you mean a product build up on flat panels, causing it to look as though there is a wave in the panel? I've heard of product wave but never a specific product like Urethane Wave.

Ray

 

urethane wave is not a product..It is the result of over application of clear material..Solving that is a result of sanding the panel flat as an additional blocking step and then shooting the clear in a very even manner. Maybe this is about as clear as mud but I hope it helps to nudge your thinking cap..

Sam

 

I know that "Urethane Wave", isn't a product, I just have never heard of a wave in material being product specific...like Urethane. It's possible to get this material wave in Acrylic Enamel as well, that's why where I come from, we call it product wave, not certain material specific.

Then it is what I thought it was...I guess we just call it something different up here in Canada. Your 100% right, this is caused by putting to much product on and usually happens when your trying to achieve super flow or cover up dirt with your top coat.

How do you stop this from happening, don't put so much material on. Sure you can try and cover dirt, or get that killer flow...often to repair "Product Wave" takes longer than to repair a dirt nib or to color sand and polish a surface.

"Onemoretime" is right, now you need to block the panel (and with product wave, there may be a lot time spent blocking) and re-clear the panel. You could try cutting the wave out with a block and polishing, it would just depend on how big of a wave you have versus time and material.

Ray

 

Sounds like you got a nerve hit Ray, like when I hear someone call urethane primer "2K" OMG EVERY product with a hardener is a "2K"! Or how about "Fitment" of a panel, Fitment is a friggin NOUN not a Verb or adjectives or however they use it.

fitment [ˈfɪtmənt]
n
1. (Engineering / Mechanical Engineering) Machinery an accessory attached to an assembly of parts
2. (Fine Arts & Visual Arts / Furniture) Chiefly Brit a detachable part of the furnishings of a room

Ok, now, atomize your clear better, don't pile it on, use a faster gun movement, you will have less "product wave".

Though honestly Ray, I have never heard it called anything but "Urethane wave" largely because we really didn't have a big problem with it until the high solids urethanes came along. It existed, but now, it is a sure thing if you are applying more than the tech sheet says (usually two coats).

Brian

 

LOL, Not a nerve hit at all, I've just never heard it being called a Urethane Wave before, Product Wave yes...maybe it's that Cultural barrier between Canada and the US...LOL.

Brian...I haven't experienced it personally but, I have seen an Acrylic Enamel Tsunami...LOL.

Ray

 

I've seen this type of problem many times over the years, and i'm wondering if it isn't more now that virtually every clear today is Urethane that the name "Urethane Wave" was coined. The Acrylic Enamel wave I saw had to be the worst I've ever seen...and yes, the painter did finally admit that he was trying to cover dirt on the middle of the hood. It was a course metallic metallic and I have never seen a metallic actually turn Gray the way this one did on the wave. What a mess, the hood needed to be stripped...it was that bad.

Talk about "hanging 10"...LOL

Ray

 

we were dealing with urethane wave with the 55 Chevy and I just hard blocked it with 1500 before moving to a soft block. It's a lot better if you hard block it then re-clear.

 

Just reread your post, and to more thoroughly answer your question...Product or Urethane waves are more common in products that are high in solids or a product that has more mil thickness when applied will have a greater chance of getting the wave effect...less viscous products like lacquer paints and primers don't have this type of problem to the same degree.

The way to not get the wave effect is constant no matter what type of product you use, apply the product with medium wet coats, not heavy coats. The adage, "put it on the way you want it to look" applies, the look most wanted is smooth even flat finish and that can never be achieved if any product is loaded on.

As far as a product that painters have had the best luck with, that will be as different as there are painters. Much depends on how the painter paints, all high quality clears and paints work, it's how they are applied that makes the difference.

Ray

 

several things on the dreaded thanewave.
cheap gun that does not atomize well so you end up flooding it .
higher solids which makes it worse .
mostly urethane needs to be shot for effect. meaning it does not flow out like enamels and other slow , low solid paints.
you are putting so much on in the pass you are actually pushing a wave along .
i fought this for years before giving up my jga gun . in the old days we would just hose it and pray. it would lay out slick or be in the floor. a good gun is all important now days.

 

Yep, a good gun is good money spent!

Brian

 

unfortunately brian when we try to explain the advantages of a quality gun we get drowned out by the hf purple gun and cheap paint gurus . they are also the ones you see on other sites asking about solvent pop and die back. that is the major problem with the internet .

 

Shine, I bought a Black and Decker weed whacker a year or so ago, it was such a piece of crap I literally just avoided using it so my lawn was growing out of control. I finally gave up and went to the hardware store where I bought it and told the guy I needed to upgrade to a professional tool, I am worth it, I may be cheap, but damn it, my body is worth it, I only get one of them. :mwink:

Being it's a REAL hardware store the guy told me to bring this B&D back and they would refund my money back towards a REAL tool. I got a Stihl, it was about $200 and it was the best money I could have spent on my lawn. I just used it last night and I am still so damn happy with it, it KICKS BUTT.

Quality tools are never a waste of money, you can always sell them for a fair amount, often more than you paid if you keep it a few years. Where the HF gun is WORTHLESS the day you bring it home. Don't get me wrong, I have a cheapie gun for my poly primer, they have their place, but NOT for paint and clear! I even use a quality gun for urethane and epoxy primers though, they last longer, they atomize better so you don't get any shrinkage, you are so right, they are simply worth the money.

Brian

 

only thing worth carrying out the front door at hf is the cash register .

 

And the pretty cashier running the cash register...although, if she comes along willingly, chances are she's pretty cheap too...LOL

Ray

 

"hose it and pray. it would lay out slick or be in the floor"

Story of my life

Kelly