How did you teach yourself to paint?

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Jumping in for a second to say thanks to all of you for the information, suggestions and personal experiences. Once again FABO sets above the rest. Lots of great information in here, some I've heard before, some is new, all is valuable.

Keep it coming.

:thumbsup:
 
Can anybody add anything about those inflatable portable paint booths? Do they keep the dust out, help or hurt, or ?? Looking to add additional content for the DIY painters out there (me included!).
 
Inertia said:
Just a personal thing. - first paint goes on/under the wheel arches, exposed door/trunk edges, valance, rear valance, - anywhere that you may not spray effectively in the main applications, - then lay on the main coats.

I had a few experiences with "thin" paint on edges, my own driver door that I notice everytime I go to open the door, and see that "transparent" edge of the door.
Jmo
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Me too. I now turn the booth lights off (if I had a booth) and look with a flash light or a sun gun in the otherwise dark spraying area. I can't believe how much basecoat coverage issues I find by doing it that way.
 
I like this guy. His videos are aimed at the diy painter.

www.youtube.com

Garage Noise

Welcome to Garage Noise! This channel is dedicated to helping you with your repair or restoration project with step by step detailed how to videos on everything related to auto paint and body repair, including reviews on products, paint guns and tools that make your repair easy. Join the...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com


This guy is pretty good too. Uses a lot of rustoleum paints shot from a gun. Would be really affordable for practice.

www.youtube.com

GT's Performance

Welcome to GT’s Performance – DIY Automotive Painting I teach you the tips, tricks, and techniques to paint like a pro on a budget. From mixing custom pearls to mastering at-home spraying, I provide the step-by-step tutorials [and the product links] to help you finish your project without...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com


I like this one too.

www.youtube.com

SprayWayCustoms

Let's learn together the SprayWay !!!!
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
 

The issue with "affordable" paints is what is the UV protection it has and how much solids are in the single stage or base paint. But is a guy has a climate controlled full garage never drives it.. I guess it does not matter.
I have always been told to use the best clear I can afford but I shoot single stage anyway and never the top tier of any paint co. offer.

Lot of good info on the YouTube stuff and some that is nuts.
Ask 100 painters how and get 90 different answers.

Body work is so darn hard and the reward is laying down the paint! (if it turns out to suit ya!)
 
The other thing I discovered was clear coat.
I asked my paint dude why my 2002 Dakota RT- Radiant Blue paint could be covered in crap, not washed for weeks, but still glisten/shine .

He said it was the difference between $100 clearcoat and $500 clear coat.

It's true, I spent the big bucks, and not disappointed.
 
Dartnut said:
He mixed the paint and reducers and the hardener like a mad scientist!
A little bit of this and that = close enough!
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Ha!
Dartnut said:
Then when he was spraying, he moved his wrist back and forth and sort of fogged it on (Dupont acrylic enamel single stage).
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Haha!
Dartnut said:
Then he replied that the instructions were a guideline only for amateurs and that experienced painters like him knew the real way to get the proper results is by changing mixtures and techniques a little here and there.
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Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!
Unbelievable.....
 
Better personal protection is required with today's product. A full face respirator or fresh air breathing system should be utilized as well as ventilation, a head sock, nitrile gloves and a paint suit. The toxic chemicals from the paint are absorbed thru the skin and eyes. When sanding primers etc a welding respirator should be the minimum as well as safety glasses, long sleeves, pants and gloves. Every time you stop work the shower should be the next stop. Even wearing a paint suit and proper protection the chemicals do seep thru. Yes i am an old school trained painter.

If your compressor is in the shop and using shop air to fill the compressor the tank air will become contaminated with solvent and causes paint problems and contaminates the environment when used. Moving the air intake outside of the room reduces the noise level of the compressor significantly.
 
Inertia said:
Runs . . . .

If you get a run in a perfect panel, it is possible to "shave" the run, by carefully dragging a razor blade or similar, along the excess, and remove run material down to near "fair" then sand to match surface .
It's kinda an art
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Been there...lol
20190715_205410.jpg
 
Cuda416 said:
it's a lot like hand scraping in wood working. Thanks
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The key is to use a new sharp blade, keep it 90 degrees from the panel, and not cut into the run but gentle shave it down. The one I shared was from me stepping on the damn air hose...lol
 
plymouth67 said:
The key is to use a new sharp blade, keep it 90 degrees from the panel, and not cut into the run but gentle shave it down. The one I shared was from me stepping on the damn air hose...lol
Click to expand...

I saw a demo once, about 6 or 7 years ago I think of a little tool for cutting runs etc off that operated like a little nickel sized hand plane. Locate the run or speck, run this thing back and fourth, and in a few swipes the imperfection was gone. it was impressive. I think some paint company was giving them out at SEMA or something. Wicked cool little tool that left a near perfect finish afterwards. Sub micron shavings.
 
Cuda416 said:
I saw a demo once, about 6 or 7 years ago I think of a little tool for cutting runs etc off that operated like a little nickel sized hand plane. Locate the run or speck, run this thing back and fourth, and in a few swipes the imperfection was gone. it was impressive. I think some paint company was giving them out at SEMA or something. Wicked cool little tool that left a near perfect finish afterwards. Sub micron shavings.
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Ya, some people call them nibblers. I personally never really liked them.
 
Brush Painting is a option for some of the less critical areas and parts. Floors, inside doors, engine brackets, etc.

20260507_092302.jpg


Saves blowing those expensive paint products around your neighborhood, and cleaning up is easy without a bunch of thinner to dispose of... just throw the brush away.

But yeah, have painted 100s of cars and trucks. Takes practice and things go wrong.

Anything that can go wrong, has gone wrong... that's what makes a person an expert recognizing the problems as you come apon them.


☆☆☆☆☆
 
I was a 10th graded in high school. We had been doing light body work and paint to some of the teacher's cars, after a really hot one asked us if we could fix hers. Of course we didn't say no. Her's was the first and it kinda exploded from there. We would do all the body work and prep and prime and then take them to Earl Scheib in downtown Macon. Although they used only their own colors for whole paint jobs, they would match anything for a spot repair.

So we did that all that year. Then, over the summer, they went out of business. True to form, soon as we got back to school in the fall, we had a teacher hit us up. None of us knew how to shoot paint, just primer. Nobody wanted to grab the gun to paint, so I did it. As luck had it, there was a how to paint article in one of the hot rod mags just that month so I read it and did what it said and it turned out great, so I was da man from then on. LOL I got a few tips from a small family owned body shop like two blocks from the school and that helped a lot too. We had a good time with all that. Made some decent money, too.
 
plymouth67 said:
Ya, some people call them nibblers. I personally never really liked them.
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I have one. I'm not crazy about it, because when it makes the cut, the cut ends up being like 3/16" wide, so you better have a little more of a patch than you cut out.
 
RustyRatRod said:
I have one. I'm not crazy about it, because when it makes the cut, the cut ends up being like 3/16" wide, so you better have a little more of a patch than you cut out.
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The wheel of death is the go to! I have a scar on my left hand from one! At least I did not cut it OFF! :thumbsup:
 
RustyRatRod said:
I have one. I'm not crazy about it, because when it makes the cut, the cut ends up being like 3/16" wide, so you better have a little more of a patch than you cut out.
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We might be talking about different things. The tool I'm referring to can't make a cut deeper the the surface of the paint because there is no "blade". it's simply a hole with a very "sharp" edge.

Looks like eastwood sells them...

https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-t...6RoQM1gmzcHLOzDq2Ld5eaLP9LNTQJYMaAs9ZEALw_wcB
 
Cuda416 said:
We might be talking about different things. The tool I'm referring to can't make a cut deeper the the surface of the paint because there is no "blade". it's simply a hole with a very "sharp" edge.

Looks like eastwood sells them...

https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-t...6RoQM1gmzcHLOzDq2Ld5eaLP9LNTQJYMaAs9ZEALw_wcB
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Yeah we are talkin about different things. Here's what I was referring to. An air nibbler. It does a good job if you're putting in a partial patch for example and just cutting out rusted metal. If you're trying to be really precise, it ain't the tool for the job.

 
Last edited:
barbee6043 said:
I think a lot of us "amateurs" do not realize the effects on how it all turns our is the temperature. Reduces, activators related to temp., and humidity.

I have always been successful with a metallic simply because I was so extremely aware of how it had to go down, especially that last coat.
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my 2nd paint job was metalic, metalflake, and pearl
turned out great
I was a trash man and had 3 body shops on my route,
asked advice, one guy that turned out amazing paint said one thing,
mix the tack coat v thin for metallic/flake and let dry to almost dry,
second quick to help the paint stick,
put the paint down, ignoring shine, only even color across every panel, go slow
finish with the same thin mix you started with to shine it back up
thin coats, allow to cure well between coats
use high humidity reducer

paint lasted 25 years and 300k miles w/ touch ups

totally a "pay attention/patience game"

and when to start removing tape is an art, too
ruin a great green paint job pulling it too soon
esp high humidity, you think it's dry, and remove paint on the a pillar right off the bat
not a fun thing
 
dr dodge said:
and when to start removing tape is an art, too
ruin a great green paint job pulling it too soon
esp high humidity, you think it's dry, and remove paint on the a pillar right off the bat
not a fun thing
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And its always important to remember to remove the tape at an angle AWAY from the paint, if you pull it towards the paint edge you run the risk of peeling back the paint edge, as a newbie you only do that once...... ugh.
 
70SwingerGuy said:
And its always important to remember to remove the tape at an angle AWAY from the paint, if you pull it towards the paint edge you run the risk of peeling back the paint edge, as a newbie you only do that once...... ugh.
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Agreed, a really important aspect when working with low adheasion substrates like plastic. A proceedure I have developed is to mask close with conventional masking tape and finish with the "fine line" tape on top of the conventional tape. Being able to pull the Fine Line tape first really helps. I hope this makes sense.
 
lighting ,being able to see the paint being laid down is a must
my best paint job was outside on a slighty cloudy day
i did a lot of spray bomb before ever using a gun
to bright light and you cant see the flow ,same with shadows
never tried a booth
 
Bodyperson said:
Agreed, a really important aspect when working with low adheasion substrates like plastic. A proceedure I have developed is to mask close with conventional masking tape and finish with the "fine line" tape on top of the conventional tape. Being able to pull the Fine Line tape first really helps. I hope this makes sense.
Click to expand...
Thats exactly what I used to do. Id pull the fine line off when the paint was still wet actually, no chance of the paint lifting at all.
 
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