All throughout my last restoration project I was plagued with every paint problem one could imagine.
Last year, I had repeated problems trying to paint the seat of this carriage. On the first try this year, the same thing.
The main defect in the paint was "orange peel" a condition that makes the paint look like the peel of an orange when it's dry.
Since all the references I read indicated that orange peel was a defect of application, I tried everything I could to stop the problem from occurring, but it plagued me right down through the painting process. I continuously blamed myself for being untalented and unable to learn from repeated failures.
Until I mixed paints of two different types to obtain the pale yellow for the gear.
The paint I've been using all along is a straight "alkyd enamel". There's no point in trying to explain what "alkyd" means, except that it was one of the first types of synthetic materials developed for paint in the early 20th century.
Hey, it was labeled "buggy paint". What do I know? Except that I couldn't master either brush painting or spray painting the stuff.
When I mixed the paint for the gear, I used one quart of the straight alkyd, to two quarts of "urethane fortified" alkyd paint.
Everything changed. I painted the entire gear, wheels and shafts with the mixed paint and not one time did I spray on a defective coat.
Finally I started a search for information on urethane. I know that urethane clear "varnishes" have a bad rap amongst natural wood vehicle owners because of adhesion problems, but as it turns out, this is an issue related to the very way the paint flows out. It's slippery, and requires some special steps to prepare the surface to receive finish coats.
I discovered in working on the gear and wheels that the paint flowed on to metal surfaces like glass, where the wood wheels benefited from a drying period, followed by an additional wet sanding with 600 grit, which then produced the honey-smooth flow-out of the paint.
It seemed that all my reference materials were overlooking one key point to successful spray painting: Perhaps if you fail repeatedly to obtain the finish you want, it's your material, not so much your technique.
Of course a skilled painter might not have these problems, but I am sure skilled painters work with the materials that work the best for them - they don't waste time blaming themselves that one particular product just refuses to cooperate.
So it is with a beginning painter...I'm looking at a product that after all this trial and miserable error, I've found a paint that I can work with!
In the photo above, the carriage body has received its first coat of urethane fortified black paint, and the black has revealed all the preparation work that I didn't do adequately! :o) At first I thought my problems had returned, but when the paint dried, I realized that the supposed defects were in the surface, not the paint! This afternoon, the body will receive a meticulous wet sanding with 600 grit sand paper and go back in the booth for what I hope will be its final coats of paint.
At any rate, every part of the thing is now protected.
As I write, the carriage seat is drying in the paint booth, and as the paint shrinks down onto the surface - which has been sanded innumerable times with 600 grit - it's beginning to look like obsidian!
Now! What paint is this, you may ask! This is Davis Paint, specifically their 1700 Series Classic Collection Industrial Paint. The paint is formulated for multiple substrates, including wood and metal.
The paint is primarily found in the eastern part of the US, however it is sold by the Schwartz Mfg. LLC company, an Amish company in Berne, Indiana. They only stock limited colors, but it appears that the paint can be mixed to order using the color chart on the website.
My next post, if I can contain myself that long, should be of a fully assembled carriage!
Off to sand.
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