Glazing putty - How thick?

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PostPosted: Sat May 24, 2008 10:30 am
I've always been told that glazing putty is supposed to go on thin, that it's sole purpose is to fill minor imperfections and pinholes in (bondo) filler. It's not used for leveling. I have Kevin Tet's Paintucation series and in one clip he uses glazing putty like a leveler. It appears to go on thick and remain so.

Do I not fully understand what he's doing? Or can you use glazing putty as a minor leveler?

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PostPosted: Sat May 24, 2008 10:49 am
Are you talking about a catalyzed product like Body Icing or an old style lacquer glazing putty? What I mean is the old tech. that I knew back in the old days referred to the lacquer glazing putty which was so **** soft and next to worthless that pinholes were about the only thing it was good for (and I questioned that at the time). Modern catalyzed products are more like thinned down bondo which has other ingredients to aid in sanding with finer grit papers. I do indeed use those glazing putties for leveling waves out of fiberglass panels and parts I've made. As far as thickness you obviously (like bondo) can put it on as thick as you want but I usually end up with less than an 1/8 inch at my max., feathered out from there.
So okay, yes, I guess I'm using it as a minor leveler. But, hey everybody does their stuff different here. I pay more for Icing using it that way but I also think it use a lot less of it compared to a bondo type filler and I can sand faster with higher grits to get it done.
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PostPosted: Sat May 24, 2008 12:48 pm
I think he was using (and what I use) Evercoat Metal Glaze.

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PostPosted: Sat May 24, 2008 7:33 pm
MustStangSally wrote:I've always been told that glazing putty is supposed to go on thin, that it's sole purpose is to fill minor imperfections and pinholes in (bondo) filler. It's not used for leveling. I have Kevin Tet's Paintucation series and in one clip he uses glazing putty like a leveler. It appears to go on thick and remain so.

Do I not fully understand what he's doing? Or can you use glazing putty as a minor leveler?


No disrespect but,

I look at some of those videos as a "What not to do" ad.

I have one where the guys is refinishing a white corvette and some of the things he did made my eyes open wider than a meth-adic.

"Glazing putty is a painter's/ bodyman's best friend" The reason is because it is way thinner than lightweight bodyfiller, easier to sand and goes over small imperfections rather than laying down another coat of filler. Remeber that the mentallity of a bodyman/ painter is "get it out", if you use bondo that's more work more time less money you could be making on that other job. Glazing putty is a nice quality shortcut which let's you do that job faster.

But no matter the rules, every technician is different, it's what works for you in the end.

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PostPosted: Sun May 25, 2008 12:48 pm
In General, Kevin puts out some pretty good info from what I've found on the web. I don't own any of his videos. How thick is he putting on the glazing putty? I don't use more than 1/8" thick (sanded), like Darrel. I like the USC Icing and it seems to be fairly flexible, but filler will crack if you abuse it. Try to keep your filler areas to less than 1/4" thick with regular filler and just a skim with glazing.



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PostPosted: Sun May 25, 2008 5:05 pm
vwbobby wrote:In General, Kevin puts out some pretty good info from what I've found on the web. I don't own any of his videos. How thick is he putting on the glazing putty? I don't use more than 1/8" thick (sanded), like Darrel. I like the USC Icing and it seems to be fairly flexible, but filler will crack if you abuse it. Try to keep your filler areas to less than 1/4" thick with regular filler and just a skim with glazing.


1/8"? Wow! I thought we were looking at 1/16" at the most. I'm a noob so don't take anything personal. I'm still learning.

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PostPosted: Sun May 25, 2008 6:11 pm
1/8"? Wow! I thought we were looking at 1/16" at the most. I'm a noob so don't take anything personal. I'm still learning.

If you can do your bodywork and end up with only 1/16" thick, you're a better man than me. :x
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PostPosted: Sun May 25, 2008 6:23 pm
CoolasIce wrote:
1/8"? Wow! I thought we were looking at 1/16" at the most. I'm a noob so don't take anything personal. I'm still learning.

If you can do your bodywork and end up with only 1/16" thick, you're a better man than me. :x


I can always try, but I'm sure I don't even come close.



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PostPosted: Sun May 25, 2008 10:39 pm
I have never seen Kevins videos but from chatting with him on line I think he is pretty right on and I would trust his videos are the same. We all have different ways to do things but I would bet his videos have "a way to do it" and do it "right".

On the filler thickness, again, another bet. :) I will bet you VWBobby that you don't apply polyputty that thick. I will bet you if you put a straight edge over your work before you apply you will find that it is much less than that. We APPLY an eigth inch but we sand off 90% of it.

But honestly, don't spread the polyester putty that thick. You can spread reg filler that thick, spread it good and thick and then CUT if flat with some NICE, COARSE, NEW, SHARP paper. NOW, a super thin skim coat of polyester putty applied with pressure. If you don't ask too much of the polyester putty, just filling scratches and pin holes and minor waves you will end up with a pin hole free nice finish for primer.

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