Did i use enough clear

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 09, 2018 9:18 pm
I refinished a bumper today and compared to the damage it had before, it's loads better. Prep and paint went fine but I'm unsure if i used enough clearcoat. Is there anyway to tell visually? I used 1 can of 2K (I'm across the country at my parents' house, rattle cans is all i had). No runs or orange peel, just a slightly rough texture

I managed 3 light coats and a 4th slightly thicker, then what was left in the can gave me a 5th dusting. I'm wondering if i went too light and it needs another, heavier coat? I plan on waiting a couple weeks then wetsanding, cutting and buffing it to smooth out the texture but I'm nervous there may not be enough clear to allow me to cut?

I took it outside to take a photo, not sure if these help

20180709_191256.jpg
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 09, 2018 10:04 pm
It's difficult to see in the picture but it looks like it may have orange peal in it. If that is the case you might need to correct that problem and spray it again.

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 09, 2018 10:25 pm
Okay, so some quick math here shows some potential problems with cutting/buffing what you have there..... You don't mention who's 2k canned clear you are using so I am going to use SprayMax 2k (one of the better ones) as an example. They say that each "wet"coat of that clear dries out to be 1/2 mil to 3/4 mil at the most. So even if all of your coats would have been fully wet you would be at maximum of only 2 to 3 mils of thickness. You even say you did "light" coats so you may be more like 1 to 2 mils of thickness there..... If that is the case it is not going to take much of a cut and buff to cut/sand/burn through that clear especially with those contours......
As "grainy" as that looks I don't think your clear ever got a chance to truly flow out......
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 10, 2018 6:55 am
Yes it's the SprayMax 2K. So it sounds like it may be best for me to wetsand and do a couple more coats. What grit should i sand with? And would a couple thicker coats "flow out" as you say?



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PostPosted: Tue Jul 10, 2018 9:09 pm
I fixed it. Wet sanded it down with 800 until the graininess smoothed out then re shot a can of clear using much heavier coats, just shy of running. Looks beautiful now! Smooth and so reflective i want to dive in it

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PostPosted: Tue Jul 10, 2018 9:46 pm
Good, that's what I mean by the coating flowing together. It should go on like that to level properly........ I've used the SprayMax 2k clear on several small projects over the years....pretty decent stuff.....
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