Well, it's raining today and humidity is 96% again. I suppose I could be out there sanding but don't feel like it without a chaperone around. Maybe I'll go out after the boy gets home from school.
We cancelled our vacation plans and got a full refund on the rental. My wife decided to just take a 4 day weekend instead and I really,
really did not want to go without a boat. And my health is a factor too. I have more doc appointments coming up (including tomorrow) and will know more in a couple weeks about what their recommendations are.
Meanwhile... boat status!
I'm still learning about spray painting and have a long way to go. When I was painting the other night the weather was perfect; mid 80s with 45% humidity. But my technique wasn't so great, partly due to my inexperience but also somewhat due to my physical limitations. If I tried painting beyond my normal reach by stepping sideways, my gait was messed up and I'd get a heavy spot with the paint. There were a fair number of those but I only found one after the paint dried.
A couple things that I got wrong... I sometimes had an angle on the gun as I stretched to reach the center of the hull at the keel. The results were "dry" spots which are a little rough and will need to be sanded.
And while I did use an inline pressure gauge which I set to 36 PSI, I set it
without pulling the trigger! Didn't know that I was supposed to be sure the trigger was down. :facepalm:
To correct the high angle issue I'll probably have to lower the boat somehow so that I can get a "normal" angle to the hull bottom. Might rig up some concrete blocks on the HF dollies so that the boat is lower but mobile. That way I can roll it outside after the initial drying time and once the sun returns.
Setting the trigger properly will be easy. Duh.
Let me also make a correction. I'd mentioned previously that my compressor was OFF more than it was ON while I was using the LVLP gun. That's backwards! The compressor was ON more than it was OFF. So with the incorrect trigger setting, I may have been using a very low pressure while spraying and the compressor motor was running. D'oh. :doh:
All that being said, I am
very pleased with how well the LVLP gun worked! Even with the thick primer, the coverage was pretty good except where I was too far from the hull surface or slanted at an angle. The console came out very well. Most of the hull too. I have no doubt that the experienced guys here could really make that LVLP gun rock and roll. :sad:
Another thing I saw is that with the high viscosity unthinned primer, I couldn't get a fan larger than about 6 or 8 inches. That could be due to my inexperience though. When I was testing and cleaning with acetone the fan was much larger, probably 12 to 14 inches. I expect that when using thinned paint that the fan will be considerably larger than with the primer.
