Thinning paint?

[Fullspectrum]

I?m repainting my boat. Last season I went with the rustoleum spray can route and it did turn out nice.

After a season of hard fishing, the boat has taken a beating. I?ve got chips all over the boat. Chips down to the primer layer. So, I?m redoing it this time with rustoleum marine topside, which I believe is an oil based paint.

Going to shoot it with a paint gun and air compressor.

I noticed in the back of the paint can, it states that if I?m going to spray it?I will need to thin it. I talked to a guy in the paints department and he specifically told me not to thin it. He basically told me why would I need to thin it? I told him that?s what the instructions said, but he said not to.

So, do I or do I not thin the paint when I do get around to spraying?

 

[Bondo]

Re: Thinning paint?

Ayuh,... If you Don't thin it,... You'll never get it Thru the gun...

 

[halas]

Re: Thinning paint?

Use an airless sprayer with piston pump ($300 at HD or rent one at SW) straight from the paint can not thinned .

 

[jcsercsa]

Re: Thinning paint?

Hay

I am painting today with top side and am having the same problem !!! It didnt really level great the frist time I know i didnt have enough thinner in there so today I am putting in what it calls for 5 % maybe a little more !! I will let you know how mine turns out today !! John

 

[jcsercsa]

Re: Thinning paint?

Thin it man thin it !!!! man i did on mine today and the second coat turned out Sweet !! John

 

[TheWoodCrafter]

Re: Thinning paint?

Thinning does 2 things - allows the paint to go through the gun and atomize properly.
And lets the paint level out before it dries so you get less orange peel.

 

[Fullspectrum]

Re: Thinning paint?

Okay, here?s my next question?

The rustoleum marine topside comes in a quart, the label in the back states that if I?m spraying, which I am, I need to thin at least 15% of it with acetone.

Now does that mean that I will need to thin 15 % of the entire quart?

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Thinning paint?

You need to add 15% thinner to whatever amount of paint you put in the gun, if you put in 10 oz's of paint, then it will 1.5 oz's of thinner.

 

[Fullspectrum]

Re: Thinning paint?

okay...makes sense.

 

[Fullspectrum]

Re: Thinning paint?

I?m just about ready to spray my primer on. So, just a quick question?

My spray gun tip is a 1.5 mm multipurpose fluid tip. With that being said, do I still need to thin my rustoleum primer and topside paint?

 

[TheWoodCrafter]

Re: Thinning paint?

You will have to test it.
Get a large piece of cardboard and spray against it to adjust things.
That tip may be too small depending on the viscosity of the paint.

 

[wca_tim]

Re: Thinning paint?

I had the best luck when playing with rustoleum marine paint by using about 10% acetone and 5% xylenes. The acetone is great for atomization and much of it is gone very quickly, the xylenes staicks around longer and helps the paint flow out and form a nice shiny surface.

Note that I've also had really good luck using dupont two pard single stage Nason line auto paint. It is much harder and much shinier than the one part paints and is not very hard at all to get a great finish with if you follow the directions.

 

[TheWoodCrafter]

Re: Thinning paint?

That's a good idea to use xylene.
I was thinking acetone will flash off so fast the paint will not flow.
I am supprised that marine paint uses acetone instead of paint thinner.