Prepping for painting ?s

[Rickysa]

Probably no-brainer questions, but having not painted with Imron before, I'd like to throw them out there.....I'll be painting the cockpit & flybridge soles/sides and gunnels...rolling, not spraying.

1. For the soles, do I just sand through the existing non-skid, or keep going to remove all paint?....how smooth (final grit?)

2. For smooth surfaces, is the sanding to just roughen the old paint for adhesion or does all the old paint need to be removed...and again...how smooth (final grit?)

Many thanks for any and all input....

Rick

[34Hatt]

but having not painted with Imron before, I'd like to throw them out there.....I'll be painting the cockpit & flybridge soles/sides and gunnels...rolling, not spraying.

First did something change with Imron last I knew it could not be rolled!!!
All surface's would be done to the same grit and are you priming??? Usally before paint it would be 240 to 320 grit depends on paint and how many coats and if its being done by da or hand.

[Scott Mather]

I have rolled the non skid areas a couple of times with Imron and it worked great. Roller actually provided a good non slip texture.

[67hat34c]

regarding sanding through old paint. only needs to be done if there is currently an adhesion problem. you dont need to remove all the old non skid. can also sand that area with roughher paper, 60g.

shiny surfaces should be washed with detergent first then sanded, you can work contaminants into the surface with sand paper. sand as dan says 220g with a da or 320 grit hand sand. i found 220g hand sand leaves too much media. you should be using an epoxy primer before top coat. if you are using imron then dupont has a primer.

[Rickysa]

Thanks for the input....I have the primer and will be using a da sander...so 220 grit for the smooth surfaces and probably have to sand through the non-skid as the reason for painting is 20yr-old grime ground deep in it that hasn't given up to any cleaner or amount of elbow grease.

[34Hatt]

I have rolled the non skid areas a couple of times with Imron and it worked great. Roller actually provided a good non slip texture.

Yeah but have you tried on smooth question is how well it will flow out that what separate's the good brushing paints from the others.

[MikeP]

I've shot a ton of Imron (probably literally!) and have some observations:

1. If you are expecting to get the kind of finish Imron is famous for without spraying, you won't get it. If that's OK, fine. I've seen one boat - a Mainship 36 - that was hand painted (not sprayed) with Imron. Frankly, it looked terrible - lots of runs and assorted bad finish work. The guy had the boat for sale and advertised it as "new Imron finish." All I could see was a HUGE amount of work trying to correct the appearance.

2. Re removing the old finish - if you don't, then it will be the weak link. You can Imron over an old finish but to gain the toughness and durability of Imron, it needs to be applied over the bare surface, prepped with the appropriate primer. I used to tell people that insisted I spray Imron over old paint, "Don't tell anybody I did it and don't tell them it's Imron."

3. If you don't like the results, you are screwed! It ain't like spraying lacquer which is the world's easiest finish to work with and correct. Once Imron has hardened, It is extremely tough and difficult to remove or sand - that's the whole point.

4. This should have been the first point - Imron fumes are VERY toxic. You MUST wear a toxic chemical mask, NOT a dust mask. If you can smell the Imron while wearing the mask, the mask is not acceptable. This applies anytime Imron is in an open container - not just when spraying

Before I would paint Imron with a roller/brush or have someone do it, I would try it on a 4x8 sheet of plywood and see if it's possible to get the depth, gloss, and smoothness that as acceptable to you. You need to see it on a fair sized flat surface and a 4x8 sheet of plywood (or whatever) is a reasonable area to get a good idea of how it will look. Anything smaller would not be representative of what is really going to happen.

If you decide to do this, please let us all know how it went! Good Luck

[Genesis]

The only SAFE air supply system for spraying two-part paints is a positive-pressure supplied mask with the air intake FAR upwind of the spray location, and/or "canned air" (e.g. large banked storage tanks)

NO ambient air mask will properly filter out enough of the fumes. And, by the way, while the fumes are toxic enough to kill you outright, what's worse is that if they don't they'll likely get you with liver cancer 10 or 20 years hence.

NOT good.

[MikeP]

Karl speaks the truth!

I know of one instance where a guy ignored all the safety requirements. He was spraying Imron outdoors with a dust mask figuring he was OK because the wind was blowing the mist away from him (too bad for whoever it was blowing toward!). He collapsed and had to be taken to the hospital. He may have suffered permanent damage but we couldn't tell because he was so weird anyway.

Imron (and it applies to any of the two-part paints, as Karl observed) contains a statement on the label with words to the effect, "For Professional Use Only." This is one of the few such cases where they really aren't kidding. I won't state that you have to be a professional to use it but you have to use it like a professional would with the appropriate safety in mind.

[67hat34c]

poor mans fresh air supply.

I had this idea but not sure how it will work but why not get a small shop vac with and attach a 50' 1.25" bildge pump hose to it and duct tape it to your mask, block off the other side. use a hepa filter on the shop vac. you can regulate the pressure by putting holes in the hose near the shop vac. fresh air supply system will run 800.00 or more,as i have been pricing them. You can also buy the fresh air supply mask for under 200 and use the shop vac to supply it. appears the air pump is the main cost of this system.

This system could also be good for when you are cleaning and painting engines. Just a thought.