whats the deal with automotive paint these days??

Borrow mine? It's only a 1.5hp, so you won't do the whole vehicle in one go, but if you're prepared to wait for it to recharge between panels it would be fine. I had it for spraying varnish on furniture and it coped with biggish stuff quite well. I've got the spraygun too - not professional quality, but good enough for something that you'll ding within the first five minutes :-)

Pity Fenton Factors has gone :-(

It seems to be the case for new production - pretty well all paints are water based these days. But for repair or one off stuff the older paint types are still available. You'll need to order them, though.

You can still purchase Cellulose if you know where to look. Cellulose and Acrylic type auto paints have become difficult to obtain under new solvent regulations certainly for the DIY user, however the regulations DON'T include the print trade were the use of Cellulose thinner is fundamental.

You can obtain Cellulose paint and thinners from certain paint outlets who supply to the print trade as well as the paint trade. Turners Trade paints

can supplyCellulose paint and thinners. Tractol is a synthetic based brushing enamel originally made by the famous paint maker "Thornley and Knight" who also made Tekaloid coach enamel, the only difference between these two paints is that Tractol is a machine enamel (faster drying and more brittle) Tekaloid is a coach enamel (slower drying, flexible).

Both synthetic paints are still available, they do not come under the new paint regulations, only the high VOC solvents like Cellulose etc.

You can purchase ordinary synthetic (household) paint from almost anywhere.

Tekaloid and Tractol enamels can be purchased from

Stephen.

Very handy to know all that! With the water based paint, can it be sprayed at home by the DIYer?

Also very good to see that good ol Tractol is still available!

Thanks for the info,

Dave

Dave

Yes , the chap from "Chips away" resprayed the scratched front bumper on the Rangie with water based paints. I asked him specifically if I could use new water pased paints on the 110 for instance and as long as the primer is a compatible one then there is no problem. He sprayed on the drive in the open air with a pop up gazebo and the results are cracking. It was worth paying him if only for the info , tips and lessons on how to get the best from my own kit as we compared tools while the paint dryed. He did use some heaters to help it dry mind.

That said when I painted Percy I used Synthetic paint and again (although I used a roller) I was well chuffed with the result. Maybe next time the spray gun will come out with it.

Lee D

[snip]

It can, but not recommended as you really need a heated booth for full resprays, water based paint does require heat to help it dry, unlike conventional painting methods.

Stephen.

How warm, out of interest ? Can you use those Infra-red heaters ?

Steve

In article , "Dave Plowman (News)" writes

I've a relative who's a paint chemist: they don't _have_ to be water based, but the manufacturers get far less hassle from (guess:) the enforcers of EU regulations if they do it that way. In many (=most) cases the results are inferior - don't cover as well/last as long/protect as well, but we're stuck with them, it seems.

The same rules about chemical usage apply to car repairers and manufacturers, who are the biggest users, so presumably if they've gone over to water based, it'll be near-impossible to find cellulose-based in the after-market.

I tried water-based metal primer (for aluminium) for covers on the bike a few years back. Prepped it by sanding, then cleaning with meths and xylene (or trike - can't remember which). It made no difference - the stuff was useless. In disgust, I took it all off again with paint stripper.

Regards,

Simonm.

But cellulose hasn't been used by manufacturers for ages - 20 odd years?. Or repair shops - apart from possibly to match old paint. The common paint before water based was the two pack isocyanates. Which was a pretty decent paint, although probably not very environmental friendly given the 'solvent' was extremely poisonous. My car had a pro respray in water based a couple of years ago and it seems to be surviving pretty well. With a good finish which responds well to just washing. And it's plain black. I'd say more durable than cellulose.

Of course cellulose is probably the best for home spraying. It will become more difficult to find due simply to economy of scale but should still be available to order. After all there are plenty of household paints that still use 'nasty' solvents.

All paintwork should be undertaken at the very least room temperature, around 68°-72° Fahrenheit 21°-23° Celsius.

You can use infra red lamps, there good enough for cellulose and acrylic paints, you won't get solvent boil with water bases.

Stephen.