clear coat help

hey guys i just recently bought some hvlp paint guns and all my materials and what not to paint my dash along with some other pieces on my truck. so far ive been doing pretty good, it was rocky at first but ive gotten better at it...i had a question though, when you spray clear coat ive noticed its a lot harder than spraying the base coat...are there any good tips on spraying clear to minimize the fish scale? also, when i wet sand the clear coat how far down do i go with it? like until the peice is all foggy looking. in other words until all the fish scale is gone and smooth looking. then just use a rubbing compound to buff it out right? i didnt cut any of my dash, i wanted it to look 'wet' but im painting a steel desk for a friend and he doesnt want the 'wet' look so i have to cut it down and its just not looking as good as i'd like it too. thanks in advance.

try turning you air pressure down to 25 to 30 psi, and as far as wet sanding just take the shinny ness of it and use a buffer and buf it out

fish scale? u mean orange peel? the slower clear dries the better it lays out, like flex additive helps, and you need heat, and i like spraying with higher pressure and a wide fan and lay it on wet w/o running the clear....50% overlap with a even speed about 10 inches away from whatever your paintin

Try thinning down your clear so it flows better,and you won't get as much orange peel as you are getting.And as far as your color sanding goes, sand until you get rid of the orange peel then buff with your compound.Just make sure you put enough clear so you don't go through to the base.If you don't want a glass finish don't cut and biff.

cool, ive been spraying the clear mixed 4:1 like it recommends to and i have the psi up to 40-45 psi at the tip. i tried slowing it down to around 30-35 but its almost like it wants to dripple out or sometimes it doesnt spray so misty i guess you could say. so if i thin the clear down, and turn the psi down a little bit and slow down a little bit overlapping my paths 50% it should minimize the orange peal? as far as the cutting and buffing goes, thats what i thought and when i was doing it its just hard to get that 'glass finish' out of it, but the clear is there so i know i didnt go through it, ill just keep buffing and see if that helps it out. thanks guys.

how many coats are you putting on it? we usually put 2 on every thing at work. are you using bottom fed or cup fed HVLP?

yeah we put 2...as long as you find out the wetness you can spray w/o runnin it then that what you want everytime, the drier the peelier

When you buff use 1500 and then 3000 wet. As for "thinning" the clear DONT. Mix it like its suposed to. Its all on how wet you spray it.

are you running hvlp hoses? the regular 1/4 hoses starve those guns for air..upgrade your hose and fittings to like 3/8..that could affect the clear not hitting the surface with enough pressure to atomize and layout..therefore causing orange peel..beginners should go non hvlp in my opinion...theyre easier to learn with..then upgrade later..

if you wanting to cut it flat and buff it back...put at least 3 coats on...especially if you using a cheaper clear...2 coats of a good quality high solids clear is not the same as 2 coats of cheaper stuff...and one person might put on 2 coats but have a thicker film build than the next guy that put on 2 coats.....