Fisheye tutorial

[Fordf100]

. The other day Frank made mention that it may be helpful to tell folks how I paint and what i do to avoid fisheyes. Let me start off by saying that I have been a painter for over 25 years and have just about seen it all. I custom paint motorcycles ans guitars. kinda a hobby gone mad.. That being said , I am not a know it all and I am the first yo get in line and learn new things. Also everyone is different and uses different brands of paint , guns and so on. Frank requested info on fisheyes and how to avoid them. So here goes. 1 wherever you are painting make sure that there are no oils lying around such as wd40 silicone spray ect. If silicone spray had been sprayed within the last few days on that area more than likely that's where your fisheyes are coming from. Tack rags are great but do not apply pressure to them while wiping down your parts. They have beeswax on them and if you push too hard they will leave a nice residue behind that causes fisheyes. There are many commercially made degreasers ect ,, use something recommended for bodywork. Every paint company makes a cleaner that comes in gallon cans that you apply to a rag to wipe your parts . It is a degreaser, takes off wax ect,,, they all work well. 50/50 mixture of alcohol and water in a spray bottle works well with a microfiber rag. I use this for everything takes off wax and grease and other things . Also it's cheap !!!! So am I !!! Anyway don't use tap water for the reduction , use distiller water or water from a reverse osmosis water purification system. If not you can get hard water stains ect. Just go to the drugstore and but alcohol in the highest percentage u can find . I usually go to cvs and get the 80% alcohol. U can also use this Alcohol mixture to check and see what a clear coat would look like on your painted item. Just spray it on and what u see is what you will get with a clear coat on it. It works great and will not harm your base coat . Okay enough about that!!! A lot of old school painters like to use good old fashioned dish soap and water to clean the items that they want to paint. That is fine but only use Ivory brand dish soap. Why? Well it seems that the women of today don't like to get dishpan hands. Neither do us guys , so, many of the dish soaps contain chemicals to soften your skin. That will cause fisheyes too. Paint guns are not all that expensive . And ya don't have to have a $600 gun to get a great paint job. That being said if you have ever painted oil based paint out of your spray gun , use that gun for oil based paints only. Get another gun to spray your base clear coats ect... U can use the same gun for base clear coats, acrylic enamels , enamel, laquer. But oil no way ya may get away with it but eventually you will get the dreaded fisheye...... That's all I can think of for now . I know many of you only have a basic garage that you do all of your work in. Just remember that WD40 and silicone is your best friend in the garage but in a paint shop it's your worst enemy. Try and minimize the use of those types of products in your painting areas... I think that these simple things will help those of you that have fisheye problems from time to time. One other thing before I forget. Of you get fisheye as soon as you start to spray your paint try this. Wait a few minutes and let the paint flash off or dry a little , the turn your air up and your paint down and dry spray it , wait a little while and hit it again . Repeat this till it covers. Many times this will work . What you don't want to do is try and hammer a thick coat over it it will just get worse. Okay I am done now, hope it was informative and that it helps some of you out! I will post a coue pics of a guitar I just finished for my son. Good luck and happy painting!!!!!!!

[Gizmo]

Beautiful work - Thanks for the fisheye info.

[Smokeone]

Awesome!

Thanks F100!

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[Clover Ridge Smokers]

This is the exact reason why this site is so great. People willing share information for the simple reason of helping someone else. Thanks Ford!!

[DUAYNE B]

Awesome info, I am a fisheye expert, most everything I paint has them. Thats because WD-40 is my best friend, till now..... thanks Fordf100

[Fordf100]

Ha ha get that stuff outta yer painting area and life will get better. Silicone sprays are the worst. If ya wanna jack up a body shop go in and spray some silicone around , they will get fisheyes for weeks. Had a friend of mine who's dad ran a body shop and he would send his boys over to the competition to do just that ,... That's cold hearted man.