Orange Peel: what is it & what causes it?
Paint film having an uneven texture that resembles the skin of an orange.
Causes:
1. under reduction and/or air pressure too low.
2. Thinner/reducer evaporates too fast for spraying conditions.
3. Excessive film thickness or piling on of heavy wet coats.
4. Improper gun setup.
5. Improper technique.
Make certain you're mixing properly. Do it very carefully. Mixing cups and sticks are a must. Have a pressure gauge on your gun, pressure at the wall outlet is NOT what you've got at the tip. Read the specs for your paint and use the right speed reducer. The first time I saw my daughter spraying with a HVLP gun I thought she was waving the gun at the car. The technique I use for base/clear coat is to have the gun about 3 to 4 inches from the surface and move quickly, applying a light to light/medium coat with a 60% to 75% overlap keeping the gun perpendicular to the surface. Also pay attention to the flash times. If the thinner/reducer doesn't have time to work it's way out before you load on another coat, you're asking for a disaster.
Ok, here's the disclaimer:
"Don't think for a minute that every paint job I do comes out perfect."
I spend a lot of time on test panels taped to the wall. If I'm painting tomorrow and the weatherman says it'll be just as hot and sticky as it is today, I'll adjust the gun one way and shoot a test panel, then readjust and shoot another. The one that looks the best is the setup I'll use tomorrow. (I keep a log book of settings with details that include paint type, air temperature, etc.) I don't paint often enough to remember technique details.
