Steve,
I don't know what "level" of paint you're paying $230 for but that's about 2x what I pay. I don't buy car paint as your price would be an average price for car paint. We buy the single stage industrial coating version of the paint and as I understand it the only difference is the UV blockers are not as good. Then again the stuff we paint is not usually outside and prone to UV damage. Our prices are $80/gal for DuPont Imron 3.2, $20 for the activator (hardener), $15 for cold weather accelerator (used in 35f or less to aid in dry time), and $18 for the reducer (thinner). The PPG line of ALK-200 is almost the same at $90/gal but does not require any of the other additives as it is just a thin out and spray with no hardener required. Last is the Sherwin-Williams Sher-Chem line. Now this stuff is really cheap at $35/gal and can be thinned quite a bit with VM&P NAPTHA thinner that is only $18/gal. This is the stuff we use when the customer has not defined a specific paint requirement, and it finishes almost as good as the high dollar stuff and dries twice as fast. Now each of these paints has their own line of primers too but they are all in the $35/gal range. Some of the primers can be used with any of the paints, but some can not. Lacquer thinner is required for clean up on any of these paints. We usually have about 10-15 gal of these paints in stock at any given time because very few jobs require a full gallon of paint and the left over is never disposed of since we know it will be used on future jobs with the same color requirement. We have 4 shades of machine blue, 1 off white, 1 cream white, 1 black, and 1 light grey. These 8 colors are the most common for the type of equipment we build and the customers we serve.
If you were to splurge on paint, I would recommend the Sher-Chem as it gives a good high gloss tough paint that is fairly cheap. You could buy a gallon of thinner, primer, and paint for about $80 and they carry it at any Sherwin-Williams store. Don't use a HVLP top can gun. The paint is too heavy even when thinned well to push a 6-8" fan evenly. You need to use the el-chepo bottom pot gun with the siphon screw wide open and 75-80psi. This will give you a very consistent 8" fan and complete coverage. The only draw back is your transfer rate of paint is about 60%, so your shop will get some paint dust. You will have to shoot your first coat, sand with 220 grit a day later, and shoot it again for a really smooth finish. One gallon should cover 6-8 machines the size of a Maxtron or Invision.
If you're ever down near Adrian way, stop by I'll give you one of my half used gallons of blue if you want to give it a try.
WOW!!!!!! :-)
I priced that Delstar paint here at Painter's supply & they were talking $230 a GALLON!!!!!! I couldn't believe it!
There's NO way I would pay that for paint, that's why I mentioned it in the post. I know Kaye uses Delstar & I fell out of my shoes when the paint supply gave me a quote on a gallon. I use the PPG Shop Line brand acrylic enamel. It's right about $75 a gallon & I've had real good success with it. I use a hardener & sometimes a clear coat on it too. Works well for clear coating with single stage paint. I guess the paint guy gave me the top tier industrial pricing, I couldn't believe it was that high. I believe I got it confused with the DuPont stuff, I was told Delstar was a PPG product.
I have looked into Sherwin Williams & I know they make good stuff as well. The only problem I encountered at the shop I went to was that they said they couldn't color match it with their less expensive A/E single stage paint. They had an epoxy version, but it was extremely expensive & I don't want to spend that on a paintjob. The guy at S/W gave me a bunch of information, but everything was either elkyd enamel, or epoxy. He said they were discontinuing their acrylic enamel line. I do not care for tractor paint (elkyd) as it never seems to get hard, even with a catalyst. That's just my experience though. We'll hook up again & I'll take a little of that paint. :-) I use a De Vilbiss bottom loader & have for years. I have no use for top loaders. I've always had trouble with them.
Thanks for the info Mark. I was gonna call Kaye & see what she was paying for a gallon of Delstar. I wouldn't mind giving it a try. I have just found that with most machines, the price doesn't seem to change if you spent big dollars on top tier paint. That's why I've stuck with the stuff I use. It's much better than tractor paint & affordable. See ya! S.
Yep, I sprayed PPG Delstar a few years back and it was high dollar car paint. I can also see why Kaye uses it since almost all of the equipment she paints is made to be outside and the UV protectors need to be high. Sherwinn did discontinue the Air-o-jet line of acrylic, but that stuff was CRAP to spray. The Sher-Chem has good hard shell but can be used with a hardner to increase that too.
Look it over on the Sherwin web site. Also, it's spelled Sher-Kem.
I sure will! Thanks Mark! :-)
bottom feeders are ok but you get abetter lay down when you use a top feeder hvlp i have a sata 2000 hvlp and it will spray anything you have to have 90 psi at the gun and 10 psi at the tip if you read the back of tha paint can and it tells you the recommended pressures i have shot numerous brands of paint single stage,dual stage and industrial with this gun and everything lay down as smooth as a new born babys bottom it all depends on the brand and quality of the gun you use
Forum
