Spraying Awlgrip

[Tunascapes]

I was wondering if any one of you have any experience with spraying awlgrip. I have started spraying the dump bodies on my trucks every spring to keep things looking great but that is with normal truck paint and a small gravity feed gun. I am starting to think about what I am going to do on the hull of my 19ft seaway project over the winter and was wondering if this was something I could handle.

Any input would be great. What is needed for a sprayer, compressor, etc., etc.

 

[traditions]

I helped a guy spray my 35 rp back a few years.Quite a process to get a good job,High build primer first,sand, then another primer ,sand and wipe extremely clean ,then 15 very thin coats of white (the easiest color to hide imperfections).It came out nice,but he was a pro at spraying awlgrip.As all paint jobs the prep determines what the job turns out like.The smell is pretty nasty,but organic vapors resperator does a pretty good job for the short term.I think youtube has some videos.

 

[deck boss]

I agree with traditions. Prep is key and following the instructions to the letter. I have only rolled and tipped it 3 coats. We did a 16 foot flats skiff ice blue and it came out great. The only time I have seen it sprayed was down in Lauderdale by a paint supplier, he used a HLVP gun in a spray booth the finish was outstanding.

 

[MDI45]

Tuna,I would roll and tip it like Deck Boss said...i do some paint work for the capt Lou fleet..and that is all we do to those big boats and the finish is beautiful

 

[Tunascapes]

I have been thinking about it a decent amount and I think for a smaller platform I will probably lean towards rolling and tipping. I have heard it really takes an experienced touch to make it look good when spraying.

Do you guys roll and tip awlcraft or do you use 2 part perfection? At some point I talked to an awlgrip rep and he was really trying to convince me if I was doing it myself to use perfection.

 

[deck boss]

Personally I have only used interlux products for rolling and tipping. Easy to use and great results. Tight foam roller and a high quality badger hair brush. If you look at the midland boat I posted, it was done using interlux rolled and tipped 3-4 coats.

 

[tashmoo2]

Paint Spraying

Check out Signature Paints in Florida.

The owner, Tom Fabula is very helpful. It is a roll & tip finish. I would never attempt spraying Awlgrip without and outside source of air. Life is too short to breath the vapors. There are some strong supporters of it on the classicseacraft website and a lot of paint threads.

 

[Tunascapes]

Thanks. I'll have a look.

 

[Sailorgp]

If you think again about spraying 2 part urethane a word of caution. Using an organic resperator is not sufficent protection for your lungs. You need a respirator that has it's own air supply pumped into the mask through a hose.

 

[Sailorgp]

whoops...I see tashmoo2 already mentioned the respirator needed

 

[jawz]

if you're gonna roll and tip - use the perfection paint by interlux

rolling and tipping awlgrip is right up there with murder and arson...

awlgrip,it really should be sprayed - and not to beat the dead horse here - but,you need an outside air supply to squirt it....

 

[Tunascapes]

Do any of you have any experience with perfection?

 

[jawz]

Do any of you have any experience with perfection?

used it a few times

a buddy of mine,his non skid was a mess - he did the work and i rolled out the paint - it rolled out easy...holding up well - been 2 seasons now - his rig gets fished hard - still looks good

same guy - he wanted some mods done - i made up a few pieces,with his help,he's a little on the cheap side,he bought perfection paint for the top coat - i didn't roll it - i sprayed it...

i understand that paint,is designed to be "rolled and tipped"...but,i'm gonna tell you this,if you're looking for a perfect finish,rolling and tipping will never give you the same finish as spraying - not gonna happen.people are gonna tell you,"it depends on who's behind the brush" - that's bullshit ! the finish is not gonna be the same...perfection is designed for the "DIY" guy,it's not a bad product...

 

[jweir]

If you are going awlgrip, look into awlcraft 2000. Made by awlcraft, but can be wet sanded and buffed unlike awlgrip ( better if you are a novice or don't have a spray booth....like me). Like others have said, awlgrip, awlcraft, Imron, etc...need good respirators preferably supplied air respirators.
-John

 

[1oldsalt2b]

AWL GRIP & AWLCRAFT 2000 are two different animals,,,awlgrip an LPU 'linear poly urethane" is much harder and is not designed as a 'repairable" paint,,,the plus side is it can be brushed & rolled & tipped but you have to do multiple coats with sanding in-between to get good coverage and gloss retention,,,when you try to repair awlgrip you end up burning thru the "resin" layer in the top of the paint (from wet sanding) ending up with loss of gloss retention and a burnish mark,,,,awlcraft 2000 "acrylic urethane" is more similar to imron,,,it is repairable and buffable and the "resin" coat is completely saturated thru out the color which in turn gives you repair-ability,,,this paint is designed for spraying (no brushing) in less then desirable enviroments,,,it drys quickly and will stay in place in lower temps while spraying,,,Perfection-is a great product if your're goin to Brush but IMHO if you are doing all that prep for a 2 part product and you have some spraying experience then I would run with the awlcraft 2000...

Feel free to call me and I will happily answer all your questions so you can obtain a Professional Looking Finish...

Pete

 

[CaptainJP]

I've had nothing but success with Awl Grip, rolling and tipping it, as someone else said, awlcraft is for spraying only and not the same paint, one thing I have learned is that Awl Grip makes an accellerator that you can add to the paint, sparingly, that speeds up the curing time if the weather isn't perfect and you are worried about it dulling.