Paint or paint?

[baker]

I have been using acrylic latex enamel and paint with a brush. I can live with the brush strokes (unless you know how to get rid of them). The question is, the paint doesn't seem to dry completely after a day, and will stick to stuff, like my dirty fingers, or the clean table I just set it on for a few minutes. Why doesn't the paint cure completely. This doesn't happen with oil based paint, so should I just use that for outside signs?
Thanks - Steve B.

[sam]

I am new to most of the shop bot stuff but i can say that oils dry faster and they don't stick to you or anything else once the paint has cured. The strokes however, it is hard to get rid of that process unless you can access or own an air compressor then you could use an air gun and spray your primer & paint on without the strokes, you just have to follow the guidelines of the of the guns operations and things should lay down nice and smooth. However i am still researching painting v-carved letterings best applications. Good luck.

[randydimmette]

DRYING TIME FOR LATEX IS LONGER IN COOLER TEMPERATURES
FLOETROL WORKS GREAT FOR BRUSH MARKS IN LATEX BUT EXTENDS DRYING TIME
PENETROL FOR OIL BASED PAINTS

[itoolfred]

Steve,
We used to do a lot of latex around here, and some brands can take up to 4 weeks to completely cure. If you can spray, I would highly encourage you to take a look at ML Campbell's line-up of paints. We use the MaganaMax which dries completely in about 20 mins. This is a laquer based product, if you want water take a look at their Polystar. Either one, you should be able to find the distributor in your area and get a quart sample. Even though Sherwin Williams owns ML Campbell, the guys in the SW retail stores don't have a clue about the ML Campbell products (they simply are not trained on them). Here is the Polystar web page.
http://www.mlcampbell.com/pages/starpage.asp?star=POL
Good luck,
Fred

Whoops... helps if you read all the question. Neither of the above products are rated for outside. I'll leave up there if anyone has indoor paint needs.

[donchapman]

Latex is great, but apply it in thin coats and let it dry thoroughly between coats, otherwise it will form a skin and the paint below will never dry, especially on substrates like high density urethane which dries only from the outside. It helps to use a fan or open the doors to get a nice breeze.

Typically I spray Flotrol thinned latex with an HVLP sprayer, applying 3-5 light coats of background color before I brush my lettering and graphics. The latex dries to touch in 30 minutes and can usually be recoated in 2-4 hours, but follow the mfgrs. label. I looked at 3 cans of 100% acrylic latex Porter paints in my workshop and they varied from 2 to 4 to 8 hrs in recommended drying time between coats.

It's relatively fast, clean (very little overspray and water clean up), and comfortable (I don't need a mask in my open shop).

Over the past 10-15 years I and probably most of the small sign shops in the US switched from exclusively using oil based paints to using mainly 100% acrylic latex exterior paints. Most professional house painters have done the same.

Gary Anderson's articles in SignCraft magazine were a huge influence because he is recognized as one of the best sign artists anywhere and he did such a great job of describing in detail why and how he switched from oil to water.

California influenced the change by passing environmental laws that limited volatile organic compound (VOC) emisssions, which in turn gave the paint industry the push it needed to come up with water based paints that had the vibrant colors that had previously been available only in oil based paints, often containing lead.

I'm living an easier and probably longer life for having switched from oils to water.

I'm no longer breathing and immersing my skin in such high concentrations of VOC's and the water based acrylic latex paints are much easier to clean up and have greater durability, longer color retention,and a fraction of the mildew problems that oils had. Mildew feeds on linseed oil which is in oil based paint.

About the only time I use oil based paint anymore is when I apply a coat of OneShot Chromatic Yellow before applying gold leaf.

[joewino]

Don just about said it all. We must think alike...and no, we are not related.

Putting a fan on drying latex is a great way to speed up the drying. Here in Texas, drying is not that much of a problem.

Use only the top-of-the-line paints and you will have better results.

[donchapman]

Raymond, I knew I should have kept quiet and let you save me the time and effort of writing what I did.

I do wish we were related so I could claim some of your talent in my blood. I even had my wife use her hobby of genealogical research to try to find that you and I share not just a surname but also some ancestor, but all she turn up was that SHE and I are 8th cousins, which is what I think Obama and Cheney are.

That won't stop me from charging supplies to your account when they mistake me for you in Austin.

[joe]

Don,

One of my friends who does family history research and he informed me, the other day, that Raymond and I are close cousins. Kind of twins but he was born first.

That made my day! I'm feeling better all the time.

[donchapman]

I'm relieved, Joe.

I knew there had to be some reason you and Raymond share so much artistic talent and I was afraid it might require intelligence and hard work instead of just good genes.

[joe]

Thanks Don,

Nope, I'm firmly in the Hammer and Tong mentality. This "Tallent Stuff" is just sissy language.

Do you have any interesting projects coming up? Send some pix we can all enjoy.

[joewino]

Please Joe, tell me it isn't so!

[joe]

Thanksgiving is around the corner. It's a time when family's should get together. Don C. and I could come over for the dinner if you want.

Just let us know!

[joewino]

What a Thanksgiving....two more relatives. And I haven't even won the lottery.

Come join the crowd. We will have a house full.

I think this thread is quickly going downhill. Weren't we discussing paint?