jimerone

so i stripped my frame. primed it / sanded it. painted 1st coat / sanded it. painted 2nd coat.

it looks pretty good now... but do i sand it again before i spray my clearcoat?

im using a METALLIC american accents spray paint... so when i sand it looks VERY dull.

also.. do i sand between coats of clear coat?

thanks

unworthy1

you can, and I would if the coats are thick enough to stand a bit of smoothing, but I'd use very fine wet paper or steel wool/scratchy pad. And really CLEAN any residue off before spraying (use a tack cloth). My latest hint: I will never mix brands of clear coat again, it was a disaster. My latest rattle can job used Rustoleum Metallic (plus some panels of gloss enamel) and I clear-coated with Rustoleum brand but NOT their clear enamel cause the can says that IT is not advised over metallics. The one I used is also a clear "enamel" but is their other line (called Painter's Touch) of all-purpose paint with no such warning. It worked just fine. Big improvement over my pervious attempt with Krylon base coat and several different clears (one of which was this Rustoleum)...DON'T go there.
edit: I stand down to kelly D, he's a pro so he knows...I'll add that I did NOT sand my final coats of metallic paint.

kpug505

When doing your final coat of base coat DO NOT sand if it is metallic. Just make sure you do the clear within 24 hours. You will get plenty of chemical adhesion. If you sand your last coat of metallic base you will see scratches or dull spots in the color no matter how fine of an abrasive you use (it messes up the flake). Solid colors are a different story.......

My 2 cents,
Kelly D
(ex automotive painter)

Ex Pres 

Just make sure that your base coat does not say "clear coat not recommended, etc". They mean it. I've tried clears anyway after reading this on the can - and had it dull the finish so much it changed the color.

j0e_bik3

this "sanding between coats" is for WOODEN FURNITURE,...NOT bicycle frames.

if I do nothing else on this forum it will be to dispell these totally uneeded time wasting steps when painting bicycles, most of what I am reading is that ALL of you are working WAY too hard,.....and you don't have to, to get GREAT results.

OP: do a search here and in framebuilders, and bike mechanics AND SS/FG for my screen name, or dr deltron (mine will have more spraycan related material) there is ALOT of printed info on how to correctly go about painting bicycles with spraycan paint or spray gun/compressor with todays modern paints.

don't sand the metallic, it'll mess up the way the flakes settled, and it wont look right when clearcoated.

do some homework by reading my post on this thread:

https://bikeforums.net/showthread.php...t=#post6217288

and you'll see your almost done.

amillhench

If you are using rattle cans, I definitely would not bother with anything more than spraying. Its going to chip off sooner or later and all the work you put in will be for not. Just spray and ride and when it gets messed up spray again. If you want it to look really good and last you need BC CC 2 stage paint. If you don't want to spend the $$ on a sprayer, grab a "spray tools" can. Its a charged can that hooks up to a container that sprays whatever you put in it. Good luck, and post some pictures.