Fish eyes on metal

Deadpool66

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Twice now Ive tried to paint a piece of metal and always get fish eyes. Whats the best way to clean the metal before painting? I have prepped sanded and wiped down before painting but still keeps happening.
 
And are you painting the surface with primer first? Make sure there are no oils on the surface by spraying brake cleaner or some type of solvent to remove oils. Silicone oils are hardest to get off. Hopefully your using a type of paint that will stick to metal.
 
Is it galvanized or aluminum? You need to hit it with some etching primer first if so.
 
Its the front piece of a star wars yoke the part the overlay goes on. I'm using krylon fusion on it and I have not primed as directions say I don't need to. I have access to thinner and brake cleaner as I work at a car dealership.

I sanded it a bit and repainted and it looks better but the fisheye are still visible but have filled in.Should I sand it down completely or just live with it as the overlay will cover it up?
 
Its the front piece of a star wars yoke the part the overlay goes on. I'm using krylon fusion on it and I have not primed as directions say I don't need to. I have access to thinner and brake cleaner as I work at a car dealership.

I sanded it a bit and repainted and it looks better but the fisheye are still visible but have filled in.Should I sand it down completely or just live with it as the overlay will cover it up?

Fusion is for plastic.
 
Use laquer thinner (not paint thinner) to clean the surface. To the best of my knowledge, the best self-etching primer is DuPont A-4115S. Badd a$$ stuff. You can get it from a local auto body paint supplier.
 

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your gonna have to sand again, wipe it down with some nail polish remover(acetone) or soemthing sumular. OR even better virgin lacqquer thinner or auto body paint reducer( makes friends with a body guy)

Trust me, brake cleaner leaves too much resudue, same with mineral spirits.

Then lightly mist a coat of primer, then a thicker coat once the thin coat has dried.

Sand the primer back down with a fine sandpaper, THEN GENTLY tack cloth it, then as mist coat of paint, then a thivker layer or two and let them setup between coats. If you press too hard wiht the tack cloth youll trasnsfer the sticky stuff from the cloth onto the metal surface, and ruin what youve tried to do so gentle!!


it sounds like alot, and mabye it is, but really it just takes more time then anything. Sometimes thats what you gotta do to get something right.
 
I work in an autobody shop. Are you sure its fish eyes? or dirt particles laying in the clear? As for fisheyes they come from types of oils in the air. Id say the brake cleaner if its around. i know ArmorAll can give really bad fish eyes too. In fact i remember hearing one spray of it can travel like half a mile in the air and get into a shops paint.
 
They sell stuff at NAPA called surface cleaner/pre kleano. Thats what we use on sanded primer before painting a car. Well that, then a tack cloth.
 
id also reccomend some engine paint , its made for metal and its made to stick to damn near anything the only down side is that you might have to put it in your oven at 200 degrees to make the stuff fully cure
 
Heres a pic best I could do atm I assume its fisheye but I'm not exactly an expert Im just the photo guy. I guess it looks pretty good maybe I'm just being to anal?

@Cadilacman I have access to a spraybake I actually cooked the piece I just painted.
 

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Sand, clean, prime, sand, clean, paint. if you have enough paint on there before starting from scratch you might wanna try some 1200+ grit and wetsanding w/ a wetsanding sponge (that will remove most of the inperfections), if they're huge fish eyes you can grab a new razorblade put masking tape on both ends leaving the middle un taped and lightly plane down the imperfection.

after wetsanding you will have to buff the finish back to a shine.... donno if you wanna go that far.
 
Heres a pic best I could do atm I assume its fisheye but I'm not exactly an expert Im just the photo guy. I guess it looks pretty good maybe I'm just being to anal?

@Cadilacman I have access to a spraybake I actually cooked the piece I just painted.

that doesn't look to bad, maybe another coat and a wetsand :D

looks more like pitting, same difference pretty much.

did a google search of "fish eyes and pitting" found this

"Orange peel also looks pitted across the surface. Kinda like pores on your skin. It happens when the paint is really thin or has too many micro bubbles and bakes too hot, too fast. Those micro bubbles pop when it bakes, leaving a microscopic crater on the surface."
 
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Heres a pic best I could do atm I assume its fisheye but I'm not exactly an expert Im just the photo guy. I guess it looks pretty good maybe I'm just being to anal?

@Cadilacman I have access to a spraybake I actually cooked the piece I just painted.

It looks like you laid the paint down too thick. Lay down multiple thin coats of paint, I usually spray three coats. I like Rustoleum's Painter's Touch Spray paint in Semi-Gloss.
 
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Wipe bare metal with Naptha or a 'degreaser/cleaner' for auto body paint. I use Naptha for wiping metal and wood before painting. It works great.

Whether the can says to prime or not.. with not priming, I've often got results similar to yours, even after wiping with naptha. Prime it. Wet or dry sand with 320 wet/dry paper, get it smooth. Wipe with naptha again, paint.
 
Thanks for all the info guys I stripped it back down with lacquer thinner. Guess I'm gonna wait get better paint and primer and try again. Just got a quote to get it powder coated 125 minimum seems ridiculous. Maybe Ill ask our painter if he could do it for me on Thursday.

I really wanted to apply the new overlay ;-(
 
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