How to paint without leaving brush lines?

squall280

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I have completely sanded down my DK cabinet and am ready for primer and paint. i did a coat of primer and it looked like crap. you could see all paint lines. anyone help?
 
sand back down use auto body paint and auto body primer, sand the primer with 400 grit before spraying the actual paint..

even a cheap gun like this works great!!!

http://www.harborfreight.com/air-to...ow-pressure-gravity-feed-spray-gun-47016.html

There are fellas like phet tht have perfected the art of using a small foam roller, light pressure, and they get great results. I cant duplicate it. No matter how i roll or brush, i can never get it smooth..
 
Don't use a brush.

I use high-quality foam rollers and they work great. It leaves a little texture, but no lines or streaks. It also depends on the type of paint you use. I've had great results from Behr Premium (Latex based) and Benjamin Moore (Oil based).
 
I have had great results using these little guys
http://www.preval.com/
For a complete cab I have used 5 power cells plus the one that come with the bottle for a total of 6 cans, total cost under 25 bucks
The one with the glass jar run about 7 bucks and the refill power cells are 3 bucks each, ACE carries them
If your using latex with these, thin the paint 8 oz of paint to 4 oz of thinner or 2 to 1. thats enough for 2 6 oz glass bottles of paint.

I have just done my Defender cab using a combo of foam roller and the prevail sprayers
Sanded it, bondo sand, prime, and I rolled 2 coats of Black, sanded the high spots and used this for the final coat, looks F'N sweat.
 
Spraying oil based paint will give the best results. If you don't have a spray setup, use a 4" foam roller instead of a brush. Immediately after the primer/paint is applied, roll over it again lightly to flatten out the roller marks. Do many light coats rather than a few heavy coats. Sand the primer and paint between coats. It you're using latex paint, add some Floetrol to help smooth it out. For the inside corners where a roller won't reach, use a good quality brush like a Purdy, and after brushing the paint on, go over it again very lightly with the tips of the bristles to make the brush strokes less noticeable.
 
I agree with the foam roller. I havent had any issues with lines.
17paint.jpg


This is rolled on..
DSCN0099.jpg
 
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+1 on foam rollers (if you don't have the spray option). People like to complain about the "orange peel" texture but it's 5000 times better than a brush!
 
Guys, i know its been talked about to beat horses around here, the foam roller topics. I have read countless pages, and thank everyone for the advice.

Unfortunately, i busted up my HVLP gun, waiting on a new one, so i tried foam roller. Two times later, i am almost out of paint, so not going back for now.

Setup - 6 inch foam rollers (black) from SW using SW paint. End result - roller lines and orange peel city.

Technique - Top to bottom / when reach bottom, roll back up (to even it out), refill roller and roll it in the tray (so as not to have too much paint on there - real waste of paint i think).
Overlap slightly to the left until i reach end of cab.

My technique of course is not exact to that - because i ended up rolling over a few times more (dry) to try and distribute the paint - i guess thats where i go wrong. Too much re rolling without paint on the stick.

If i just roll once / roll back / leave it / overlap till end / will i have success or am i doing something else wrong?
 
You can't roll it out so thin that it's tacky when you go over it...that will increase the amount of orange peel. You also have to leave enough paint so that it "flows" as it settles to go over the roller lines. Just keep going over it and looking at it at an angle and you'll be able to see your lines...if they're there, use more paint and go back over it. Keep working yourself out to and edge and finish your roll off the edge. Go side to side...up and down is too long of a run to try to do in 1 roll.

That being said, I'm getting a Pac cab that has pretty decent art that just needs touch up. I'm going to go the easy airbrush route so I can blend the yellow...I don't have a compressor, so I might try that Preval stuff )if it's that cheap) or get compressed air and a $20 airbrush at the hobby store. I used one years ago to paint my Master Chief armor and it worked nicely...just ran out of paint quickly because it just used a little glass jar for the reservoir.
 
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That doesn't matter. Any paint can be sprayed. Just use the correct type of thinner.

I attempted the black art of spraying latex paint with my HVLP, but I could never get it to atomize well enough. Even when thinned a lot and with Floetrol added, it would spray in large droplets and ended up with a bad orange peel texture.

If i just roll once / roll back / leave it / overlap till end / will i have success or am i doing something else wrong?

At least with painting walls in a home, there are two schools of thought on the proper technique: Some people will roll straight down from top to bottom the full height of the wall, then back up to the top.. move the roller over and repeat. Others will paint a large "W" shape on the wall, then go back over it in a "V" shape, then roll it again a few times to smooth and feather it with the previously painted area. I've had better luck with the latter method when painting a cabinet, although I still haven't got it 100% perfect. I agree with Jedidentist's tips, it seems like the trick is to avoid rolling it too thin, and just thick enough that it flows together to make a uniform finish.
 
I attempted the black art of spraying latex paint with my HVLP, but I could never get it to atomize well enough. Even when thinned a lot and with Floetrol added, it would spray in large droplets and ended up with a bad orange peel texture.

Just keep thinning it until you get the right mixture.

I've successfully sprayed with:

Automotive paints:
IMG_7639.jpg


Oil based:
IMG_6165.jpg


Latex:
IMG_8108.jpg
 
Just picked up some Preval at Home Depot this morning. I'm going to pick up my cab this weekend, and hopefully can get it prepped to paint by next wednesday.

IMG_3259.jpg


Artwork is pretty good, so I'm just going to try to touch it up and repair the bottom with wood glue, wood hardener, and Bondo. Since I'm going to color match the Pac color using the back door, I'm going to need something like Preval to paint because I don't have a compressor. I'll be sure to add my opinion on it when I get it done.
 
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