Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Orange peel
Jonathan in Minneapolis
>I am new to HVLP spraying - just did my first task with it today. Had a buddy come over and show me how to do it with his gun and his recommended finish - Magnalock catalyzed lacquer.
I think the gun was set up appropriately, but I still got some orange peel in the finish.
I did a search through the site and find many mentions of orange peel but didn't find a discussion on the causes...
Anyone help me out?
Jonathan
Re: Orange peel
Mark Kauder, Phenix City, AL
>In general, Orange Peel is what happens when the lacquer sets up before it had time to flow out. This can be caused by several conditions: Not enough thinner, warm air temperatures, warm airflow (like from a turbine).... In general, adding either additional thinner, or a retarder will solve the problem.
Mark
Re: Orange peel
Tom Stockton
>One other cause is to thin a coat. The good thing is you can sand the orange peel out shoot another coat on.
Tom
Re: Orange peel
Kirk (KC) Constable
>One other thing could be too MUCH material. IOW, there could be several reasons.
KC
Re: Orange peel
Dale Lenz
>I'm relatively new to spraying finishes, lacquer. I'm going to be watching this topic closely. It seems like to me, there are things to reduce orange peel, but isn't orange peel a givin in spraying? Kinda like flaws when wiping on varnish or shellac. Thats one of the main reasons to sand between coat(s), to get a level surface and any other imperfections prior to rubbing out, if you are attempting to go to a Grand Piano Sheen.
I'm sorry, but that is not correct
Michael Dresdner
>Orange peel comes from spraying material that hits the surface in clumps that are too large to flow out. Generally speaking, it means your gun is not atomizing the material into small enough droplets.
Granted, some materials, in particular those that are dilatants or delayed thixotropes, or those that are very slow drying, can go on showing orange peel and then lay out, but with lacquers, it is usually more of a WYSISYG situation, and if you are getting orange peel off the gun you need to modify your spraying setup.
Your options may include thinning the material, using a smaller fluid tip, increasing air pressure, or reducing the fan width. A lot depends on what you are spraying and what the options are on your equipment.
With most HVLP turbine rigs, you do not have the option of increasing the air pressure. That means you must reduce the fluid tip aperture, thin the material, or both in order to get sufficiently fine atomization so as to avoid orange peel.