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Table top material for priming

abaden

Active Member
Hi all,

I'm having trouble with parts sticking to the surface I place them on after priming. I have tried wood, plastic on top of wood, and brown paper. I've seen some instances of chicken wire type material with a wooden frame on top of saw horses, which I think I will try next. But, wanted to see what other suggestions people have. I experimented with hanging the parts from string, but it was a bit tricky to keep them still. I'm lucky enough to live where I can prime outside and am using ekoprime.

Thanks,
Alex
 
I used this stuff from Lowes: I liked it better than the chicken wire idea because it's stiffer but still easy to work with -- it cuts very easily with tin snips, and I used a heavy duty stapler to attach it to the frame I built:

i-jxQ3Nkf-L.jpg


Worked out great: nothing stuck to the mesh, and because there are no sharp edges, I had no scratches or other marks on the finished pieces after turning them over to spray the other side.
 
Cheap and easy

Two saw horses.
One cheap baby gate from Wally.
Always spray parts flange edges up if possible.
When you flip them, only the edges touch. Less paint smudged.
 
I prime on a chicken wire frame, then I hang the pieces from safety wire. I do one side, take them outside to hang for a while, then do the other side.
Typically I try not to let them dry on the chicken wire bed. If the pieces are heavy enough, I'll just hang them from safety wire in one hand, spray with the other, then out to dry.
 
I have two wire-cloth frames built up on PVC pipe frames. PVC "Tee's" make for foldup legs.
I also have some 1x2 wood frames with holes drilled around the frames for tying up parts with bailing wire or similar. Also, a long 1x3 with finish nails for hanging parts like stiffeners. Make wire hook to hold them down as you shoot each part. I hang the whole board up on some wires from the ceiling (I have a dedicated paint shed) or clamp to a post. I use the frames more for finish painting, since it takes a while to dry. Either hang or hold the frames, then lean them up against something out of the way.
 
I mostly just use small strips of wood that I place the to be primed pieces on. I had some MDF that I cut into 2" wide strips. Then I place the ribs or other pieces across as many strips as required to support them. I have a plastic drop cloth semi-permanently on my garage floor in the area that I'm painting. I use one of the crates as a back drop so paint doesn't get everywhere.

I recently made a small frame with chicken wire to paint some of my interior pieces. I wasn't so worried about primed pieces having a spec of dirt but for the interior pieces I've tried to be a little cleaner. Mine has legs about 12" long just so it is above the floor.

I also made a couple of little pieces with small finish nails to hang little pieces. I prime all of my nut plates so I place them on the nails so they don't blow away. This works for other small pieces too.

More than likely you are putting the primer on too thick too if you have enough primer to stick the piece to the surface. It just needs to cover the surface. Its not really required to have much surface thickness.
 
I used this stuff from Lowes: I liked it better than the chicken wire idea because it's stiffer but still easy to work with -- it cuts very easily with tin snips, and I used a heavy duty stapler to attach it to the frame I built:

i-jxQ3Nkf-L.jpg


Worked out great: nothing stuck to the mesh, and because there are no sharp edges, I had no scratches or other marks on the finished pieces after turning them over to spray the other side.

I’ve painted a ton of parts on a screen table like that. Works great. Another benefit is that your overspray goes through the table and doesn’t bounce back and flip your part.
 
I used this stuff from Lowes: I liked it better than the chicken wire idea because it's stiffer but still easy to work with -- it cuts very easily with tin snips, and I used a heavy duty stapler to attach it to the frame I built:

i-jxQ3Nkf-L.jpg


Worked out great: nothing stuck to the mesh, and because there are no sharp edges, I had no scratches or other marks on the finished pieces after turning them over to spray the other side.

Thanks! I built a replica this past weekend and did the rudder skins and stiffeners. Much, much better. I used 1x3 and 1x2 to build a frame, attached the hardware cloth with staples, and put it on some sawhorses.

I also adjusted the gun to get a much thinner initial coat. This seems to be in-line with Stewart Systems recommendation that you apply a tack coat first, then go over it with your "final" coat.
 
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