Automotive Spray Paint
For people buying cars, it is important to them that the car appears the way they want it to. This includes the shape, make, model and brand, but also very important is the color. Every car owner dreams of zooming down the open road in their dream car. Finding that dream car, in the exact color and shade that they want, can be impossible. Either the model does not come in that color, or they are out of stock or maybe that color itself is just too unusual. However, with spray paints, people can now mix their own custom colors and paint their car themselves.
Painting a car is an arduous undertaking and needs a great deal of know how in order to get it right. This includes the right way to mix the paint, the right technique to apply the paint, the number of coats and how soon one coat can be applied after another. Fortunately there are a number of websites which have information on this topic, as well as helpful instructional videos. Spraypaintsecrets.com even sells DVDs with step by step instructions on how to spray paint a car, as well as how to clean the paint.
Automotive spray paints are applied using very sophisticated spray guns. The guns have nozzles, a paint reservoir or basin, and an air compressor. The principle is the same as all other aerosol sprays, spray on deodorants, and perfume bottles. When the correct button on the gun is pressed, the paint mixes with the compressed air and is released in a fine mist through the nozzle. The compressor can be set to different pressures and the airflow can be adjusted. Nozzles come in many sizes and shapes, the most common being the full cone, hollow cone, and flat stream. Spray guns can be operated manually by a skilled professional or trained on a block with the object that needs painting placed on rollers or turntables and rotated so that the paint covers the whole surface.
The spray guns can also use different air pressures. HVLP or High Volume Low Pressure spray guns require a lower air pressure (LP) to deliver a higher volume of paint (HV). This kind of gun wastes less paint and causes less air pollution. LVLP, Low Volume Low Pressure, is a similar type of gun that uses a lower amount of pressure but also consumes less compressed air.
Electrostatic spray painting is a method where the paint particles are ionized and the object to be sprayed is either grounded or charged opposite to the charge in the spray. The charged paint particles have the same charge and so repel each other, spreading the paint over a wider area. At the same time, the opposite charge on the object attracts the paint particles, allowing the paint to reach the entirety of the painting surface, even the areas that are hard to reach with a spray gun. This method of spray painting is known as powder coating as the paint is in powder form, and after the spraying is finished the entire object is heated so that the powder melts to form a plastic.
Automotive spray paints are not just for cars and metal objects. They can be used for any sort of solid object, such as those made of wood. Spray paints, especially those used for cars, often contain pigments made of toxic materials, so when using spray paints people must wear protective masks and gloves. They must also only be mixed in large, well ventilated areas. They may also be flammable, so must never be taken near a flame.
