Drying Paint Faster
- Thread starter otpowell
- Start date
H
Hab
Guest
For airbrushing A blow dryer has always worked fine for me. I have seen some use heat guns but if you already have a blow dryer around the house just snatch that up and make sure the ol'lady has an extra!! Haaa!!
otpowell
Double Actioner
I know.. I was using my wife's and tired of taking it back and forth from the bathroom.. Sooner or later she will complain probably. I just bought a $20 heat gun from Home Depot.. I bought the heat gun because it has other uses like you know conforming plastic and paint removal.. I hope it doesn't melt my artwork but I'll be careful.. I'll just do it like 12 inches away from the canvas maybe
H
Hab
Guest
Right. Urethanes have different reducers to control how fast your paint dries. Water base you use heat to speed up the evaporation time of water!
H
Hab
Guest
No problem bro!
wickedartstudio
Mac-Valve Maestro!
Heat can be used to dry uro's (we often "bake" a finish in the booth to get it out the door faster). Having said that, it's important to know that baking the finish doesn't fully cure it. Using heat hardens the paint from the outside in. The layers beneath can remain soft though. It actually takes about 30 days for uro's to cure completely (the chemicals gasing off is why you can smell the new paint for an extended period of time).
H
Hab
Guest
That is good info to know. I have never had to use heat when airbrushing with urethanes. I have noticed that smell for a day or two after I clear coat though! Thanks for the info Wicked!
Last edited by a moderator:
RebelAir
Air-Valve Autobot!
I use a heat gun rather than stealing the wifes dryer because I did get in trouble for that LOL..But pretty much as wicked said. Bare in mind though if your going to use it to dry out uros. Still give it time to flash off normally as per the instructions. You don't want to dry it to fast with a heat gun, once the its flashed off (Normally about 20 minutes) then by all means dry it further with the gun to assist some curing, otherwise you could create a seal too quickly and as the thinners try to evaporate off you may capture them under the skin of the paint and create an issue..Its rare that I do actually use a heat gun as I have got too close a cple of times and overheated the paint and bubbled it so be wary. If anything I use it to warm up the panel a bit on a really cold day (When I know I shldnt really be painting) so the uro isn't going onto cold metal. Really the airflow of an airbrush is generally sufficient to dry your paint, if you go on a bit wet..GL
otpowell
Double Actioner
Anyone else use a heat gun to cure water borne? Ehow.com says something about scraping the excess paint off. That doesn't sound right, if you lay the paint on right you shouldn't have excess paint. Anyone herd of this?
*In case of lumping, cure the uneven area of the coating with the heat gun. Curing refers to melting excess paint. Heat causes airbrush paints to cross-link; thus, creating a permanent, smooth film. Remove the melted paint through a paint scraper and dry the leveled coating.*
*In case of lumping, cure the uneven area of the coating with the heat gun. Curing refers to melting excess paint. Heat causes airbrush paints to cross-link; thus, creating a permanent, smooth film. Remove the melted paint through a paint scraper and dry the leveled coating.*
H
Hab
Guest
I use all Createx and Auto Air recommends heat to help it cure. Createx is the same way. Wicked it says it isn't necessary. All made by the same company. I would say it depends on the paint manufacture and what they call for.
RebelAir
Air-Valve Autobot!
Yer mainly T-Shirt work because you do have to pump it in a bit. I've also had to use it once or twice with Etac (The FX I think) as it does retain that bit of moisture a bit longer than some paints, haven't needed to do so on any other paint types.
That quote from Ehow reads a bit weird m8, trying to level of airbrush work? Shldn't really need to LOL If their putting it on that heavy I think they have an issue, but maybe I'm reading it wrong
wickedartstudio
Mac-Valve Maestro!
In the early years of waterbased technology, heat was necessary for curing the paint. However, the technology has progressed a lot from that point and most tech sheets now say applying heat is no longer required, only air flow. I still use a heat gun to speed up flash times if I'm covering a larger area, or if I plan to mask over the waterbased/waterborne finish. Early on, heat also helped with cross linking (prevents your work from being pulled up with masking techniques). I'm not a chemist and don't know if heat still helps in this area, but it gives me piece of mind...
If you do use a heat gun follow RebelAir's advice. Don't get too close and keep the gun moving. A heat gun, even on its lowest setting, gets very hot and will easily ruin your hard work.
