Hi Gary,
It appears that everyone is more interested in chatting about who and why someone would spend $10,000 on a bicycle rather than what has been going on in the painting world since you were spraying frames in the '70s. Nobody answered your question so I'll catch you up a bit. For starters, you probably noticed the big jump in paint material prices at the paint store. When I started painting in the 70's, I could buy a 3/4 quart of Imron for around $6. Now it is more than 10 times that amount. Imron has gone out of favor in the auto body world, not because it isn't a great product, it still is. And it is only partly because of environmental reasons - the VOC has to be 5.0 and Imron has activators to do that now. It is because it is not the most economical paint to use in cost and time required to spray. I still like that Corlar epoxy primer you used by far the best. The problem is that it is a bitch to mix up, it has to incubate for an hour after adding the activator, and then it takes a looong time to dry. It does however sand so nicely and color paint still sticks best to it. My framebuilding buddy Rich Gangle called me the other day and asked me to send him some. I can still get it in Michigan but he can't in Colorado. He wants to use it on a frame he made for himself instead of the typical painters choice PPG 40 something. New primers can be applied and are dry enough to sand in the same amount of time it takes to just mix Corlar up.
Paint equipment has improved a lot. The best spray guns are Sata and Iwata. They atomize the material much better than guns from the past. I use both brands but prefer the Iwata 300.
The one brand of paint that gets the most attention is House of Kolor. This stuff was designed for the custom car and motorcycle crowd. It has candies, pearls, chameleons, etc. that make Imron pretty boring. It requires very careful attention to time between coats and using sealers or it doesn't bond well between coats. It will work well and be very durable if the instructions are carefully followed. A candy paint job can take 15 coats of paint or more so be prepared to stay in the spray booth awhile.
The other aspect of painting that is different than when we started is the "show" look. Everyone expects decals to be buried in clear so there is no visible or felt edge. That means letting the clears dry and sanding in between coats. Further more, in order to get the glossiest finish, undercoat clears are wet sanded before very thinned out final clears go on.
Ah yes, there is also more masking being done with computer cut out graphics. Call me for more catch up details, 269-684-6761. I'd be curious as to where you learned to paint and any history you might have from that time.
Doug Fattic Niles, Michigan USA
>
> I used to spray frames in the 1970's, using media blast, epoxy primer
> and Dupont Imron. Fast forward to today, I'm wondering what expert
> painters like Brian Baylis, Cyclart etc are using instead. It's my
> understanding that Imron is difficult to find and may be completely
> phased out due to environmental issues.
>
> I've done several frames lately with 2 stage (basecoat/clear coat)and
> have likes/dislikes. The gloss is almost stupid it's so shiny. Hard as
> I've tried to put thin clear coats on, it still seems to obscure the
> details around lugs, cutouts etc. I've had excellent durability
> performance thus far as the newer clears are very flexible compared to
> the ultra hard Imron enamels.
>
> Aside from 2 stage, what other options are there?
>
> Gary Watts
> Vancouver, Washington
> USA