Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Ok I have epoxied my woodie. I have a couple of questions. Get a cup of coffee or a beer here goes.
1. I understand that I still need to put spar varnish or a clear coat for UV protection. Can you shoot varnish with a HVLP sprayer?
2. How hard is it to learn to use one ?
3. Can you shoot auto clear coat?
4. What about auto black for fenders?
5. Has anybody ever taken their TD to Maco or a body shop to have it clear coated?
6 Which do you think would be cheaper I live in the Bay Area so things are probably more expensive here. I know you cant really answer this last qestion?
The Cal game is on think I will get a beer and head to the shop.

I haven't done varnish...but you can get an outstanding finish using auto clear shot over the epoxy. The fenders in this one were also shot with base/clear. It's not cheap...I'd advise against it if you don't know how to spray, and depending on where you live, you would probably get some neighbors bent out of shape, or calling the EPA. Having an Earl Scheib or similar company do the spraying would be your best bet. Varnish will be cheaper no matter where you live. Doug

Upon the 1st reading of the subject, this could go in a whole different direction...

Yeah I know I want people to read it

Take a sip off yur flask ~ and contemplate taking Doug's advice.

Or maybe go to the indexand look uP the epoxy section for more ideas.

I don't know about spraying spar varnish...but I seem to remember someone shooting spar poly as a UV finish on epoxy. Maybe Steve F.?

You can spray varnish but there is no particular advantage to it. Varnish is painfully slow drying. It's formulated for brushing, not spraying. Put it on too thick and it will sag and alligator as it dries. You might do one coat in a day. You'll have trouble if you don't let it dry enough before the next coat.

If you spray, an HVLP gun is best. A modest conversion gun will cost $150, plus you need a pretty good compressor. A modest turbine gun runs $200+, but you don't need the compressor. The $20 HF guns just won't cut it. I mention all this because if you have no experience with a gun and don't plan on doing much other than the trailer you are better off finding someone else to do it for you. You can easily spend $400 on tools, more likely $600 to do a decent job. The pros don't sneeze at $500-1000 for a good gun.

All that said, there are definite advantages to spraying. You can use a faster finish, like clearcoat, and lay on 6-10 coats in a few hours. You can't say that for varnish. I recommend Emtek9300 from Target Coatings (they sell it on the web). It's not an automotive finish, but meant for wood and totally clear, not yellow like varnish. You can add dyes if you like. I put on 6 coats in about 3 hours. It's water-based, so cleanup is easy and the chemicals, while still noxious, are not as bad as with clearcoat. There is no smell and it won't turn into a rock in your gun like clearcoat will if you lose track of the time.

I have pretty much decided to take it and have it shot.. Finishing has never been my favorite part of woodworking.
Steve that was medicinal rum I was treating a very painful yellow jacket sting.

If you are going to have it shot...make sure that you have plenty of epoxy on it, sanded between coats, and have it final sanded to like 320 grit (at least that's what I do) and no sand scratches showing. All of your edging should be eased so that there are no hard 90's. Epoxy or clear will not want to stick on a sharp angle like that.

If you have to travel far with it to the painter, I'd also make sure that they wipe it down with a degreaser prior to clear coating it. It may not seem like much, but spots from an overgreased driveline from an 18 wheeler can flip up onto it and cause problems.

I think you are making a wise decision. Auto clear is stupidly expensive and if you have a problem...it's a real headache to take care of. Besides...if you don't spray often...you're stuck with the remainder.

Remember...how your final finish appears is dependent on what you have done underneath. The more epoxy on the sides, the chances are that they will appear much flatter and flaw free and give the "depth". Clear won't hide anything. Just my opinion, others may vary. Doug

I'd be interested in know how much it costs you to have it commercial clear coated.

Doug is there a possibilty of putting on to much epoxy and having it crack

I haven't had that problem...don't know if it would, I guess it just depends on how heavy you laid it down and what the curing conditions are. I don't think you'd want to do it like a decoupage however, those always seem to crack or at least they do from what I've seen. I lay it down with a roller and tip it off so it tends to lay smooth with no roller marks. I build it up in many layers of thin coats rather than a heavy one with the chance for it to sag. A sag is a real beast to get out. I usually lay down a number of coats while the sides are flat, once installed, I sand and lay down a couple of coats vertical. The verticals are much thinner than what I can do while it is flat.

Once I get the sides almost where I want them to be, I block sand them with an air sander...but you can use a longer rubber block and some serious arm muscle, and that will help flatten them out. How much you do depends on just how flat you want the sides. Watch using a random orbital sander. If the speed is adjustable, slow it down. It is easy to cut a divot into the epoxy. Make sure you use it flat, and make sure that the epoxy is fully cured prior to sanding. It should come off in a powder, if it loads the disc or the sand paper...it ain't ready. Clean out the sander regularly. It will load up the wind veins in the sander and when it throws out chunks of white stuff...you'll know it's loaded, This applies to an electrical RO sander however. Just what I've experienced on the last 2 boats and 4 tears. Doug

Thanks