Rolling & Tipping

[SURV69]

if I remember right, the brush tipping was so "light", it made my arm tired doing it and I actually had to wear my reading glasses.

It took too much patience more control than I had(to touch the paint ever so lightly), to keep up the pace.

The brush was only supposed to break the bubbles that resulted from the rolling, but wouldn't break in time to flow into a smooth finish.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by HopCar

"I painted the topsides (less deck itself) with Interlux perfection. I tried rolling and tipping and it was a disaster. I read where someone rolled only with good results so I tried it and it worked great, it looks sprayed."

I've had the exact same experience with the little boat I'm building. Tipping was just messing it up. I stopped tipping and just left the paint alone to flatten and it turned out great. I used a short nap solvent resistant roller.

Corona Roller Sleeve - Glasskoter 4" - MFG#R101F-4"

Exactly my experience.

[svadagio]

Hi
I have had good results putting 2 or more coats on with a roller then wet sanding. For the final coat I thin about 50% depending on temp etc. I roll it only. I use two pack Poly.
Bob

[misfits]

Originally Posted by Rhapsody-NS27

I was thinking maybe it's because it's windy

That's what I thought happened on my first coat. Had just finished painting the hull, the wind picked & blew all afternoon. But yesterdays results with a perfect weather day ended up the same.

I watched a bunch of videos on the subject last evening. Some say tip with a dry brush, some say wet with paint, some say thinner.... The one thing I did notice, most are using a 4" roller, covering a small area before tipping, then moving on. That's what I did on the deck & cabin sides & it came out good.

I'm doing this solo & I've come to the conclusion I'm laying down too large an area. I'm using a 9" roller on a stick so I'm only climbing a ladder to "tip". When the roller get's loaded with paint, I'm covering too large an area. With the stick I'm not painting within an "arms" length.

I'll bag the stick, switch over to a 4" roller & see what happens.
Thanks everyone!

[Rhapsody-NS27]

Originally Posted by delmarrey

Also, don't paint in the direct sun light or in anything above 80º F. I use a foam roller and a very nice soft 4" brush.

This could be the issues I'm having. Most of the day, one side is in direct sun and the last couple times I painted, it was above 80F. I'm doing a narrow area on my boat. Here's a picture of the second coat I did yesterday. Looks better but still have brush strokes. Maybe it'll cool down enough for next coat.

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by Rhapsody-NS27

This could be the issues I'm having. Most of the day, one side is in direct sun and the last couple times I painted, it was above 80F. I'm doing a narrow area on my boat. Here's a picture of the second coat I did yesterday. Looks better but still have brush strokes. Maybe it'll cool down enough for next coat.

Just like SURV69 above stated, just pop the bubbles. If the paint starts drying too fast, you'll find yourself pushing too hard to smooth it out. Then you've lost.

My hull is not very even (hand laid up) so I have to go over the same spot several directions to get full coverage. A smaller roller, as above, might be a good idea for my hull.

It's a fast operation in any situation. I did a better job in May up in the Seattle area. 65 degrees F.

One more thing, the paint has to go on as thin as possible so the same color underneath goes on easy but a white under a dark color will most likely need a second coat.

[Terra Nova]

Rolling and tipping a hull is a job for more than one person.

[misfits]

So today I put the second coat on the deck/cabin sides. I kept the tipping brush in thinner & shook it out before tipping. What an incredible difference in the finish. I put the first coat on the cockpit/anchor locker covers & a couple of hatches. They look so good I don't want to top coat them.

After reflection, I was rolling out to large an area before tipping the hull. Looking at the boat this morning, the transom & starboard quarter look great because they are smaller areas. Once I started moving down the hull, the roller had a mind of it's own.

Tommays, from another site did confirm tipping down instead of horizontal on the hull & his paint job looks flawless.

If the weather cooperates, we'll see what happens next weekend.
Thanks everyone!
Bob

[Tia Bu]

It helps if you can find a buddy who's successfully done it before to demo the technique. It's kind of hard to describe in writing.

A buddy showed me:
1) thin the paint with 10% or so of thinner. It's pretty runny at the correct consistency.
2) Use two foam rollers. Roll on paint with one (a 2-3' section) and then "tip" with the other (a dry roller) to get all the bubbles and roll marks out. I use vertical strokes for both rollers.
3) To keep a wet edge, just overlap the previously painted portion 4-6" when you apply the next section of paint.

Once you get the hang of it, it's easy to do, and it looks great. Much good advice above about scaffolding, an extra hand, etc. Don't give up. It will just click when you get it right.

[HopCar]

My buddy and I put on a coat of primer (interlux 404/414) with rollers today. We used 4" cigar type rollers. One was foam the other short nap. Both look pretty good without tipping.
The real test will come in two weeks when we put the finish coats on. We don't plan to tip after rolling. We'll use Interlux Perfection.

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by HopCar

My buddy and I put on a coat of primer (interlux 404/414) with rollers today. We used 4" cigar type rollers. One was foam the other short nap. Both look pretty good without tipping.
The real test will come in two weeks when we put the finish coats on. We don't plan to tip after rolling. We'll use Interlux Perfection.

The problem with nap rollers is, if it starts to dry at all your going to get a bunch of fuzz in your paint.

Don't ask how I know!

[GregSteimel]

The Petit Paint I used said to start at 10% thinner and paint test patches, adding thinner until it flows. It never did.

A friend started at 40%. Those of you who succeeded, what percent worked for you? And what was the temp that day, give or take?

[Terra Nova]

Too much thinner kills the gloss and life.

[Ryan H]

I can't help much with the system of paint you're using, but the secret to getting a high quality roll and tip job done with enamels is mostly about getting the paint properly mixed with hardeners and thinning agents before you start to paint. The old method involved thinning the paint and brushing it on a piece of glass. You thin just to the point of the paint starting to sag and the theory is that the paint will flatten but not sag on a properly prepped Hull. It involves being a bit of a chemistry wizard as the amount of thinning is different every day depending on heat and humidity.

Personally, I found that the paint being properly prepped made more of a difference to the final product than what I used to roll or tip with. I've added a few pictures as attachments (hopefully) that show the paint system I use, the paint just starting to sag on a piece of glass, a roll and tip section of Hull saying both a badger hair and a foam brush, and a few shots of the finished product.... I hope the pics come out, and I hope it helps a bit...

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[Ryan H]

Whoops.... forgot the picture of the paint on the glass..

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