Why Two Pack ?

i was wondering why a lot of home hobbyist seem to be fixated with useing two pack ,i have just pulled out an old tin of single pack clear and now i recale all the advantages

it lays better off the gun ,little risk of runs dries faster and is far easier to cut and polish and gives one of the nicest finishes for automotive work

the biggest advantage is no nasty isocyanates so the safety requirements are much less critical especialy for home spraying where thier can be issue from family and neighbours

the only real disadvantage is keeping it wet off the gun and two pack is bit tougher but if looked after single pack acrylic works very well indeed for bikes and small stuff for those guys doing work from home


Paul

If im clearing my own guitar (which i do from time to time if i cant afford Dave to do it for me) i use the Upol 1K stuff. Its bloody fantastic IMO.

Where do you get that from Svee and is it rattle can or tin?

There is an Ebay shop who i use for it mate...

CLICK ME

Its the stuff in the blue/grey tins (i dont like using rattlers unless i 100% have to).

i pulled out a tin of Ault & wiborge Aultragem single pack acrylic ,i know for a fact it is at least 12 years old LOL ,we used to use nothing but this for clear over base jobs as my old gaffer would not use two pack due to the health hazards ,his old partner died a few months ago from just about everything failing ,he on the contrary used nothing but two pack

most bodyshop supliers should sell a single pack thermoplastic clear and they spray out the tin no reducer so no measuering or getting it wrong

i have never been a big fan of Upol i always considered it cheap stuff but if it works for you Svee then go for it

Ault & wiborge was and maybe still is original equipment on BMW ,we put out some very nice jobs with it about 20 years ago

i have just buffed up some side panels by hand that i sprays a couple of hours ago ,and now i know why we liked the stuff so much ,it buffes up easily and to high lustre with a very deep gloss like an old japanese lacquer box ,its hard to describe the difference but it much nicer than two K clear


Paul

I gotta admit Paul mate, i was looking for a 1K clear a couple of years ago, tried the Upol, it worked, i kept using it.

Ive never really tried anything else due to never having time to paint anything for myself any more. Next time i do something for me ill give another clear a try, 'bout bloody time i did lol

i think a lot of it is sold for smart repair work these days so most big manufacturers should do a version or two


paul

Back in the late 70's early 80's I used Metalflake acrylic clears..... Used to paint outside. I used an airless electric gun. I got great results after cutting back. A year or so ago I used Upol, and was dissapointed in it. Took so many coats to cover,and then it cracked. I know a few of you have had the same problem. It also took ages to go off. That is why I have recently changed to 2K clear. But always willing to listen to your thoughts.

Quite interested in this thread 'cause I'm understandably a bit paranoid about using 2K products at home. I've been using Mipa Rapidfiller as an etch/primerfiller which is also a 1k product and AA for basecoats/airbrushing. But a 1k clear would be great, no hardeners/iso's for every stage.
I thought that the 1k clears were really inferior to the 2k products tho?

well two pack is rugged stuff but a high grade single pack will give good durable results ,problems with cracking crazeing etc are usualy down to overaplication ie excessive film thickness ,two pack usualy gives a good gloss on the second coat but folk try to achieve this by lashing single pack on in an atempt to get it looking wet off the gun which is where the trouble begins

two or three coats off the gunwill do the trick then its down to buffing to achieve the final finish OK more care has to be taken when buffing as it is easier to burn single K but it is actualy easier to buff due to its softer nature

higher film thickness needs to be achieved by multiple sessions ie sand it back with 800 then recoat the next day which allows the clear to breath and expell its solvent content to reduce the chance of wrinkling cracking or crazeing

the other advantage of single pack is the rework time as it will take base with less problems than fresh two K


Paul