Swapping to a waterborne basecoat after 12 years of solvent

I finally made the switch last month after my supplier pushed me for the third time. I was worried about the learning curve and the extra equipment cost, about $800 for the new gun and air setup. First job was a silver Honda Accord door, and I messed up the metallic orientation twice before I got it right. The flash times are completely different, I kept waiting too long between coats. Now that I'm past the first few jobs, I actually like that I don't have to fight the overspray smell as much, and the color match seems better on the newer factory tints. For those of you who switched, how long did it take before you stopped second guessing your coating schedule?

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the_matthew29d ago

Man, I was the guy saying solvent would have to be pried from my cold dead hands. Twelve years of the same routine makes you stubborn I guess. Then I watched a buddy lay down a pearl white bumper with waterborne and the metallic came out so even I couldn't find a blotch. What got me was the blend time, I was so used to rushing solvent that I sprayed my first water job too wet and got runs everywhere. Took me about two months of daily work before the schedule felt normal. Now I don't even think about it, I just watch the coat go flat and tack up instead of counting minutes in my head.

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