Clean Air! ...Breathing Protection

Air breathing protection, we all know we only get one set of lungs so lets talk about how to protect them. There’s some decisions to make when purchasing air protection equipment and some things to consider like pricing, facial hair, and comfort just to mention a few. Let’s start with the basics, you are either going to bring in outside clean air to the painting area through an ambient pump or use the compressed air being supplied by your compressor.

Both types are known as Supplied Air Respirators (SAR) because you are supplying positive air pressure to the mask. The ambient air pump is going to be a bit more money because it has it’s own ambient air pump, but a cleaner system because of it’s separate air supply line. Very important that you place the pump in a clean non contaminated area free of any type of exhaust or gases. 

The system that uses the compressed air source is also an excellent system and most painters prefer this system because of the comfort of only having to carry one air hose. Just remember that the air is coming from your compressor and depending on the age and condition of the compressor the amount of contaminants in the line are going to vary. With these setups it’s vital to install the pickup line after a series of good quality filters to eliminate the particles and contaminants in the line but before any desiccant filter.

The next level of air protection falls under Air Protection Respirators (APR) and these can either be full masks or half masks that use either a single or double element cartridge where the air must pass before you breath it. Depending on what type of product you are spraying you can purchase many types of cartridge filters with varying degrees of protection. Unlike the previous systems mentioned these mask must be seal tested to insure there is a solid seal where the mask touches your skin. This is important because as you breath you are causing a vacuum (negative pressure) within the mask and if the seal is not correct you are breathing in Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC).

The pros and cons, obviously pricing as compared to the other systems but on the flip side you have to make sure and replace the cartridges on a regular basis. Don’t assume that if you aren't using the mask or haven’t used it in a while that the cartridges are still good. Most of the cartridge elements are typically carbon and as soon as you open and install them on the mask the life of the cartridge diminishes whether you use the mask or not.    

If you're a die hard fan of Duck Dynasty and have the facial hair to prove it then here’s where you might have to settle for a system where you’ll get a proper fit like a full mask.

Lastly, working our way down to your everyday bondo, sanding and shop dust you’ll be using your elastic band dust mask and there are varying degrees of quality here also.

Just keep in mind that air protection is crucial, in paint products it’s actually the chemicals within the solvents that you can't smell that do the most harm, like isocyanates. These are the products that show their effect on your body and nervous system later in life. Any two component catalyst system whether primer, bases or topcoats has harmful chemicals that weren't meant to be inhaled.  

Does That Color Look Right? ...Color Matching

Color matching, it's an art as much as a science. Even with all the tools at a painters disposal, they all have to be used correctly to try and achieve a match. Not only do painters have the task of matching newer difficult colors but also the correct texture on the finish. If that wasn't enough you have weathered finishes and different types of materials to spray that cause colors to look different. These are just some not all, of the issues a painter deals with on a daily basis.

So let's start at the beginning of the process and talk about the original paint on the vehicle. When vehicle manufacturers decide in what color choices they will offer a particular vehicle they also decide on what paint manufacturer will supply them with those colors. During the years that those colors are offered on a vehicle numerous paint manufacturers may have been used as suppliers. Keep in mind that this process of supply and demand is on a global scale, add to that paint batch variances within the same paint manufacturers. This is only one contributor to color variance.

Paint manufacturers are aware of these variances and try to keep up with formula updates as quickly as possible. This is why certain colors will have alternates offered and they are usually also chipped to make picking one easier.  These are only tools that are offered to help but by no means an exact science.

Let's address some other issues. So you've decided that a certain alternate was a close match and you have the paint jobber mix that color for you or you have an intermix system setup in shop.

If something as simple as mixing the toners on the machine is not performed prior to mixing the color you could be off on the mix. Let's take this a step further not only could you be off on that color but every color you make with that toner thereafter because the pigment proportions will be off on the toner.

Some simple mistakes that can be corrected are not using spray out cards before applying a color. Do you want to spray out a pint of paint on a panel, step back and then decide it didn't match. Spray out a card which you can use to make notes on and keep for future use. If the color needs to be adjusted then we are looking for things like Value (lightness or darkness), Hue (color), and Chroma (intensity, richness, saturation). A lot can be written about this and I won't go into it here.

The color is a blendable match and you're ready to spray. Well before we go spray happy lets cover some things. No color is ever a perfect match, it may look that way but when you get it under different lighting conditions and you run into that eventual picky customer you are going to have to redo some jobs. Word of advice don't butt match paint jobs, go that little bit extra and always blend into adjacent panels or find the right places to cut off the blend.

Lighting conditions is also a big issue at shops. Owners typically don't feel they need to spend money on this but if the math was done on how much money is spent on re do's because of improper lighting this would be an easy sell.

Listen I'm one of the first that will admit to wearing my fare share of blue socks when I thought they were black. Well, same damn thing but now we're talking hundreds of dollars worth of paint products. If the light is wrong the color is wrong. There are many vendors that sell sunlight equivalent tubes that can replace your current spray booth tubes and will give you the true color you need to see when matching, not after you roll the car out into the sunlight.  

Matching the selection of colors that are coming out in the automotive world is truly becoming more of an art, but if you use all the tools at your disposal and stick with the proven blending techniques the odds will be in your favor.