what paint do you guys usually use when you want to paint something?

I'm looking for something that won't come off easily, is relatively durable, is weatherproof, and feels smooth once its dry. Every time I paint something, the paint ends up feeling really rough, abrasive, and worst of all, it seems to come off when I touch it. help!!!!

 

What type of paint you use is totally dependent on the application. In other words you use different kinds of paint for different things such as metal, plastic, rubber, etc. (Check the labeling.)

Prepare the surface according to directions on the paint can.

As far as the finish goes, the best way to get it to look good is generally a couple of light base coats, and then followed up by what is known as "Full wet coats"

The base coats will usually help to minimize fisheyes, etc and help prevent running of later coats.

The full wet coats are what you need to do to avoid getting the rough, dry kind of finish you are getting. You DO however need to be careful to avoid sags when you spray full wet coats. Yet even the technique described above can change depending on what type of paints you are using. What I suggested above is for single part paints. For 2 part base/clears the technique is a little different.

I would recommend getting some self help books on painting, or maybe see if someone will let you hang out at a paint shop for a while. That's where I learned.

Johncal

 

thanks john, just a couple things I've got on my mind tho.
I live in west san jose, I dont even know where the nearest paint shop is

I went to kragens today to look for better paints (up until now I've been using stuff I picked up at OSH, I figured, hey if I can spray this stuff over the chairs I have in the garden, its gotta be pretty durable stuff, right?) and I was reading the instructions on the back of a can of dupli-color (I think thats the right name) and it says I need to first spray on a base coat of primer, then up to 7 layers of the paint?

Does anyone have any experience with this? I'm worried that if I spray that many layers of paint, the surface will become too thick and wont sit flush with the surrounding areas anymore.

 

What exactly do you want to spray? Maybe I can give you some suggestions.

Johncal