Rant: I was spraying clear coat too thick for years without knowing

I was doing a job on a 2018 F-150 hood last Thursday and got a bad run in the clear, which my boss pointed out cost us an extra hour of sanding. He showed me how to do three light coats instead of two heavy ones, and the finish came out way smoother with less orange peel. Anyone else have a simple trick that fixed a bad habit you didn't even know you had?

4 comments

4 Comments

uma_williams2mo ago

My old boss used to say a heavy clear coat is just a future sanding job with extra steps.

matthewdixon29d ago

Feel you on that. It's like you're just trying to do a SOLID job and then the boss makes it feel like a crime. That quote from your old boss is actually really spot on though, cuts right to the chase.

janah832mo ago

Actually, an extra hour of sanding can really mess up the shop schedule when you're trying to get a car out the door. It backs up the whole line and costs more in labor than just that hour. Bosses aren't always just being hard on you, they're watching the clock for everyone.

josephadams2mo ago

Honestly, an extra hour of sanding doesn't sound like the end of the world lol. Bosses always make stuff seem way worse than it is. At least you got a smoother finish out of it, so that's a win.