R
Radius
Hi Everyone!
A quick introduction: I'm a hobbyist and most of what I do is restore pinball playfields along with the occasional motorcycle and car project. I generally do small panels, bumpers, etc. I've never done an overall although I'd like to at some point.
The only products I have ever used are dupont products - mainly because they are easily available locally. However I am honestly tired of the cost, lack of support and "attitude" of dupont now a days.
For example, I have a gallon of HC-7600S urethane clear that is discontinued as is the activator. Dupont refuses to recommend a current activator I can use with this clear. Heck, maybe they really don't have something that will work.
Does anyone have a recommendation for an activator that I can use? I don't care whether it's a dupont product or not. I just want to use up my $200 gallon of clear since I can't afford to be throwing that kind of money away. I really need help with this.
Once that's used up I am moving on, and I am 90% sure I will be using SPI products but I do have some questions about which product to use.
As I mentioned, my main use of clears is in pinball machine playfield restoration. I repair and touch up the playfield using acrylic paints, then clear coat. I will generally lay down 2 fairly heavy coats, wait 24 hours then wetsand. After another 24 hours I will lay down another 2 coats, etc, until the playfield is as flat as I can get it. Then I let it cure for 6 months before waxing and reassembling.
The clear I need has to be hard enough to resist "dimpling" yet not so hard as to crack. A pinball is a 1 1/16" metal ball flying around inside the machine and when it hits the playfield it will make a "dimple" (like a golf ball) in the surface of the playfield if it's too soft after curing.
It's also important that the clear have an extreme gloss yet buff out easily after wet sanding.
Honestly my technique for clearing is poor but I get away with it since a playfield is flat and I don't have to worry about vertical surfaces. I would be nice to find a "user friendly" clear that helped me avoid runs and orange peel when I work on the occasional bumper cover, spoiler, etc.
Knowing this info, which SPI clear would you guys recommend for my application? I got extremely good results with the HC-7600S I was using.
Thanks,
Michael
A quick introduction: I'm a hobbyist and most of what I do is restore pinball playfields along with the occasional motorcycle and car project. I generally do small panels, bumpers, etc. I've never done an overall although I'd like to at some point.
The only products I have ever used are dupont products - mainly because they are easily available locally. However I am honestly tired of the cost, lack of support and "attitude" of dupont now a days.
For example, I have a gallon of HC-7600S urethane clear that is discontinued as is the activator. Dupont refuses to recommend a current activator I can use with this clear. Heck, maybe they really don't have something that will work.
Does anyone have a recommendation for an activator that I can use? I don't care whether it's a dupont product or not. I just want to use up my $200 gallon of clear since I can't afford to be throwing that kind of money away. I really need help with this.
Once that's used up I am moving on, and I am 90% sure I will be using SPI products but I do have some questions about which product to use.
As I mentioned, my main use of clears is in pinball machine playfield restoration. I repair and touch up the playfield using acrylic paints, then clear coat. I will generally lay down 2 fairly heavy coats, wait 24 hours then wetsand. After another 24 hours I will lay down another 2 coats, etc, until the playfield is as flat as I can get it. Then I let it cure for 6 months before waxing and reassembling.
The clear I need has to be hard enough to resist "dimpling" yet not so hard as to crack. A pinball is a 1 1/16" metal ball flying around inside the machine and when it hits the playfield it will make a "dimple" (like a golf ball) in the surface of the playfield if it's too soft after curing.
It's also important that the clear have an extreme gloss yet buff out easily after wet sanding.
Honestly my technique for clearing is poor but I get away with it since a playfield is flat and I don't have to worry about vertical surfaces. I would be nice to find a "user friendly" clear that helped me avoid runs and orange peel when I work on the occasional bumper cover, spoiler, etc.
Knowing this info, which SPI clear would you guys recommend for my application? I got extremely good results with the HC-7600S I was using.
Thanks,
Michael
