New to canoe painting

[Fredthecat]

I ordered a quart of Kirby Bottle Green paint to paint my previously light blue 15’ OT Trapper.

How Should I prep surface?

I’ve wet sanded (400g) the canoe exterior.

What should I wipe down surface with prior to paint?
Does Kirby paint need to be thinned? If so with what? (85F outside).
How do you clean up, brushes, drips, spills etc?

Thanks for help,
Fredthecat

 

[Dan Miller]

No need to sand to 400 grit - 180 to 220 is more than plenty - in fact, you need enough "tooth" to get a good mechanical bond between the paint and the substrate (and between coats).

After sanding, vacuum and wipe down with a tack cloth.

Kirby's sells paint conditioner for thinning their paint. You can use Pentetrol in its place. I roll with a foam roller and tip with a foam brush. Others do it differently.

Clean up with mineral spirits.

See Pam Wedd's articles in Wooden Canoe (the third of the series, in WC No. 135, is about painting). Pam is the master.

 

[Fredthecat]

How many coats?

Thanks, Dan,
I can resand to 220 for tooth. I have tack cloths.

I neglected to purchase the Kirby paint conditioner.

I’m not familiar with Pentetrol. Is that a trade name?
Where can I obtain some, hardware store, auto paint supply shop?

How much do you thin Kirby paint? 50/50, specific viscosity, looks just right?

How many coats do you usually apply to a typical canoe (coats=weight)?
Sanding 220 between coats?

Don’t have WC issues here to read, left them at the other house, rats.

Thanks
Fred

 

[Dave Wermuth]

my experience.

hi fred, I use a little bit of penetrol. Home Depot has it. I thin with thinner off the shelf. Not too thin. Not too thick. Penetrol helps it to smooth out and not dry too fast. Try an ounce of it. Not too much thinner either. Just enough to get it to flow good. Use the 220
I wipe down with a rag moistened with thinner then tack cloth.
Get all the dust out of your county if you can. It will find its way to your canoe. avoid evenings and lights and mosquitoes and other flying things.

A couple coats for over paint.
four to five coats for a new paint job.
Pam's articles are the way to go. or go to her site, the help is there too.
botle green is a nice color.
regards, Dave.

 

[Dan Miller]

What Dave said.

Penetrol is found in the paint department of Home Despot, hardware stores, paint stores etc. There is "regular" and more expensive "marine" - I doubt there is any difference. Kirby's conditioner has Penetrol and "some other stuff" according to whichever of the Kirby's it was I asked. Start with a splash, you are looking to be able to brush it on without dragging, and so it flows out as it dries (minimizing brush marks). You may have to add more midway through the project as solvents evaporate from your paint pot.

Cheers,
Dan

 

[ebeeby]

Kirby's bottle green is a beautiful paint. And Kirby's is very helpful. But their paint is far too thick out of the can - you will have to thin it to avoid brush lines.

I used penetrol as a thinner. I don't think it was enough thinner as pentrol is not really "thin".

Experiment with a little. Check out Pam's site.

One other thing. I either was a poor filler apply-er or did not sand the filler enough. I had quite a bit of "orange peel" that appeared when the paint went down. So get your filler surface smooth before painting. I painted the boat upside down as most do and it was hard to see the orange peel along the shears until after the paint was down.