The dog ate my son's Pinewood Derby car. Literally.
The pressure is on. The Derby is SUNDAY, and I'm supposed to have the car
checked in by tomorrow evening. Further complicating matters, I'm on the
Pack Committee, and I have to be involved with setting the thing up most of
the day. My effective deadline, therefore, is 3:30 PM tomorrow.
We didn't have time to futz around with hand painting, so I sprayed the car
with some 88-cent black lacquer spray paint that's been around since
Halloween. The can said 65-90 F temp range, and the shop was at 65 when I
sprayed it.
After shaking, it still seemed somewhat thin, but the paint went on OK. It
looks quite good. Almost a piano finish. That's wehre the good news ends.
It's been sitting around for about six hours now, and I can leave
fingerprints in the paint. This stuff normally dries hard in only an hour,
so I'm afraid maybe the paint in the can was too cold, too old, not well
mixed and too much solvent, or the 65 degrees was too low, or something.
We still need to add weight, fit the wheels, and hopefully paint some gold
trim on this thing. None of that can happen until the paint dries hard
enough to withstand some pretty heavy handling.
I can push the deadline to Sunday noonish, but that's all the time I have.
Is there anything I can do to get this paint to cure? Maybe bake it in a
low oven or something?
Am I just completely screwed?
Plan B is to re-use last year's car. That's about all I can think of if I
can't salvage this one. I hate like hell that I let his car get eaten, and
I sure hope I don't have to tell him that this paint is never going to cure
properly.
TIA.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
Sorry that happened Silvan, obviously the oven was too hot. I hope
everything is ok now, good luck at the meet.
--
Greg
"Silvan" wrote in message ...
> Groggy wrote:
>
> > Put it in the oven on low, perhaps leave the door ajar slightly to avoid
> > overheating. It wouldn't be the first car to race 'wet' anyway.
>
> Doing that caused the surface to become covered with bubbles. What does
> that mean? They sort of rose and skinned over, but never popped.
>
> Eric Ryder wrote:
>
> > There shouldn't be anything in a can of lacquer that would keep it from
> > curing. Hope it's set by now.
>
> Nope, not by a long shot. I had to strip it. Mineral spirits worked. I
> didn't expect it to, and I was really surprised that it did. I suspect
> that's an indication that the paint was severely borked.
>
> Well, at least I got that crap off of it. It doesn't look remotely as
good
> as it did after the lacquer, but ye olde trusty SWMBO's Apple Barrel paint
> at least dried to a consistency that allows handling in very short order.
>
> Did I ever mention that I really hate paint? Painting wood should be
> illegal.
>
> --
> Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
> Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
> http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
>
On Sat, 14 Feb 2004 11:11:04 -0500, Silvan
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Nope, not by a long shot. I had to strip it. Mineral spirits worked. I
>didn't expect it to, and I was really surprised that it did. I suspect
>that's an indication that the paint was severely borked.
I followed this thread a bit, and admit to having been there before.
The fact that you were able to strip it with mineral spirits tells me,
despite what the can label says, you didn't have "lacquer." Its seems
the spray bomb packagers have taken to calling fast drying enamels
"lacquers", which of course they are not. Not by a long shot. Real
lacquer in a spray bomb seems to be harder to find these days. Take a
close look at the fine print, which they have to add, for a better
indication of what it was you actually applied.
I can feel your pain on this one. Had a similar situation pop up with
my sons 'rain gutter regatta' bit this past fall. Some extra, glossy
latex and a carefully applied hair dryer saved the day.
David Glos
Put it in the oven on low, perhaps leave the door ajar slightly to avoid
overheating. It wouldn't be the first car to race 'wet' anyway.
good luck
--
Greg
"Silvan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> The dog ate my son's Pinewood Derby car. Literally.
>
> The pressure is on. The Derby is SUNDAY, and I'm supposed to have the car
> checked in by tomorrow evening. Further complicating matters, I'm on the
> Pack Committee, and I have to be involved with setting the thing up most
of
> the day. My effective deadline, therefore, is 3:30 PM tomorrow.
>
> We didn't have time to futz around with hand painting, so I sprayed the
car
> with some 88-cent black lacquer spray paint that's been around since
> Halloween. The can said 65-90 F temp range, and the shop was at 65 when I
> sprayed it.
>
> After shaking, it still seemed somewhat thin, but the paint went on OK.
It
> looks quite good. Almost a piano finish. That's wehre the good news
ends.
>
> It's been sitting around for about six hours now, and I can leave
> fingerprints in the paint. This stuff normally dries hard in only an
hour,
> so I'm afraid maybe the paint in the can was too cold, too old, not well
> mixed and too much solvent, or the 65 degrees was too low, or something.
>
> We still need to add weight, fit the wheels, and hopefully paint some gold
> trim on this thing. None of that can happen until the paint dries hard
> enough to withstand some pretty heavy handling.
>
> I can push the deadline to Sunday noonish, but that's all the time I have.
>
> Is there anything I can do to get this paint to cure? Maybe bake it in a
> low oven or something?
>
> Am I just completely screwed?
>
> Plan B is to re-use last year's car. That's about all I can think of if I
> can't salvage this one. I hate like hell that I let his car get eaten,
and
> I sure hope I don't have to tell him that this paint is never going to
cure
> properly.
>
> TIA.
>
> --
> Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
> Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
> http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
>
DLGlos wrote:
> despite what the can label says, you didn't have "lacquer." Its seems
> the spray bomb packagers have taken to calling fast drying enamels
> "lacquers", which of course they are not. Not by a long shot. Real
That's what I'm thinking too. I should go look at the can more closely and
see if maybe it actually says "lacquer" in quotes. :)
> I can feel your pain on this one. Had a similar situation pop up with
> my sons 'rain gutter regatta' bit this past fall. Some extra, glossy
> latex and a carefully applied hair dryer saved the day.
The finish wasn't as pretty as it could have been, but the thing came out
reasonably well at the end of the day.
He took second place in the Pack for speed, second only to one little car
that smoked everything out there by a very wide margin.
Considering everything that versions 1 (eaten by a dog) and 2 (paint
mishaps) of that poor car went through, second place is juuuuuust fine!
I've never seen my son happier. Ever. Sunday was a very good day indeed.
Oh, one last point to mention. I was too busy over the weekend to brag
about this sooner. Right after we set up the track on Saturday night, we
let our kids run their cars down to make sure everything was going to be
OK. Our car was seriously fast. I said something to the effect of "Well,
we haven't weighed it at all. It might weigh six or seven ounces with all
that lead I put in there."
We hadn't set up the weigh-in station yet, so I got out the scale and set it
up, then plopped the V 2.0 Rocket down. It came in weighing precisely 5.0
ounces straight out of my shop, with a basically random quantity of lead in
it. It's the first year I've ever had that happen, and I was a Cub Scout
when I was a kid, so I've dealt with a lot of these things. It weighed 5.0
ounces the next morning too. Amazing. That will *never* happen again.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
John Crea wrote:
> Means the oven was TOO HOT. You can cobble together a box with a
> light bulb for a heat source that would not have this problem (have
> used cardboard boxes and a 40watt bulb in a pinch
I'll try that next time, if I ever have this problem again. I put the oven
on its lowest setting, left the door open, and turned it off after about 10
minutes, but I guess it still got too hot.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
If your dog ate *that* car (ya know - the ...unique one you fashioned with
the lathe...) I'd be a bit careful running about the house with no drawers
on.
There shouldn't be anything in a can of lacquer that would keep it from
curing. Hope it's set by now.
"Silvan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> The dog ate my son's Pinewood Derby car. Literally.
>
> The pressure is on. The Derby is SUNDAY, and I'm supposed to have the car
> checked in by tomorrow evening. Further complicating matters, I'm on the
> Pack Committee, and I have to be involved with setting the thing up most
of
> the day. My effective deadline, therefore, is 3:30 PM tomorrow.
>
> We didn't have time to futz around with hand painting, so I sprayed the
car
> with some 88-cent black lacquer spray paint that's been around since
> Halloween. The can said 65-90 F temp range, and the shop was at 65 when I
> sprayed it.
>
> After shaking, it still seemed somewhat thin, but the paint went on OK.
It
> looks quite good. Almost a piano finish. That's wehre the good news
ends.
>
> It's been sitting around for about six hours now, and I can leave
> fingerprints in the paint. This stuff normally dries hard in only an
hour,
> so I'm afraid maybe the paint in the can was too cold, too old, not well
> mixed and too much solvent, or the 65 degrees was too low, or something.
>
> We still need to add weight, fit the wheels, and hopefully paint some gold
> trim on this thing. None of that can happen until the paint dries hard
> enough to withstand some pretty heavy handling.
>
> I can push the deadline to Sunday noonish, but that's all the time I have.
>
> Is there anything I can do to get this paint to cure? Maybe bake it in a
> low oven or something?
>
> Am I just completely screwed?
>
> Plan B is to re-use last year's car. That's about all I can think of if I
> can't salvage this one. I hate like hell that I let his car get eaten,
and
> I sure hope I don't have to tell him that this paint is never going to
cure
> properly.
>
> TIA.
>
> --
> Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
> Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
> http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
>
If your rules are anything like ours are then a wet car is not allowed
to run in the race. I'm not too sure about the oven thing. I
wouldn't have it on too high. How high is too high? Beats me, I've
never had to bake on a finish to any our cars but I wouldn't exceed
125. Maybe the microwave would dry it faster? Sorry, just kidding.
At the very least I would put it in front of a fan.
If there is any chance that the paint could be just a bit sticky where
the wheels touch the car then take some Elmers glue and spread it a
semi-circle a bit less than the diameter of a dime around the axle
slot. Before the glue can dry spread some graphite on it and press it
into the glue. That will give the wheel a slick surface to ride
against instead of the paint.
We sprayed our cars in my garage which couldn't have been more than 60
degrees. They dried overnight just fine.
Good luck
Jim (Pack 783 Pinewood Derby Committe member)
Silvan <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> The dog ate my son's Pinewood Derby car. Literally.
>
> The pressure is on. The Derby is SUNDAY, and I'm supposed to have the car
> checked in by tomorrow evening. Further complicating matters, I'm on the
> Pack Committee, and I have to be involved with setting the thing up most of
> the day. My effective deadline, therefore, is 3:30 PM tomorrow.
>
> We didn't have time to futz around with hand painting, so I sprayed the car
> with some 88-cent black lacquer spray paint that's been around since
> Halloween. The can said 65-90 F temp range, and the shop was at 65 when I
> sprayed it.
>
> After shaking, it still seemed somewhat thin, but the paint went on OK. It
> looks quite good. Almost a piano finish. That's wehre the good news ends.
>
> It's been sitting around for about six hours now, and I can leave
> fingerprints in the paint. This stuff normally dries hard in only an hour,
> so I'm afraid maybe the paint in the can was too cold, too old, not well
> mixed and too much solvent, or the 65 degrees was too low, or something.
>
> We still need to add weight, fit the wheels, and hopefully paint some gold
> trim on this thing. None of that can happen until the paint dries hard
> enough to withstand some pretty heavy handling.
>
> I can push the deadline to Sunday noonish, but that's all the time I have.
>
> Is there anything I can do to get this paint to cure? Maybe bake it in a
> low oven or something?
>
> Am I just completely screwed?
>
> Plan B is to re-use last year's car. That's about all I can think of if I
> can't salvage this one. I hate like hell that I let his car get eaten, and
> I sure hope I don't have to tell him that this paint is never going to cure
> properly.
>
> TIA.
Means the oven was TOO HOT. You can cobble together a box with a
light bulb for a heat source that would not have this problem (have
used cardboard boxes and a 40watt bulb in a pinch
John
On Sat, 14 Feb 2004 11:11:04 -0500, Silvan
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Groggy wrote:
>
>> Put it in the oven on low, perhaps leave the door ajar slightly to avoid
>> overheating. It wouldn't be the first car to race 'wet' anyway.
>
>Doing that caused the surface to become covered with bubbles. What does
>that mean? They sort of rose and skinned over, but never popped.
>
>Eric Ryder wrote:
>
>> There shouldn't be anything in a can of lacquer that would keep it from
>> curing. Hope it's set by now.
>
>Nope, not by a long shot. I had to strip it. Mineral spirits worked. I
>didn't expect it to, and I was really surprised that it did. I suspect
>that's an indication that the paint was severely borked.
>
>Well, at least I got that crap off of it. It doesn't look remotely as good
>as it did after the lacquer, but ye olde trusty SWMBO's Apple Barrel paint
>at least dried to a consistency that allows handling in very short order.
>
>Did I ever mention that I really hate paint? Painting wood should be
>illegal.
Groggy wrote:
> Put it in the oven on low, perhaps leave the door ajar slightly to avoid
> overheating. It wouldn't be the first car to race 'wet' anyway.
Doing that caused the surface to become covered with bubbles. What does
that mean? They sort of rose and skinned over, but never popped.
Eric Ryder wrote:
> There shouldn't be anything in a can of lacquer that would keep it from
> curing. Hope it's set by now.
Nope, not by a long shot. I had to strip it. Mineral spirits worked. I
didn't expect it to, and I was really surprised that it did. I suspect
that's an indication that the paint was severely borked.
Well, at least I got that crap off of it. It doesn't look remotely as good
as it did after the lacquer, but ye olde trusty SWMBO's Apple Barrel paint
at least dried to a consistency that allows handling in very short order.
Did I ever mention that I really hate paint? Painting wood should be
illegal.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
Sat, Feb 14, 2004, 11:11am [email protected] (Silvan)
says:
<snip> but ye olde trusty SWMBO's Apple Barrel paint at least dried to a
consistency that allows handling in very short order. <snip>
Next time use latex. Fast drying, water cleanup.
JOAT
Georges Clemenceau supposedly said, "War is too important a matter to be
left to the military". If this is so, it is then obvious that peace is
too precious to be left to politicians.
Life just ain't life without good music. - JOAT
Web Page Update 19 Feb 2004.
Some tunes I like.
http://community-2.webtv.net/Jakofalltrades/SOMETUNESILIKEVOCALS/
J T wrote:
> <snip> but ye olde trusty SWMBO's Apple Barrel paint at least dried to a
> consistency that allows handling in very short order. <snip>
>
> Next time use latex. Fast drying, water cleanup.
This was acrylic I guess. Fast drying, water cleanup. What difference does
it make in the end?
The spray paint looked at lot better. I think next time I should use spray
paint some February when it isn't snowing outside. If that ever happens
again.
I remember a time when February used to feel very spring-like and
encouraging, but that damn sure isn't happening this year.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/