Speak with some long-term successful shop owners in the collision industry and bring up the subject of what it takes to be a great painter and you're likely to hear one of these two comments:
"Painters are born; not made."
"I've worked with a lot of terrific body men and some good painters, but a terrific painter is hard to come by and even harder to keep hired."
Finding and keeping a young painter from a trade or art school with potential comes with a number of challenges. According to Dean Twiller, owner of World Collision in Nashville, shops are presented a generational dilemma. "They don't understand that we're in this business to make money, and that it's going to take a lot of hard work. Some of it, to them, is tedious. They quit and move on usually after two months."
Still, Twiller says shops do have some options when it comes to hiring or creating a great painter — which Twiller describes as part artist, part businessman and all passion. Start by profiling your best techs and detailers. Look for qualities like business acumen, patience and artistic skill (look for someone who likes to draw, play music or cook, he says). The value of patience cannot be overstated. The best painters, says Twiller, understand that their work shouldn't be rushed, but still needs completed in a timely manner. They especially understand that a great paint job requires a number of steps, to be completed fully and in a set order.
Once you have a painting recruit or a good painter who wants to get much better, invest in training. When it comes to training, stress that no task is minor, as each plays a part in preventing mistakes and re-dos and build the foundation for an efficient, profit-rich, beautiful paint job.
Pay particular attention to these tips.
Pre-paint prep the vehicle
The time and steps you take in preparing a vehicle to be painted are just as important as the painting itself. Those steps can be broken up into two parts – prep of the vehicle itself and preparation of the paint.
Most shops pass the majority of the vehicle prep duties onto a detailer, but that doesn't mean the painter should remain uninvolved with these tasks. The object of this work is to produce a clean, unspoiled canvas – painting areas that are clean of any debris, solvents or residue that will mar the paint.
A painter needs to inspect these areas to ensure the work has been done fully. Notable here is that the workload of many shops can leave some vehicles waiting for paint. The longer a vehicle waits, the greater the opportunity for dust or other particulates to collect and mar an otherwise quality paint job.
Cut or deal with long wait times by keeping a record of the time the detailer delivers the vehicle to the paint department. With one look, your painter will know how much extra prep work he'll need to perform on a vehicle. Unless a vehicle is delivered directly from detailer to painter, the rule here is that the painter should wipe the vehicle down one more time to remove particulates and then use anti-static wipes on the vehicle, which prevent dust and lint from the air and the paint suit from settling in the paint.
When performing these tasks, the painter should also perform a close examination of areas where particulates most often collect and where they are the most difficult to spot. These areas often include where tape has been used to cover body areas not needing paint. Tape adhesives draw particulates, hide them and make them difficult to remove. In these cases, use an air compressor to remove particulates.
It's also important for the painter to keep an extra close eye on vehicles that have been sanded, as sanded particles could be an issue. One rule to help avoid problems here is to make sure the substrate is cleaned thoroughly before and after sanding – this helps clear away sanding particles.
Become a booth expert
Whether you're painting, repairing parts, detailing or estimating, information is your best friend. The more you know about your job, the better prepared you are to do it.
When it comes to painting, painters would be well served to know far more about paint booths. In fact, they should be veritable experts on the model their shop uses. The best way to become informed is to receive training and consultation from the booth manufacturer or vendor. From there, follow their recommendations to the letter.
One important tip is to keep the booth as clean as possible. Sweep it out between jobs. Inspect the booth. If you locate contaminates the booth is having trouble removing or filtering, use an air compressor to knock them loose. Keep booth doors closed at all times.
Also, remember that every time you open the booth doors, contaminates get blown in. Booth manufacturers have done a tremendous job of creating products that can filter out these particles, but you have to use the booth correctly and give it time to do its job. If you have another job immediately after removing a job, give the booth time to operate its filter. Time is critical in any shop. Investing a few minutes here to let the booth do its job will prevent mistakes later.
Paint prep work
Paint manufacturers, vendors and jobbers have a message to their collision industry customers: Please talk to us. Let us show you how to use our products so you get the most out of them.
Often, this just doesn't happen because shops feel their painters are already trained and don't want to take time away from work for extra training or instructions. Often, they feel they're in for a sales session, not an educational seminar. That's a big mistake.
Shops that do take advantage of the training and instruction from those who supply their paint supplies – including this year's Top Shops winner Tucson, Ariz.-based O'Rielly Collision Center – rave about the results. They point to the money they save and the superior results they get from products they already thought they knew how to use correctly.
Every paint system from every paint manufacturer works a bit differently. If your painters aren't using these systems exactly as their manufacturers intended, with all the information the manufacturer wants them to have, they're obviously not producing the finishing and cost savings they could.
Work with your paint suppliers. Stick to rules like these provided by manufacturers:
- Strain all undercoats and topcoats, and do not use material that cannot be stirred or strained.
- Use the recommended hardener and thinner/reducer and hardener, and measure accurately.
- Shake or stir materials thoroughly to ensure all pigment/resin is in the solution.
- Mix only enough material that can be used within the specified pot life.
- Use your paint material as soon as possible.
- Select the recommended solvent for spray conditions based on the size of repair, air movement, temperature and humidity.
Smart gunning
Form and function work together when you're spraying paint. Make sure your painters adjust their spray guns for each job based on manufacturer recommendations to ensure the best atomization and balanced spray pattern. They need to make certain they're using the right, best gun for the job and setting the air pressure according to product recommendations. They also need to make sure they're using the recommended tip and air cap combination, a common mistake, according to paint manufacturers.
Properly using a spray gun takes time and experience. Painters should always hold the spray gun perpendicular and parallel to the panel. Make sure your painters adjust the speed at which they spray over a panel, paying attention to pattern overlap and the distance the gun maintains from the panel until they achieve the desired results (your paint supplier can help you with this).
Though your painters are well aware of the following tip, it bears repeating since it is often broken as painters seek to do more work quickly. Spray in multiple, thin coats and don't rush between coats.
Finally, make sure your painters correct their mistakes before continuing. If they make a mistake, your painters should continue spraying the current coat of paint. However, they shouldn't apply another coat of paint until the mistake has been corrected or repaired. Your shop and painters can afford to make some mistakes if they repair them quickly and move on. If they forget and have to go back later to repair the paint, you're both looking at labor and money lost.
These tips form the basis of what your budding or improving painter needs to learn. Ultimately, becoming a great painter is a journey. But it's a journey that can reward your shop and painters handsomely.
