Or by profilometry, a laboratory process that measures the texture of the painted surface.īYK-Gardner believed that system could be improved. Orange peel traditionally was visually evaluated by comparing samples with varying degrees of orange peel. Until now, quantifying the visual look of orange peel has been difficult. But one of the crucial controlling factors in detecting and measuring the orange peel "look" is the very fact that orange peel largely is a visual, not a tactile, phenomenon. It's a given that you can't let a vehicle out the door with a substandard paint job. "This is not easily achieved, since vehicle parts have varying contours, and the sheetmetal from which they're made has an uneven texture from the stamping process." "Each layer of paint, - E-coat (adhesion promoter), primer, topcoat and clearcoat - must have a smooth, lustrous appearance as well as the requisite physical and chemical properties," Mr. A high-quality finish depends on what coatings experts call "distinctness of image." Although paint makers have succeeded in developing high-gloss liquid coatings, there still are underlying problems in controlling waviness - orange peel - in the final appearance of finishes. The "wetness" of today's shiny paint jobs isn't the result of paint alone. "Today's car buyer expects a flawless finish right off the production line, which requires sophisticated painting systems and precision quality controls." "There was a time when a truly high-quality car finish meant several coats of hand-rubbed lacquer," Mr. Quality paint finishes now are crucial for motor homes and luxury buses, and the issue is gaining attention in the pleasure boat and aircraft markets. You know it when you see it: the magic just isn't there.īill Bastian, transportation sales manager with BYK-Gardner USA of Columbia, MD, since 1931 a maker of precision color measurement instruments, says the need to control orange peel is by no means restricted to light-duty vehicles. Orange peel can best be described as a wavy, slightly lumpy, light-and-dark pattern resembling - what else - the skin of an orange. But the high level of basic factory painting to which customers now are accustomed makes it more important than ever to avoid the classic quality nemesis that plagues painted finishes - "orange peel." The brilliant, mirror-like shine of today's finishes mainly is due to ongoing advancements in high-gloss coatings and painting techniques. A top-notch factory paint job is de rigeuer in today's automotive sector - and, quite fortuitously, painting technology has kept pace with the expectations of customers so that everything from Focus to Ferrari boasts a wet, mirror finish that not all that long ago required meticulous hand-finishing.
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