Testing 1 2 3 ....

The outside of Thomas' boat is ready for primer. This means I've tired of sanding enough to lower my expectations to meet my impatience in the middle.

I want to spray the boat, figuring spray will have a better chance of a good finish than roll & tip hand painting. I bought a cheapo spray gun at Home Depot and have been experimenting by painting closet doors from the basement in the driveway. This solves two problems - I accumulate some experience spraying latex, and I get one of those five year old items off the list of incomplete projects my wife keeps reminding me of.

The first door turned out surprisingly well - the coverage was good, even and it sprayed without spitting, globbing or causing any trouble. Took a little longer to dry than I expected, but I'd added 10% more water to thin the paint for spraying. Guess that extra water needs time to evaporate. The down side of the spraying is overspray - the driveway looks a little worse for the wear (but it's latex), so I'll probably re-coat the driveway sealer when all painting is done. I also don't want to hit any cars with overspray.

I'll be trying the boat soon.