Monthly Archives: January 2014

“That’s Good Enough” Rarely Is: Drawdown Cards in Everyday Use for Better Color Accuracy 2

by • Tips and Tools • Tags: , , ,

Last night I was watching a home improvement show on cable television. The show featured a famous former athlete renovating a farmhouse in Italy. It was part of a series, as the renovation of an entire home in another country clearly takes some time. Along the way, the show’s featured star visited street markets to find accent pieces and rustic antique shops to find the furniture pieces that would decorate his renovated home. At one point, he purchased eight dinner chairs for his dining room with the intention of sanding them down and repainting them a flat, sage green color. So far, so good.

But when he went to choose the paint color, I nearly fell over in shock.

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Rise of the Machines: Coating Evaluation Technology in Paint Robotics Reply

by • Rise of the Machines • Tags: , , ,

We’ve discussed the rapid development of robotics and machine technology in the paint sector in the past. However, most of those discussions have centered on technology that impacts actual painting. From paint spray technology to factory paint robots, the impact of mechanized technology on actual paint work is undeniable. But what about technology that doesn’t actually perform any paint work, but rather directly contributes to the efficiency of the paint profession as a whole?

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Building People to Build Your Business: 5 Steps to Successful Paint Team Management Reply

by • Marketing and Business for Paint Professionals • Tags: , , , ,

“You don’t build a business. You build people and the people build the business.”

A great team is essential for a business to grow and reach its full potential. The key ingredient to a thriving organization is having the right employees working with you. However, one of the understated aspects of building a great team is the owner or founder finding the comfort and confidence to relinquish control of certain aspects of the business. What good are talented and smart employees if you don’t trust them to do a great job in your absence? As a business grows and has more clients and more jobs, it becomes physically impossible for the founder to meet with every potential client, generate every estimate, complete every job, and remit every invoice. While turning over control of some or all of these activities can be a challenge, proper ongoing management can help make the process easier for everyone. Here are five things you can do to make management of a paint team a great experience for you and your painters!

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To Catch a Crook: The Spectrophotometer in the Crime Lab Reply

by • Chemistry Corner • Tags:

If you’ve ever seen an episode of “Law and Order” or “CSI,” then you likely possess a basic understanding about how forensic science plays a role in helping solve a crime. From fingerprints to mud stuck in tire treads, evidence of all types can help investigators figure out what happened and who is responsible.

Would you believe that one of the tools used by forensic scientists to solve crimes is actually a tool commonly used by professional painters? It’s true: you may think that a spectrophotometer exists simply to help match colors at the paint store or confirm color at a paint manufacturing facility, but in reality, spectrophotometers have a wide range of uses, including in the crime lab as forensic scientists work to understand what happened in a criminal event.

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The Psychology of Color Choices: Affecting Mood Through Paint Colors 2

by • Tips and Tools

If you’ve been a professional painter for very long, you have no doubt encountered a number of hideously colored rooms and offices. Sometimes, the person who chose the color simply has unique taste. More often, the person choosing the color did so without a large sample or drawdown card and chose something far too loud for a large space. Other paint color choice disasters can include colors that are incompatible with each other or glosses that are too bright or too dull. However, perhaps the most egregious error that a person can make when choosing a paint color is to choose a color that is completely and totally wrong for the purpose and feel of the room.

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Rise of the Machines: 6 Different Airbrush Uses in Professional Painting Reply

by • Rise of the Machines

When we think of paint robotics, we most often think of cavernous paint factories and intimidating robots. These large machines work quickly, with appendages swirling around at breakneck speed applying paint at a dizzying pace. But not all paint robotics are so robust. In fact, one of the most widely used paint robots is much smaller and much simpler in function: the air brush. Air brushes work by connecting a regulated nozzle with a source of high pressure air. The air atomizes the paint and forces it through the nozzle under pressure, wherein it is applied to a substrate. While this may not be what you think of when you imagine paint robotics, air brushes incredibly handy mechanical devices devices that help facilitate paintwork for professionals everyday on everything from toy trains to taxidermy tigers!

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5 Ways to Ruin Your Paint Business: Common Pitfalls for Professional Painters Reply

by • Marketing and Business for Paint Professionals

There are literally hundreds of things you can do to grow your paint business. Unfortunately, there are just as many pitfalls and challenges that can make owning a paint business feel impossible. With so many things requiring your attention every day, it’s common to lose sight of the little things that can help you remain successful over the long term as a professional painter. Every day is an opportunity to grow and promote your business and the difference between success and failure often turns on the smallest and sometimes most seemingly insignificant detail.

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Bristle While You Work: Paint Brush Bristles and Choosing the Right Brush for the Job 1

by • Tips and Tools

Standing in the paint brush aisle of any store, from big-box retail changes to local hardware shops, can be an overwhelming experience. Brushes made by different companies sit next to each other offering a seemingly never-ending combination of widths, handles, bristle-types, colors, and prices. Unless a mentor or more experienced colleague is nearby, inexperienced painters will often choose the brush that “looks” right for the job and fits into their budget. Exterior painting calls for a wide brush. Interior trim work calls for something a little thinner? Painting racing stripes on an automobile requires something significantly more narrow. Pick one that seems priced reasonably and get to work. Right?

Not even close.

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Anatomy of the Paint Brush: Choosing the Best Brushes for Your Professional Painting 2

by • Tips and Tools

Long before there were rollers and airbrushes, there was one tool that could be counted on by painters of all types: brushes. Despite the emergence of new tools that can cover a lot of area in a short amount of time, some work will always be best handled by a brush. Even those favoring paint automation and robotics admit that it would be silly to dismiss the technology responsible for the Mona Lisa and the Sistine Chapel! Different paint work requires different tools and despite the best efforts of technologists and scientists, paint brushes will always have a place in our sector.

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Seeing Through the Haze: Haze Meters in the Production Environment Reply

by • Chemistry Corner

Weekend painters take for granted that there is a difference between color and haze, sheen and gloss. But professional painters know that the final, dried appearance of a coating is determined not simply by choosing a color finish and getting to work. Different hazes and sheen can affect the final appearance and brilliance of a coating in the same way that different light sources and coating thickness can. Like a maestro conducting an orchestra full of instruments, paint chemists must manipulate and control a number of variables down to the molecular level. Not only are chemists responsible for creating the right paints once, but also for stabilizing them in a way that can be repeated over and over in a production environment.

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