Important lesson when buying paint

Last summer, I found some plastic paint and decided to try it on my door panels. They had far too much blue and not enough red on them for the truck. I ended up buying one can each of two colors of red. I wasn’t exactly sure which red would match the other truck parts so I would have to try it and see. I though one can would be enough to paint both door panels, and it would have been. However, I ended up with four door panels and I painted two of the same side instead of one of each. This means I have to paint at least three panels, for which I did not have enough paint. That brings us to now. I thought to write down the name of the red paint I was using but not the brand. I assumed it was Krylon since they have plastic paint. Turns out I couldn’t find the same red in the store – did they quit making the color I need? Did they change the names? Bought four cans of Krylon red to repaint everything so it would all match only to get home and find out the other stuff was Rustoleum. Oops. In my defense, the three stores I looked in only had Krylon plastic paint or none at all.

New Air Compressor

Sanding the truck has been an exercise in patience with the old air compressor – one of the rear fenders took something like two and a half days to sand. This led me on a quest for a new one a few weeks ago.

I spent many hours reading about compressors: single stage or two stage, pressures, CFM ratings, gallons, and a multitude of other things. I scoured the internet reading reviews and arguments about what is and is not important for air compressor purchasing. I finally settled on an Ingersol Rand TS4N5 from Tractor Supply. It is rated as 5HP, 80 gallon, 15.8 CFM at 90PSI. It features an oiled cast iron pump (though made in India) and an Emerson 230v 5HP motor claiming 22 amps. I don’t have a flow meter to check the CFM rating, but it will start up, fill the tank, and shut off while running a 6″ DA sander. It is very quiet too; about as loud as a shop vac.

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