Spraying Canvas

[Etienne Cassar]

I am trying to experiment with printing on canvas and have purchased a roll of Fredrix 901WR canvas together with Clearshield type C to coat it for protectiion.  I am applying the clearshield using a Fuji HVLP spraygun.  However I am getting what look like tiny bubbles on the surface when spraying the canvas which later burst to leave a fisheye defect.  Can anyone tell me why is this happening and how to avoid it.  Is it possible that I am applying too much material at one go and I have to close down the needle of the spraygun?
Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Etienne.

[dgberg]

I am trying to experiment with printing on canvas and have purchased a roll of Fredrix 901WR canvas together with Clearshield type C to coat it for protectiion.  I am applying the clearshield using a Fuji HVLP spraygun.  However I am getting what look like tiny bubbles on the surface when spraying the canvas which later burst to leave a fisheye defect.  Can anyone tell me why is this happening and how to avoid it.  Is it possible that I am applying too much material at one go and I have to close down the needle of the spraygun?
Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Etienne.

Use a very light mist coat or two to start and you will seal the canvas. This should eliminate or reduce the bubbles to just a few. Trapped air in the fabric canvas cannot escape when the coats are too heavy. Very warm temperatures can make this worse. If I get some on the first or second light coat I take a wet finger and wipe them off. Once they dry you are stuck with the little fisheye. Not sure if you are gallery wrapping or not but here are several tips. We did extensive finishing tests before we chose a finish for our canvas gallery and workshops. In 100% of our tests when using Clearstar before gallery wrapping.  The ink cracked on the back sides of the stretcher when stretching the canvas. Every single one. Regardless of the number of coats 1,2,3 or 4 does not matter. We still have a gal. or so left from those tests and use it in workshops to show what works and what doesn't. The product is perfectly fine for flat prints canvas or otherwise. Before we wet mount a flat canvas print to gatorboard with miracle muck we sometimes will use the Clearshield with acceptable results. Glamor II is the finish of choice although their are quite a few good ones on the market.

[Ken]

Bill t. posted some very detailed HVLP-Clearshield spray instructions last March 31. Take a look here: http://luminous-landscape.com/forum/index....mp;#entry357291