I have a question about the gear itself: why are some of the recommendations for eye protection that have a removal film layer? Why remove the film? Is this for proper disposal or does the spray somehow degrade the lens?

I bet it's because the spray gets on everything. So the lenses would become useless after a while.

They probably would get cloudy over time but I have not really noticed any clouding on my eye protection yet.
I spray outside rather than in a booth so though still surrounded by deadly overspray, it is probably not as concentrated.
I have only done 3 clear coats so far.

Sprayed another in preparation for Hardtop installation

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Did these inserts have a decal installed over the top of them before cleared? If so, silvering can occur when air gets trapped under the decal.

Applied SprayMax 2K to my BSD playfield this weekend. Conditions were outdoors, in a spray tent https://www.amazon.ca/HomeRight-C900038-M-Spray-Shelter/dp/B011L3DVVO/ref=sr_1_2 a bit breezy maybe 75F.
Applied one can in three coats with 15 minute flash time between coats. Next day I sanded with 1000 grit and applied about 2/3 of a can in two coats with 15 minute flash time between coats.

I seem to get what I think is solvent pop. Hopefully it'll sand out.

-> When do I sand / polish?
-> Should I increase the flash time wait to avoid solvent pop? Other suggestions?

Never heard of that before. What does it look like?

Small craters -- maybe 1mm across.

Sounds like orange peel? Make sure you're spraying close enough to the surface of the playfield. Pretty sure the cans say 6 inches but if the nozzle isn't great you need to be closer than that.

Orange peel and solvent pop are two very different things. Orange peel is small lumps like an orange... Solvent pop is craters almost like something popped just under the surface.

If its only in a few spots, I would suggest it to be a fisheye or a place where a speck of silicone or oil landed and the paint wont stick and moves away. If its uniform, maybe the clear needs more time to gass out before coats.

Who can share their final sand / polish regimen?

If you read back in thread a bit, you will find some complete timelines and examples.

I'm restoring an EM rifle game (a little more area than a pinball cabinet). How many cans do I need to clear it?
I don't want a mirror glossy finish, just a matte protection layer.

you can buy it in a matt finish
https://www.amazon.com/USC-Spraymax-Matte-Clearcoat-3680065/dp/B0178ABUVM/ref=sr_1_1_sspa

usually 2 cans, as at 3 cans you can start to get dimples where the ball hits it (or so others say) i just did my star wars with 2 cans. If i had to do it over i think i would have done at least 2.5 cans

I think he is talking about the outside of the cabinet.
I would get 3 cans. It would be enough to protect it but not look too thick.
I would think if it gets too thick it will not look like it did in the day.
The paint jobs were not top notch in the day .
It is a big area.

Here is information I received from VP of Operations for Peter Kwasny Inc. (SprayMax):

My first coat is a even medium coat for coverage
I wait a minute then come right back with my second and final coat, this is a medium – heavy wet coat.
Immediately after application of my second coat, I look at surface from the side to see if I have any dry or orange peel areas, if so I come right back and finesse these areas.
Wet sand and polish depends on room temp, but wait at least 48hrs.

Now, I have wet sanded from 1000 grit -> polish but my playfield isn't totally flat. If I look at reflections I can see that there are still areas that are not perfectly flat. I think that the clear conforms to any dimpling etc. in the playfield. In your experience, can an old playfield truly be sanded flat and is it worth it? Or will dimpling etc. just show up soon after you start playing.

Relevant to my previous post though -- all the trash and craters sanded out.

The clear telegraphs the surface underneath when it cures. Low spots need to be pre filled with clear and allow it to cure before spraying top coat.

The longer you wait on the final sanding the more even it will stay. But without pre-filling you will land up with either low spots or thinning of clear coat around low spots sanded to height.

Remember your angle of view is different when playing and others will not notice slight imperfections.

Looks great!

I need to shoot some clear soon before I lose temps in Ohio. I plan on doing the first application tomorrow after work when it'll be 70 degrees. Ill wet sand it on Thursday, and plan on shooting again on Friday when it is 77. after that the temps are in the mid 60s and and lower and will probably keep dropping as the month goes on.
Does this seem like a good plan? Is that enough time for the first application to dry/cure to handle the second?
Ive watched a bunch of videos on YouTube with car guys using this stuff and sanding within in hours but it seems all that goes out the window with Pinball, I dont get it.

I plan on doing just enough passes to get it glossy, and even. I'm not trying to bury this in an inch of clear.

I sanded within hours, no problem at all as long as the coats are thin.

Sweet, good to know. Thanks man!

I was pleased as to how it came out, wasn't concerned with making it perfectly flat as I plan to repaint later. Plays great! I did fill the low spots though.

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Is it problematic that you left the side rails on while clearing?

No problems at all.

Why wouldn't you remove them? Seems like you've sealed them in now.

So? Playfield is getting redone in future.

I would have left them on if I never intended to take them off again. Wood looks good with clear on it

Clear the rails separately if you like the look.

Just seems lazy after all the work stripping the field to not remove 10 more screws.

Some are not screwed, staples.

Early Bally SS are stapled....pain the ass to remove, but totally worth it. And the three that I have done to date all had holes pre-drilled in the rails for screws which made screwing it in upon re-assembly a breeze. Likely a cost-saving move Bally made in manufacturing at the last minute....switch to staples and save a few $$.

Just seems lazy after all the work stripping the field to not remove 10 more screws and\or some staples.

So I’m literally in the middle of laying this stuff down. Did 2 thin passes waited 15 minutes and just did my second series of thin passes. Looks pretty good so far.
In 15 more minutes I’m going to lay down a top medium coat to get the correct sheen then let her dry.
I’m only doing the saucer of the Mata Hari for a hardtop install. Sucks that this whole can becomes crap after 48 hours.
I think if I sand it later and try to finish it tomorrow I’ll be rushing it. But I’m only going off of what happens with spray paint.
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Edit 15 minutes later:
Ok so this is after the 3rd pass. Looks pretty good. Do I really need to sand this and add more to it?
I mean how deep is clear coat supposed to be?
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It is his game I think he should be able to do what he wants.

This site cracks me up some times. You’d think in a clear coat thread there’d be little to no drama. I’m trying to get some legit help with a knowledge transfer from people that have used this stuff and all people care about are side rails being left on a project playfield

As it dried it lost its glass look and I got the orange peel effect. So should I wet sand and do another run? Or does this polish out?
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Reminds me of a car that I saw at the gas station yesterday... It was rusting around the wheel wells but they put blue duct tape over it, blue car looked fine until I was about 20' away.

Ding,ding,ding and speed.
They were having to punch out games faster than they could keep up with...
What a roll.

Since you will never own nor play the machine in question.. I will file your advice in the appropriate container.

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So I checked this out this morning, and its odd, it looks like that ripple effect is under the surface, the top looks like glass but from above you can see through to the surface of an orange.

Looks like it was on a little heavy.

You might be able to wet sand it down and polish out. I'd be tempted to wet sand it smooth and mist a light coat on it.

It will sand out fine, you can definitely polish it up without needing any more on top. However a light additional coat after sanding might be faster than running up through all the grits and then polishing a wheel.

That helps, I dont mind putting the work in if itll look good, im just nervous of having too much clear here. My existing Mata Hari playfield was cleared pretty thick and the saucer looks like shattered glass so im trying to keep it as thin as possible to avoid the same damage. I think I'll start at 1000 grit to knock down those peaks under the surface and go up

Yeah, definitely laid on to thick

man i really thought i was being conservative on my 15 minute layers too, ok ill just clean up whats there and not add anymore

I personally would sand it flat, then hit it with a few very light dust coats built up until it looks like glass and be done with it. Then wet sand and polish

The issue is timing and temperature. I have an extra can uncracked in reserve so I can definitely add more, however if i laid down a coat yesterday, being that this Friday is the last day in the foreseeable weather forecast that I will have temps above 65 degrees, is yesterday to this Friday enough time for the existing layer to cure enough for me to hit it with more clear and not wrinkle the base coat?