Some clearcoat info that pretty much no one knows....

I`ve recently learned about a new company called Tamco that I`ve been in talks with for a few weeks. The owner posted some interesting info about clearcoat and resins/additives. I thought some if you might find this interesting as well. This company uses BASF resins and uv in their clears. If some of you don`t know that is the same company that makes Glasurit. One of the top end paint companies. This was a post on their facebook page talking about their clears. A lot of small companies get bashed all the time for selling quality products at half the cost of the big name brands.

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I don`t care to educate people in other forums that think I`m a con artist, and a know it all idiot. So I`ll educate here. As I`m positive it will get passed along.
Clarity of resins HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH UV ADDITIVES!
UV additives contrary to people`s beliefs are clear! They do NOT effect the color of your clear.
When a manufacturer in this industry chooses a resin, on all spec sheets, there is data on the clarity of the resin. (I`ll show this in another post.)
That clarity, is based off the picture I`m showing.
That is a scale of 0 (water white clear) to 18 very amber.
When TAMCO chooses a resin we ONLY will choose, a 0 clarity resin.
All those resins below are not of the same resins. They are different kinds. The more yellow, to amber, the more "ENAMEL" the resin basis is.
At TAMCO we refuse to use inferior quality resins. When a clear like the example shown yesterday. (TAMCO 4100 verses PPG 8152)
When you see TAMCO is clear and PPG has yellowish cast. That is because they choose a resin on that scale that wasn`t 0 clarity. The more yellow, the more enamlized a system is. Only way to explain it for you to all
Understand.

When you use high quality acrylic urethane resins that are a 0 they are water clear.
When you add 2 standard UV absorbers. (One is a liquid and one is a powder, they get post added to the formula. One of the last things you add in the process of manufacturing the product. They blend in, and add ZERO color to your clear. People who state other wise has ZERO idea of what they speak of. If you hear the ridiculous rumor that a clear is yellow because it has more UV, stop listening to that person. They are totally clueless. And know nothing of manufacturing a product. They know what someone told them one day while trying to explain why the clear is so more yellow than another.

Companies add the lower quality resins for various reasons to their formulas. Ease of use, they will cure and dry better in poor conditions, they will work without proper air flow, they will work better with too much air flow, they aren`t as sensitive to many things a true acrylic urethane is sensitive too.
TAMCO can be more difficult to get the hang of, because it needs environments to be a little better than poor.
Now last part. You can`t possible have the the same technology as PPG or the rest. You`re too small. R & D costs so much that you shouldn`t be able to sell clear that much less than the big guys.
That is just not factual. The truth is no one here has a clue what the cost of raw material resins are. Automotive paint companies work off a almost 1000% markup.
Most R & D is also provided to you by the resin manufacturer in many cases. Paint companies reply on that. We use BASF resins. They are one of the largest manufacturers in the world. Many other paint companies use them too. But doesn`t mean they choose to spend the money on the best resins. They are more about the bottom line than anything.
At TAMCO we care more about our reputation than anything. Why we use what we do, and refuse to use what so many others do!

So people can think we charge what we do, and make crap. Or they can stop being know it alls, and actually learn something. It costs PPG and the rest of them less money to make a gallon of clear than it costs me. They have far larger buying power than me. They buy by the tanker, and train rail, I buy by the drums.

We choose to offer a high quality product at a FAIR markup. That`s why you can buy my 2021 which is a higher solids, water clear version, verses PPG`s version for $450.00+. It`s all in the markup that the automotive industry as a whole follows. Notice almost all big boys clears are about the same price.

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Interesting read.

Thanks

That`s a good read, however, I`d have felt better about what I was reading if he hadn`t made a target out of another known quality manufacturer. I`m not doubting anything said but it seems to me that it`s easy to say we`re a better product but tougher to use. That`s like saying we`re the best if you`re good enough to use what we sell. Making a clear that people can easily use is part of being a quality clear. Love or hate PPG`s product they`re a big name because people use them. In my mind that means that people have had success using what they sell and there is some level of predictability and satisfaction in doing so. You can make the best product in the world but if the average Joe can`t use it you`ll always run behind the ones that people can use. Anyway... what the heck do I know about paint? The article just left me feeling like it was a bit jaded.

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Originally Posted by GearHead_1

That`s a good read, however, I`d have felt better about what I was reading if he hadn`t made a target out of another known quality manufacturer. I`m not doubting anything said but it seems to me that it`s easy to say we`re a better product but tougher to use. That`s like saying we`re the best if you`re good enough to use what we sell. Making a clear that people can easily use is part of being a quality clear. Love or hate PPG`s product they`re a big name because people use them. In my mind that means that people have had success using what they sell and there is some level of predictability and satisfaction in doing so. You can make the best product in the world but if the average Joe can`t use it you`ll always run behind the ones that people can use. Anyway... what the heck do I know about paint? The article just left me feeling like it was a bit jaded.

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Here is my experience with clear. The cheap ones the big name brands make are really thin and anyone can spray them. One you get to a high solids clear there is more technique to get it to look good. However; the clear goes a lot further with fewer coats. The reason ppg is broight up is because the other side of the conversation was from ppg users who were saying if you aren`t spending $500/gl on clear it is crap clear. What most people faio to realize is that the $500 gallon of clear is $200 from the manufacturer then the distributor marks it up and the supplier marks it up. So basically you could buy the same if not better product from another company and cut out the middle men. Btw this company has chemists who have worked for ppg and sherwin williams.

Ppg is a top company and I`ve seen some amazing final products finished with their systems. Never heard of the other.

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Originally Posted by xtremekustomz

Here is my experience with clear. The cheap ones the big name brands make are really thin and anyone can spray them. One you get to a high solids clear there is more technique to get it to look good. However; the clear goes a lot further with fewer coats. The reason ppg is broight up is because the other side of the conversation was from ppg users who were saying if you aren`t spending $500/gl on clear it is crap clear. What most people faio to realize is that the $500 gallon of clear is $200 from the manufacturer then the distributor marks it up and the supplier marks it up. So basically you could buy the same if not better product from another company and cut out the middle men. Btw this company has chemists who have worked for ppg and sherwin williams.

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Guess it`s one of those conversations where you need to be there. :)

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Originally Posted by JSFM35X

Ppg is a top company and I`ve seen some amazing final products finished with their systems. Never heard of the other.

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Yeah my father in law worked in their finance division for....hmm...must have been since the 80`s. He retired a few years ago. The other company is fairly new. I just learned of them recently myself. The owners father made paints before the new owner starting doing their own thing.

This is not much different than the car care industry ... why is everyone now wanting to work in the sun? We have used higher quality products from BASF, DOW and many other big name raw material suppliers and yes they do give technical advice on how to get the most out of their products. They do also offer lower quality materials for those looking at only the bottom line ;)

Thanks for the post :)