A day in the life of a sprayer

By Frederick Cooper (Birmingham) Ltd
schedule22nd Sep 16

Below is an account of a Sprayers life here at Frederick Cooper. No day is ever the same, but this serves to give insight in what is a typical day for one of our sprayers.

7:30

The day starts when I get into my overalls, gloves and mask and perform a quick check on my gun. You don’t want to find out after having started spraying that your gun is playing up.

After having checked this and received my paint I have a read of the job card to see if there is anything tricky about the next job I will be spraying – whether a certain side has to be sprayed last or whether there are any care point to be aware of. I’ll sign and date the job card, then I can set the gun and start spraying. I check the work while blowing down each jig in case I can see something that the jiggers or maskers have missed or not rubbed down sufficiently – and then start spraying.

After a couple of jigs I will check what I have sprayed to see whether it is suitably sprayed, and the supervisor/foreman will come and have a look and give the ok to carry on. There are so many different spraying jobs with their own subtleties, so if I get a job that I don’t see very often it’s a lot easier to stop and check rather than spray the whole lot and find out that a crucial bit has been overlooked.

10:00

Time for a quick coffee break and have a chat to some of the other guys on the shop floor, the conversations vary every day, sometimes it’s about work and components we’re working on other days it can be about XFactor or Football!

10:10

I head back in the booth and carry on until I’ve finished what I’ve been tasked to do. Some jobs will only be a couple of trays and be almost over before you’ve started others may last all week. Then I’d  sign the process card when I’ve finished the job.

When it’s finished I’ll pour any waste paint back into the tub and give my gun a good clean, taking it apart and giving each part a rinse. (It’s quicker than it sounds) then, it’s time to reassemble the gun and run some thinners through it to check it’s working properly.

The gun and myself are now ready for the next job. The charge-hand/supervisor will have already lined up the next job and paint. Before I begin spraying again, I have just enough time to sign and date the process card while l read it and see what’s coming up.

More often than not it’s a job that I’ve seen before and the process card is there to refresh my memory. But we get in new jobs in all the time and that’s when we’re able to work with the supervisor on methods to make the job easier for the sprayer

12:00

Lunch time and a good chance to rest and refuel. Spraying keeps you fit and it’s to not have to worry about whether you’ve done enough exercise, believe me!

12:30

Afternoon session. There are some jobs that you can only do in the afternoon because you don’t want to move them until the next day so they require overnight flash off. These are typically high end full gloss parts or parts that stay ‘tacky’ for a long time.

14:00

Quick coffee break. This is a good time to catch up again with the rest of the shop floor.

14:10

Time to get back in the booth and continue the afternoon spraying session. This can sound relentless, but the feeling you get knowing you’ve hit your targets is a good one. Also, you find yourself becoming obsessed with the components you work on, my friends and family soon get tired when I point out brake calipers or electronic parts, proudly beaming “I did that!”…

15:45

This is the time to start cleaning up. Giving the guns (usually just 1 or 2) I’ve used a good clean ready for the morning and getting anything I need ready for the morning and making sure my gloves, mask and any other protective equipment is ready for the morning.

16:00

End of a productive day.



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