When mixing Acrylic Enamel Paint, Reducer, & Hardener for a single stage paint job, are you only supposed to mix up a small batch (gun load) at a time?

I have always mixed up what I needed for however many coats I was going to apply. I was recently told that this is incorrect, because with the hardener it will set up too fast.

If the Pot Life is 6-hours with the hardener, I can paint the car in much less time than that so individually mixing seems like a real hassle. I know temperature and humidity will affect the pot life, but I can usually be done a 3rd coat if needed in less than 2-hours easily.

I'm curious if any pro's here can set me straight on whether this person was yanking my chain or not.

Most of the acrylic enamel mix 8:1, which is not a lot of hardener. I believe that you will be safe. I used to mix up what I would need. However, some of the new urethanes mix 4:1 or 2:1, which catalyzes much faster with very little pot life time. Some of the hardeners are designed for production, which harden even faster.

Acrylic Enamel...you should be fine to pre-mix.

Thanks for the info. I was pretty sure I was safe considering the can says it has a 6-hour pot life. The guy who sold me the paint came up with a excuse to put blame on me rather than refund me for selling me bad paint.

I reshot my Blazer this weekend with some different paint, and it came out great.