Spray painting

[earld]

What brand and model of spray gun would you recommend for a first purchase? It would be used mostly for water based paint such as latex.
Earl

[applik]

Earl,
Gonna paint the town are ya? ;-)
Shari

[earld]

Shari- Just finished a second 2x8 sign and the brush streaks are not acceptable. Fortunately, the signs are far enough away from the streets that the streaks are not visible.
I don't have background in spraying and need a starting point on the equipment.
Then, I'll paint the town red...
Earl

[stickman]

Earl,

What types of paints are you looking to use?

I am looking at a Fuji Spray HVLP system. Most of my work is going to be cabinets with it, but also thinking of using it to spray signs. I am not sure yet what type of paints I will use. I am considering latex and acrylics. Maybe even oil bases.

Just my thoughts.

Jay

[gus]

Earl,

I used to paint homes. New construction and repaints inside and out. Look at Capspray http://www.spraytechinc.com/SprayTECH/images/literature/CAPspray_85771.pdf#search='capspray'
I have one of the cup guns that I have used for a good number of years and have had no problem with it. I use it with a 2.5 gal. pot some of the time but you have to deal with the hose cleanup when you are done and for small jobs the hose itself holds more paint than you will use. In that case I use the cup. You would need to change tips for the type of paint you use. Big hole for latex, it has rocks in it. :>) I would not recomend airless myself for this type of application. A good HVLP system is a few bucks I think I paid over $300 just for the gun. I have never tried them but Harbor Freight has some low buck gravity feed HVLP guns for around $40 (on sale) and some are supposed to spray latex. If you buy a system I would say go for a 4 stage turbine over a 3 and stay away from the guns that operate off a standard aircompressor. It takes LOTS of volume so a big comprssor and then you have condensation problems in the air supply you have to deal with.

There are paint suppliers in most areas that deal CapSpray and Graco and have systems for rent. Rent one for a job and try it out befor you buy.

[earld]

Jay,
From most of the posts on the forum, I'm thinking of latex and acrylics. I prefer to stay with water based finishes and avoid solvent/oil bases for the hazards and restrictions.
Please bear with me for the basic questions that may seem simple or obvious to the more experienced amoung you. But, what is a HVLP sprayer? Does it require a compressor or is it electric?
Thank you in advance for your time and indulgence.
Earl

[tuck]

Earl, for background spraying, I've been using one of these for 4 years.

http://www.gleempaint.com/paint-crew-770.html

[terryd]

Earl, for a first purchase go for a low buck gravity fed HVLP gun with a 1.7 mm needle from Harbour Freight. $28 bucks. HVLP meaning high volume low pressure.I have used one for onsite refinishing, spraying waterborne polyurethanes and latex for years. A 2 hp (15 amp)piston compessor with a tank will run as long as you are spraying but gets the job done and well. The 500 mil cups are a couple of bucks each and at the end of each colour I just pour water in it and spray until it comes clear then screw the cup off and throw in a pail to wash back at the shop with hot soapy water. Very little overspray, easy to adjust, easy to clean and when (if) the parts ever wear out,toss it and buy another. We now find that even in the shop and the booth we are starting to use them all the time. The paint pumps are a royal pain to set properly since as mentioned latex comes with rocks included. 25 feet of hose is always needing to be washed out and if your going to clear coat then the hose hose has to be spotless.More often than not there is more paint in the tank, lines and guns than what is needed on the product. Our regular guns like the Devilbiss have more overspray and spitting than I can stand; and in the end the quality of your finishes is more a product of your prep work than the gun. Those $28 guns are worth every cent and then some. 'specialy' if your just starting to learn how to spray, they are so easy to adjust. I even use them for MAS epoxy and wash them out with vinegar. A 2x8 panel, both sides took 5 minutes and 200 mils of epoxy. With a brush it was 500 mils of epoxy and a half hour.
my two cents worth.

Terry

[stickman]

Earl,

The spray system I am looking at is a HVLP 3 or 4 stage turbine. With what Ted is talking about, probably would be the 4 stage. This does not require a compressor, as its self-contained.

Check out fujispray dot com

I've got a gravity fed spray, it didn't give me much luck. I was spraying a white latex, for a vanity. I got a nice finish, if you wanted the textured look. I'd add water to get it down.. but I probably wasn't adding enough.. and had quite a mess from adding and thinning. Though after I was done with the project, I was told about Flowtec. Would have liked to give it a try. The next "white" vanity that I need to do, will be done with lacquers.

Jay

[jay_p]

Earl,

It often helps to filter your paint or finish material before spraying in an HVLP gun. This is especially true with Latex type finishes. I filter everything that goes into mine. This gets the rocks out of the latex.
You can also thin latex somewhat, though you need to be careful of overthinning. Getting the material to the right consistency is a little tricky at first, but it is something that you develop a feel for.

Here is a list of Fine woodworking articles about spraying that might be helpful too:

http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/dtSearch/searchResults.aspx?page=1&query=HVLP&index=All+Fin eWoodWorking.com&channel=All%20FineWoodWorking.com (http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/dtSearch/searchResults.aspx?page=1&query=HVLP&index=All+Fin eWoodWorking.com&channel=All%20FineWoodWorking.com )

Jay

[stickman]

Jay,

What do you use to filter your finishing materials.

Jay

[jay_p]

Jay,

I use the small cone shaped filters that you buy at paint or hardware stores. They are paper with mesh inserts and about 5" diameter at the wide end. They come in several different grades and are pretty cheap. I made an mdf tripod with a hole in it that the cone sets into, and the HVLP cup slides in under.

Jay

[stickman]

Jay,

Sounds good. By they way we keep talking back and forth like this and pretty soon, we are not going to know who is talking to who!

Jay

[earld]

Thank you, everyone.
I have found the information to be very helpful.
Whatta forum!
Earl

[waynec]

I'll add my 2 cents here, albeit a bit late. I spray clear coat on furniture products I make, and have used Accuspray model 10 HVLP guns for years now. They are well suited to this application.

The Accuspray is a plastic body gun with some stainless parts. I've had no problem at all with this combo, including spraying occasional lacquer. The gun comes apart in two halves, so you can do a thorough cleaning if you need to.

I also use the 3 stage turbine from Accuspray, which is loud (aren't they all) but does the job. Its a small enough turbine that you can move it to where you need to spray.

Finally, I buy my clearcoat from the same company I got the gun from. They recommended th correct tip, cap and needle size for spraying this material, and it works well. This company is Compliant Spray Systems at www.compliantspraysystems.com (http://www.compliantspraysystems.com). Their Enduro waterbased polyurethane is a very good product.

Thanks for all the great info here.

Wayne from White Salmon