I am looking to kill several birds with one stone and don’t have all the necessary information about the birds to be killed and certainly not about the stone.
Where to begin? I am a pretty sucessful wood worker building small furniture projects. I would like to build larger pieces and perhaps some day cabinets for my kitchen. In addition I will be building my own house in the near future, and I mean I with a capital letter will be doing the building. As such I would be staining and finishing doors and trim as well as painting interior and exterior.
Ok, where am I going? Ok, now for my ignorance with the birds. If I were wishing to use spray finishes on all of these birds, small wood working projects, cabinets, doors and trim and wall paints, am I looking to buy one piece of equipment and if so what is it. Do they require air compressors? If so what are it’s specs? What are air less sprayers, and are they only for house painting and not fine work?
I hope this works to get the conversation flowing.
I will appreciate your patience and kindness of replies as I have already admitting near total ignorance with regard to spray finishes. Thank you all.
Replies
Tryit
Your choices are HVLP vs. conventional. Most hvlp systems come with a turbine, and no compressor is needed. Conventional spray guns require A LOT of cfm, i.e... a large compressor. There are also hvlp conversion guns, which provide high volume, low pressure, but operate off a smaller compressor with less cfm. I personally have a 3 stage turbine hvlp system, and it works fine. I spray a water based finish called crystalac on all my furniture, with no problems, no customer complaints, and easy clean up.
Hope this gets you started, and starts your q and a in a certain direction!
Jeff
If you're really going to build the house, you're going to have a compressor anyway. I can't imagine anyone doing it without some kind of nail guns nowadays. HVLP system is graet, but if the compressor is a given, you could go conventional spray as well. Good quality guns are still not that expensive.
DR
Jeff and Tryit,
Perfect start!
Tryit, you hit at the real hinge pin of the moment. Yes, I would be using framing nailers, roofing guns, etc. and OF IMMEDIATE importance blowing out my sprinkler system in my current home for the winter. I have been borrowing a compressor for years and have said year after year, "next year I will buy a compressor". Besides I want a brad nailer for the shop.
Therefore, in some ways my question is about compressors. It sounds like I could go the HVLP route and then the only consideration for the compressor would be requirements for one or two framing nailers. However, before we end the discussion there, which route gives you better finishes and or is easier to use, clean up after, wasteful, etc.? Is there a good reason to base my immediate compressor choice on painting requirements and if so what are those requirements?
Thanks again.
I agree with TexasJohn about house paints and the advisability of just renting an airless unit for that.
For your variety of birds that need slaying... There are trade-offs involved. Which is why the market bears such a wide variety of painting equipment that require airflow to one degree or another.
Although I've never ran across a piece of spray equipment that is so incredibly forgiving for the amateur as a gravity gun, they have their limits. I own 4 gravity guns and I wouldn't use any of them on a big piece of furniture or large cabinet. For larger things like those I turn to my 2.5 gallon pressure pot set-up. But... it is more of a commercial piece of paint equipment and I doubt that you'd very often need that much paint capacity.
I think that the most versatile all-around purchase for you would be a 2-quart pressure pot with a conversion HVLP gun on it. Although the Sharpe (brandname) 2-quart pots are absolutely ubiquitous..., they can also be a serious pain in the backside unless you are extremely careful not to slop the paint around on the inside. Jeff Jewitt sells what looks to be a vastly superior 2-quart pot made by C.A.T. Um... I don't have the URL handy, but Jeff's site is called Homestead Finishing or something like that.
One huge advantage of a pressurized system over a gravity-feed system is that you can spray much thicker material. But, you can also spray thinner material. So, in an all-around sense that's what I would recommend as the most versatile single spray system. There are few things that I would choose that as the best option. But, for all-around work where versatility is the most important factor... it's what I would choose.
BTW - I have heard of people using airless house paint type systems to spray lacquer with good results. But, it's insane because the motors aren't explosion-proof and lacquer is exceptionally flammable.
On a similar note... there are fine finish tips available for airless house paint systems. They cost more and I've never seen a rental unit with one on it. But, they definitely are worth the money if you just have to have the perfect paintjob on your house or shed or even for interior work. They really do produce a significantly better fan than the cheaper ones do.
Edited 10/11/2005 6:27 pm ET by Kevin
I just wanted to add my 2 cents..
As far as woodworking and trim you could get by with either a conversion gun or a dedicated HVLP turbine system.
As far as painting walls... I don't think (correct me if I'm wrong guys) HVLP is the way to go.. You will probably need an airless sprayer. Most house paints are thick and I think HVLP setups work better when finishes are thinned.
I may be wrong but I think this is right... You can rent airless sprayers for paint @ most rental places but they are expensive due to the amount of cleanup involved.
John
I own a Graco 4900 HVLP. Has two stage turbine, pump, remote two-quart pot, fluid tips # 2 thru 6. It is Portable! I have sprayed stains, laquers, varnishes, enamels, water based impervo (eewwww) ,conversion varnishes, urethanes, gell coats, even exterior latex house paint (though reduced 25%). Portability and flexibility!!!!
You know that commercial where Jo-Homoner Gets all revved up and exited to spray the whole neighborhood with his Wagner? I get that feeling when I use my Graco, course I know Jo-Homoner's only gonna get a couple of feet before he smashes his Wagner on the ground. Don' t buy cheap. If you for-see a lot of use and uses, buy a good unit. Mine was about 2500.00 w/ extra hoses and accessories.
Good luck
Phil
Edited 10/11/2005 11:02 pm by PHILLK
Take a look at Jeff Jewett's site, http://www.homesteadfinishing.com
He set me up with an HVLP system I've been using for aver a year with great success, including water-based cabinet finishes and polyurethane-based enamels. Yes, I upgraded my compressor, but that little pancake job I had was making me jump every time it kicked in.
I think you'll get better value from a compressor-based set-up compared to a turbine-based set-up, IMHO. Good luck!
What are the factors to consider when selectiong a compressor for spraying finishes? You said yours was too small.
I'm no expert, but I recently went through this. The compressor has to deliver sufficient CFM of air to the gun for it to continuously atomize the sprayed medium properly. All compressors develop pressure, but the capacity of the compressor must equal or exceed the requirements of the spraying equipment, in terms of CFM.
I had to re-buy an HVLP gun that would work with my 7.7 CFM compressor. I recently bought one that operates at 7CFM. If I had it to do over again, I would buy a 9-10 CFM compressor, minimum. This is what can happen when you shop at a show and get sold the wrong stuff. Now I have the original gun that I can't use, because it needs about 9 CFM to spray well. Expensive lesson!
Edited 10/12/2005 12:32 pm ET by quartersawn
I am no means an expert, but this spring went through this process of finding which system I needed (compressor vs turbine). For me, I found the book Spray Finishing by Andy Charron to be very helpful way to get started on the advantages of each system, and how to start spray finishing, etc. I have included a link to it on amazon... ($14 book)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1561581143/104-5294486-4642311?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&v=glance
I first thought that I wanted a turbine system, but after much reading, I decided that the advantages of having a large compressor were very nice and multi-purpose, whereas the turbine has only one purpose (although it does it well). Especially since it sounds as though you want to do other things besides spraypainting the compressor driven route makes alot of sense.
For example, in the last month I have used my compressor for a air hammer (by far my favorite toy...) for demolition for tile work and cement, brad nailer and pin nailer for trim, air my car tires, blowing compressed air for cleaning my shop. Thinking now about going compressed air for sanding so I can use wet/dry sandpaper and get a high gloss on my sprayed finishes...
Also get the largest 2 stage compressor you can afford. I ended up buying a almost new Ingersoll Rand 60 gal 2 stage from a local guy off ebay for$700. That thing is quieter than my ex tiny craftsman compressor yet puts out more air than I can ever possibly use. You will find many ways to use a compressor. Can't say the same about a turbine.
Dave
I am looking to kill several birds with one stone ..
A old Blunderbuss?
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