I’ve just finished a toy storage set of bins for my daughter. There are some small-ish bins that I’m having trouble painting with a brush, so I’m considering moving to a spray system.
I’ve never sprayed finish/paint before and I don’t know a lot about the market. I’ve read a FWW article about it, but I still don’t have a good answer.
Basically I’m looking for advice on buying an affordable spray system that can do finish and paint. No idea whether I should buy a guy to attach to my air compressor* or one of those whole HVLP machines that I see at Rockler/Woodcraft.
Any thoughts on gun vs system? I’d like something flexible that can handle regular wood finishes, but can get me through this painting project. It doesn’t have to be a perfect finish on this piece, so I’m willing to give a bit on quality for cost of the system.
* I have a porter cable pancake air compressor that came with a kit of 3 finish nailers.
Replies
A larger diameter needle valve on a HVLP unit with properly thinned paint will work just fine on smaller projects. Consider the type of gun you will need (gravity or cup feed) if you need to shoot down into something. Getting an even spray pattern into closed spaces is always problematic. Most guns that have interchangeable needles will handle this and also your other types of wood finishes. Think about disposable cup liners.
Don't even think about using a latex set-up in room or trim painting.
Don't ask me how I know.
John
I was in a situation similar to yours a couple of years ago. I wanted to buy an HVLP spray gun to paint the trim I was putting up as I finished out our basement. But the far more common use for the gun in the long run was/is for finishing furniture and other woodworking projects. After several consultations with Jeff at Homestead Finishing I ended up buying a Walcom SLIM HVLP gun that I have been very happy with. With a larger tip I was able to get it to spray the latex paint nicely and it does a fantastic job with just about everything else I have tried.
Mine has a gravity feed cup but the one shown now on Homestead's site has a pressurized cup which I believe puts more demand on your compressor. I mention this because I too had a PC pancake compressor but bought a bigger one to spray with. I spent something like $300 for one rated at, I think, 7.4CFM and it still struggles to keep up at times. It gets the job done with the thinner finishes I tend to spray on woodworking projects but I spent a lot of time waiting for it when spraying paint.
Also, as I think someone else said, don't plan on spraying the walls or anything really large with this or any small to medium sized gun. Crown molding and baseboard are about the limit with paint for this gun.
Overall I am very pleased with the recommendation I got from Jeff and learning to spray (and I only know the basics) has taken my finishing to a whole new level.
Hope that helps.
Chris
If you are going to spray latex and latex primer you might consider an airless sprayer. A small one like they sell at the big box stores would work fine with a small tip. It would also do bigger jobs like your house or fence with a different tip. These would NOT be good for fine finish stuff but for an occasional small latex spray job or the usual home owner spray tasks it might be well worth having around.
Used with just enough pressure to atomize the paint they tend to make very little over spray and just plug in and go. Tips are available to do everything from base molding to the sides of apartment buildings and the tip and the pressure adjustment are the only variables. A few minutes practice and experimentation will give you the basic technique and clean up is pretty easy.
Just a thought.
Regards,
Mack
"WISH IN ONE HAND, S--T IN THE OTHER AND SEE WHICH FILLS UP FIRST"
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