Any advice for beginner HVLP finish?

[ebarr]

Within the next week or so I will be ready to start the finish on my latest project. I would like to use an HVLP sprayer, but the only spray finishes I have applied have been out of a rattle can. What would be the best finish/mixture for me to use? How much do you thin down?

 

[Bill Clemmons]

Wayne, I use a HVLP sprayer for many of my finishes. The thinning ratio depends on what you're spraying: lacquer, shellac, varnish, polyurethane, etc. The needle on mine is too small (1.4mm) to handle latex paints, but I can do oil based just fine. I think you would need at least 2.0mm for latex.

I'm about 45 miles from you in Liberty if you ever want to come "play around" w/ a sprayer before deciding what to buy.

HTH

Bill

 

[junquecol]

Hf has a conversion gun for $29.99 ( item # 47016 / 67181,) that is almost always on sale for a lot less. (Currently $12.99 with clip out coupon from mailed flyer. Sorry no 20% off bundling allowed.) I have a couple which I sprayed a bunch of handrails using oil based Rustoleum. Well worth the money, IMHO.

 

[kclark]

I have a couple which I sprayed a bunch of handrails using oil based Rustoleum. Well worth the money, IMHO.

Did you thin it down any? I bought the same sprayer and I have tried spraying varnish but had to be thin way down.

 

[ebarr]

Junquecol,

I bought this gun yesterday....but have the same question as kclark, how much did you thin it down if any? have you shot waterbased through it?

 

[Howard Acheson]

The advice I can't emphasize strongly enough it to never let a real project be your learning curve for a new finish or new equipment. Get a book like Charron's Spray finishing and practice on scrap material or cardboard boxes. The book will also tell you how to set up and adjust your equipment as well as how to "read" the spray pattern and applied finish to know how much to thin and what adjustments to make. Thinning is dependent on your equipment and the finish being applied. There is no one answer. For example, water is not a thinner for waterborne finishes. Water is a carrier of the chemicals that make the finish. Adding water beyond what the formulator recommends can cause the finish to not dry and/or cure properly.